THE host of BBC's Question Time, David Dimbleby, has launched a national competition to find a young member of the public to go head-to-head with politicians and public figures on the programme on Thursday, July 5.

To win a place on the panel, applicants must be aged 16 to 22 and submit a short mobile phone video clip explaining why they want to be on Question Time.

The deadline to enter is Monday June 11. For further information about entering the panel competition, applicants should visit www.bbc.co.uk/sqt.

The panellist competition is an important part of this year’s Schools Question Time Challenge.

The Challenge, supported by the BT Better World Campaign, the Institute for Citizenship and the BBC, is a nationwide competition involving schools and colleges staging their own debates based upon the BBC One Question Time format. The Schools Question Time Challenge is now in its fourth year.

Two students from each of the four winning schools in the Challenge will work with David Dimbleby and the Question Time production team on July 5 to produce the real BBC Question Time programme.

Pupils from Denbigh School in Milton Keynes, Ilford Ursuline High School in Essex, Ringwood School in Hampshire and Whitby Community College in Whitby will be involved in all aspects, from making editorial decisions to researching and taking on production roles for the programme.

The students want to find an articulate, well informed young debater who is passionate about the important local, national and international issues that affect them as citizens.

Jack Taylor, from Whitby Community College, said: “Entering our School's Question Time panel competition gives you a real opportunity to express your views and confront the people who can make the difference to the things that matter to you."

"Get yourself involved and become the spokesperson for your generation."

Mr Dimbleby said: “Once again we will have a young member of the public voted onto the panel in our Schools Question Time programme.

"It springs from the interest in politics that young people show – not in what happens in Westminster necessarily but in the politics of the wider world and the big issues that they face. The nature of political debate is changing all the time.

"More than ever before it is conducted through web sites and chat rooms. Having one young member of the panel reflects this.”

From all the entries, the best ten applicants for the panel competition will have their mobile phone video clip uploaded to the BBC Question Time website and the general public will be able to vote for the top four candidates.

These four candidates will be invited to an audition in a TV studio in London where the Schools Question Time Challenge students will select the overall winner to join the Question Time panel.

Further information about the Question Time panel competition and the Schools Question Time Challenge can be found at: www.bbc.co.uk/sqt and www.bt.com/education/schoolsqt.

All UK schools can still benefit from the Schools Question Time Challenge even if they did not enter the competition by downloading BT’s free resources from www.bt.com/education/schoolsqt.

The educational resources include teacher’s notes, lesson plans and activities. The resources aim to help pupils form opinions, improve their speaking and listening skills and engage with the issues that affect them as citizens.