By Bessie Wedgwood BBC News website

The winners of the Schools Question Time Challenge 2005 are about to see the result of months of their hard work. Eight pupils from four schools have been working alongside David Dimbleby and his production team to produce a special edition of the programme.

Schools QT 2005

Question: when is it acceptable to discriminate by age?

Answer: When you are students producing a special edition of BBC One's Question Time programme.

Whether the teenage producers of this event will have the option of including such a question in their programme is still an unknown.

But on Thursday night at 10.35pm the waiting will be over - as the broadcast of their programme tops off a year's worth of preparation for, and participation in, the Schools Question Time Challenge.

The eight students - from four different schools across the UK - have already attracted controversy over their decision to restrict audience members to 50% 14-25-year-olds and 50% over 50s.

"Is it an attempt to banish their parents' generation from criticising?" suspects one disgruntled correspondent to the programme.

The students all concede it is a risky strategy in terms of the overall success of the programme. But the two in charge of managing the audience insist the risk is worth it.

Marcus Trotter, at 15 the youngest student producer, says: "We wanted to improve on last year's event when all the audience members were under 25.

"Someone had an idea for a young audience to come with their parents - but we thought the parents might dominate too much. We wanted to avoid our parents' generation."

Generational dialogue

Coming to these decisions was, naturally, far from a straightforward process.

Question Time has a reputation for confrontation, but what is often just as interesting is the alliances that arise on the panel Ric Bailey, executive editor

James Laws, who will be in the producer role behind David Dimbleby for the programme, says: "It's a good idea in theory, but we don't know what will happen.

"We chose this because it was risky - we wanted to have an influence."

Ric Bailey, executive editor of the programme for the BBC, says it has never been done before.

"I have no idea how it will work but this is very important for the students.

"Although in many ways they're producing a normal Question Time, the challenge is to make it distinctive. And there are limited ways in which to do that.

"They wanted to be different from last year. The key thing was they wanted a dialogue between the different generations.

"Question Time has a reputation for confrontation, but what is often just as interesting is the alliances that arise on the panel.

"Sometimes there are peculiar agreements - and this may work in the same way with the audience. It's a really interesting idea."

Student apathy

A fact that may come as a surprise to some, only 39% of the electorate aged between 18 and 34 voted in the last general election.

These students, however, are clearly hoping to help reverse this trend.

Among their ranks are an aspiring Tory prime minister, a soon-to-be medical student, some who are particularly interested in a media career and others who simply wanted to broaden their experience in terms of the citizenship curriculum they all follow.

Despite their different backgrounds, their goals for the programme are similar.

Marcus wants "just to show that young people are capable of something like this. We shouldn't be underestimated."

James believes "the government and the media single out young people and don't allow them to engage in politics before they're 18.

"They need get young people involved earlier on."

Final preparations

As the main editorial meeting of the day gets underway, editor Nick Pisani encourages the students: "It's a free-for-all - you must express your views."

There is still no consensus on whether the two audience groups will sit separately or not, and David Dimbleby considers the dangers of stereotyping: "Isn't it obvious who's old and who's young without putting them into blocks?"

SCHOOLS QUESTION TIME Thursday 30 June, 2005 BBC One, 22:35 BST Enter next year's challenge

But the debate and preparations continue.

Marcus, who shares the job of audience producer with Rachel Jenkins, has only two worries: that the audience will not turn up, or that Manchester United fans who have been protesting against the Glazer takeover will try to monopolise the audience.

And there have been mutterings of dissent - albeit good natured - over the choice of panel, with two students so keen on Anne Widdecombe they could be mistaken for members of a fan club.

The choice of Otis Ferry has raised eyebrows too, and the panel dynamic between the man who invaded the House of Commons and Tony Benn - devoted to the sanctity of Parliament - could prove interesting.

Student panel producer Emma Lavery remains confident: "We've definitely got the best panel", she says, and her co-producer Chris Bone agrees.

Overall, the one emotion that the students keep mentioning is: "very excited".

Ric Bailey says the best is yet to come, when the editors select the questions from the audience, which are always a surprise until just before the programme.

"Choosing the questions is the most challenging moment, when you're up against time pressure, even in a normal week.

"The students haven't lived through the adrenaline yet of having the questions come in just before going on air.

"They'll have to make decisions, they'll get ratty and argumentative - it's a real crunch moment."

The buck, of course, stops ultimately with the editor. Craig Klessa, one of the student editors, has decided there is "no point" being nervous anymore.

"It will be interesting to see how it goes and how it is different from other Question Times, especially how the audience reacts.

"I think it's a good idea to make it risky - it means the programme will be different.

"I've seen how rushed the producers get towards the end of a programme. I hope I don't make a mistake with a question - it's a lot of responsibility."

Co-editor Lizzie Schofield reflects: "I hope the audience will provide some tension. I'm not worried though - it will work really well."

The Schools Question Time programme for 2005 will be broadcast on Thursday, 30 June, at 2235 BST on BBC One.

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