UoG and Gloucestershire Magistrates Association host Gloucestershire Schools Mock Trial Competition 2026

University of Gloucestershire and Gloucestershire Magistrates Association teamed up to host the biggest Gloucestershire Schools Mock Trial Competition to date.

Nearly 350 students from schools across Gloucestershire stepped into the roles of magistrates, solicitors, witnesses and court staff as they took part in this year’s Gloucestershire Mock Trial Competition, hosted by the University in partnership with the Gloucestershire Magistrates Association.

The competition was held over three days in the University’s purpose-built Moot Court – a real-life replica of a courtroom – at Oxstalls Campus and was attended by pupils from 20 primary and secondary schools across the county.

The event was supported by staff and student volunteers from University of Gloucestershire, with Law students helping to facilitate the trials and assisting participating schools throughout the competition.

The competition, which has been running in Gloucestershire for around 25 years, is part of an annual UK-wide competition run by the Magistrates’ Association which sees pupils compete against each other as Prosecution versus Defence teams, in the hope of being crowned the winning team. 

The trials are judged by local magistrates as part of their Magistrate in the Community roleand take place every year in spring. The competition provides school pupils with the opportunity to build skills in public speaking, critical thinking, and legal knowledge.

This year’s challenge was focused around the hot topic of smartphone and social media usage among children and how immaturity and lack of knowledge could potentially lead to a criminal conviction.

The charge put to ‘defendants’ was that of Generating and Distributing Unlawful Images of a Child to Cause Alarm, Humiliation and Distress, after a child had sent an inappropriate image of another child for what was deemed ‘a bit of fun’. 

St Mark’s CofE Junior School won the Cheltenham Primary School category, Hillside Primary School were named winners of the Gloucester Primary School category, and Cheltenham Ladies’ College won the Gloucestershire Secondary category.

Organiser and Cheltenham magistrate, Lauren Bajdala-Brown, said: “We wanted to create a script this year that not only introduced children to the UK Justice System, but which would also serve as an educational tool to help children understand the impact of their actions and the huge responsibility attached to having a smartphone.

“The response to the script has been fantastic and we were delighted to be welcoming 20 schools from across Cheltenham and Gloucester to compete – our biggest year yet.”

Nathalie Dawson, University of Gloucestershire Careers and Employability Officer, said: “We were delighted to welcome so many schools to the University of Gloucestershire for this year’s competition.

“Events like the Gloucestershire Mock Trial Competition are a fantastic way to bring the University together with schools and community partners across the county.

“It was great to see our Law student volunteers supporting the event and gaining valuable experience of courtroom processes, communication and public engagement, while younger pupils were able to visit campus and take part in such an engaging introduction to the justice system.”

Image: left to right, Nathalie Dawson (UoG Careers and Employability Officer), Maariyah Mulla (UoG Outreach), Dhanya Patel (Law student), Lauren Bajdala-Brown (magistrate), Michele Eccles (magistrate)