EMILY Fernandes and Chloe Romanis are two teenagers you do not want to get into an argument with.

The East Oxford duo are Cheney School’s most successful ever debating team, building a collection of trophies and awards from universities around the country.

Last week they won the Hewett Cup for debating at Durham University, having already won competitions at Bristol University and the London School of Economics earlier this year.

They also came second at Cambridge, Manchester, Warwick and the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.

The school has long championed debating, running an after school club for the keenest students.

Emily, 18, said: “I joined the society and began competing.

“We have training sessions once a week in which we practice debates and talk about issues that come up.

“The two of us have to work together as a team and come up with ideas together.

“We have to write our own speeches and then swap so we look at each other’s.”

The pair took part in seven debates to win the Durham competition, having just 15 minutes to study the motion and prepare their argument.

Emily said: “Over the year we have debated some really good things: whether to ban music that encourages harm against women, whether violent protests are legitimate in a Western liberal democracy, and whether Government ministers should have immunity from prosecution for domestic crimes.

“You get told which side you have to argue, so a lot of is down to luck.

“Chloe and I are really good friends, which helps a lot. Debating is quite male dominated, so it is nice to do so well.”

Chloe, 18, added: “In our final debate, we accidentally started preparing the wrong side of the argument.

“About five minutes into our preparation we realised, and could correct ourselves, but it left us with just seven minutes to prepare.

“There is nothing quite like the buzz from debating. It is really good fun.

“When you get a good motion, you might start without an opinion but you become more and more convinced.”

Head of history David Gimson said: “Their achievements give Cheney the claim to be one of the very strongest schools in competitive debating in the whole of the UK, a field normally dominated by elite private sector schools.

“They get a huge amount of enjoyment, but also self-confidence and the capacity to put a persuasive argument together.”