FIVE HUNDRED sixth formers packed into at St Albans Abbey for their own version of Question Time. The annual Sixth Form Conference hosted by the St Albans Cathedral Education Centre attracted high-calibre panellists such as Dominic Grieve QC, the Shadow S

FIVE HUNDRED sixth formers packed into at St Albans Abbey for their own version of Question Time.

The annual Sixth Form Conference hosted by the St Albans Cathedral Education Centre attracted high-calibre panellists such as Dominic Grieve QC, the Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, and Larry Elliott, the economics editor for The Guardian.

Said Annette Cranston, of the Education Centre: "It was a great success; there were nearly 500 students from 20 to 22 schools in the area that came along. The students asked a huge range of questions including things like, 'Has history taught us that we can't win the war in Afghanistan?'"

The other speakers on the platform were Jonathan Foyle, who has appeared on Channel 4's Time Team, Adam Rutherford, editor of science journal Nature, and Emily Thornberry, Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury.

Annette added: "The panel were really good about not simply staying within their area of expertise and the debate was great for the students. There was a bit of argy bargy between Dominic Grieve and Adam Rutherford about the climate change debate."

The Sixth Form Conference has taken place each year since 2000, and is held in the Abbey Nave. What started off as a science-based discussion grew into a wider debate that took the Question Time format as its model.