Kenza Wilks has much to celebrate during his holidays back home in Bermuda from studies in Britain.

The former Somersfield student, now 18, captained the England debate team to victory at this year's World Schools Debating Competition.

In a twist, taking the trophy required Kenza and his four team-mates to outdo Bermuda's team at the showdown in Stuttgart, Germany.

“They spotted me — one of their team had bumped into my dad, Glen, a few weeks before; I remembered how small Bermuda is.”

Kenza's team came up against Bermuda in a motion on whether criminal court cases should be televised.

In the grand final against Canada, the England team had to debate the question of states paying other states to resettle refugees.

“Under the lights, the cameras of news broadcasters, on the stage of the Stuttgart opera house, we managed to convince six of the nine judges that we were the winning team, and with that won the world championships.”

Kenza, who now attends Dulwich College in the UK, credited the talents of team-mates Archie Hall, Rosa Thomas, Edward Bracey and Ife Grillo for bringing them to triumph through two “gruelling” weeks.

“They're the reason we won, with the fantastic work that they did.”