The pupils are due to go head-to-head for the Crown Office’s national schools public speaking competition crown.

The final will take place on Wednesday, June 10, in Parliament House.

Making it to the last hurdle are Jamie Cranstoun and Sam Wailes of Lesmahagow High School, Lanarkshire, Sorley Harrower and Connie Daley of Shawlands Academy in Glasgow and Clara Boyd and Navya Joshi of Trinity High School, Renfrewshire.

And the thought-provoking topic they will debate is: “If you were the new equalities minister for Scotland, what is the most pressing inequality you would tackle – why and how?”

In closely-fought semi-finals, Shawlands Academy defeated Preston Lodge High School, Lesmahagow High School overcame Wallace High and Trinity High School came out on top over Aberdeen Grammar.

The competition started in Glasgow in 2012 and quickly became popular with pupils and teachers.

It represents part of the work done by Scotland’s prosecution service to improve understanding of equality and diversity issues.

It is also part of the service’s strategy to reach out to communities and young people in Scotland and engage them in healthy discussion and debate on important issues related to the work of COPFS.

This year’s competition involved 96 teams from 57 schools from across Scotland.

The outcome of this year’s final will rest on the judges, who will include John Logue, crown agent, and Lesslie Young, chief executive Epilepsy Scotland.