Key facts
- What: An international public speaking competition bringing together students aged 16 to 20 from more than 40 countries around the world
- When: Country registration opens on Tuesday, 2 September 2025
- Take part: Please contact your national ESU for more details on how to get involved in your country
In brief
The International Public Speaking Competition is at the heart of the English-Speaking Union’s mission, bringing together oracy, cultural exchange and a hefty dose of friendly rivalry.
Watch our national champions connect, grow and support each other during Finals Week in London!
The competition brings the best young speakers from all over the world to London for a week of cultural exchange and public speaking contests. Established in 1980, it now reaches over one million young people in more than 50 countries across the globe, showcasing the highest standard of public speaking, while giving delegates an opportunity to meet and engage with other young people of different backgrounds and nationalities.
Finalists (national winners of the English-Speaking Union’s or other public speaking competitions in their country) must write and deliver a speech connected with the theme for the year’s competition. Past themes have included ‘Culture is not a luxury but a necessity’ and ‘The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they have none’.
The dates
The IPSC programme will run from [TBC]. Our participants leave us around [Date and time TBC].
The deadline for submitting the preliminary registration form is Friday, 24 November 2025.
If you are not able to do this for any reason, please reach out to the team ASAP on international@esu.org.
The preliminary registration forms should be completed by national competition organisers.
The deadline for making payment is the end of the IPSC week 2026.
For all your national competition information, please login to your organiser hub.
If you would like to enquire about setting up a new ESU in your country or region, please contact international@esu.org
What to expect
- Prestigious international competition is highly motivating for students and schools as a whole
- Non-adversarial format which emphasises research, organisation and presentation skills
- Promotes confidence, critical thinking and cultural understanding, broadening participants’ horizons and opportunities
- Experienced ESU judges give constructive feedback to all participants
- Opportunity to build international friendship group
1,000,000
The number of students from 54 countries and regions who took part in the International Public Speaking Competition 2018/19
It was through a simple internet search that I found out about the IPSC. Now here I am today. A different person. A better person. The ESU has changed my life. And for that, I’m eternally grateful. When I look around my generation, I see young people who are yearning for connection, not conflict. For identity, not conformism. We’re yearning for dialogue, not division. That’s the beauty of the ESU. It builds connections. It’s about And, not Or.
Mickael Naouri
France IPSC winner 2024
What young people learn through the English-Speaking Union’s International Public Speaking Competition is how to marshal arguments and persuade people – this is at the heart of international diplomacy.
Baroness D’Souza, former Lord Speaker and Chair of Judges IPSC 2016
Find out more
Questions?
If you have any questions or queries about the International Public Speaking Competition please contact your relevant country or region’s ESU or partner organisation or email international@esu.org.
Please note, to take part, you must have been selected from your country or region’s public speaking competition. See a full list of international ESUs and partner organisations here.
If you are the organiser of an ESU-recognised national IPSC feeder competition, please click here for further information.
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