It’s Official! The TOC WSD Qualification System Has Been Revealed

After two years of an open invite model, the Tournament of Champions (hosted by the University of Kentucky) has created a formal qualification system.

As per the official TOC website:

“A fully-qualified World Schools Debate entry is a team of 3-5 students, at least 2 of which have earned 2 bids together as part of the same team during the 2025-2026 season. Additionally:

Teams from the United States must be school-based, composed of students that are all from the same degree-granting school. The USA Debate National Team is exempt from the same degree-granting school requirement.

Internationally-based teams may be national teams or teams based in a school, club or academy. TOC eligible national teams are those recognized by the World Schools Debate Championships.”

All of the bids will be granted to participants in the final round of specific tournaments selected by the TOC WSD Committee. You can find the list of eligible tournaments here under “World Schools Debate” > “Final Qualifiers”.

This is a significant new development in the WSD community, and we can’t wait to see what the WSD season will look like moving forward.