Tracing its origins back to 1794 and established under the current name in 1890,[1] it is the oldest continuously operating debate society of its kind in the English-speaking world (predated only by the College Historical Society at Trinity College Dublin which ceased operations for a period beginning in 1794) and the oldest as a whole in the United Kingdom.

In 2015, the society became the first in Scotland to win the European Universities Debating Championship, a competition that they compete at every year.

To remedy this, Article 3 of the Literary Society's 1832 constitution imposed a one shilling fee per semester and fines varying in severity for lateness, absence, or the use of 'improper language'.

Initially, there was no president of the Society and meetings were chaired by each member in rotation, taking place in St Salvator's Quadrangle.

[8] The Parliamentary and Dialectic Society prided itself on allowing female members to speak at debates, and restricting the input of male speakers on sensitive issues, which led to it losing the backing of the Students' Union in 1932.

[7] In 1932 the society elected to re-create the Debates Board, in order to regain some independence from the Students' Union.

[8] Following this move, the board began to host Parliamentary and Inter-Varsity Debating Competitions, the first of which drew participants from Dublin, Aberdeen, Aberystwyth, Durham, and Liverpool.

In recent years, turnout at the Society's debates has been good drawing in speakers from across the UK and, occasionally, from abroad.

Major successes include reaching the final of the European Universities Debating Championships in 2007 and winning a number of domestic competitions.

At the Vienna 2015 European Championships, Alex Don and Ruairidh MacIntosh placed first and second respectively on the speaker tab and were the first team from a Scottish institution to win the competition.

Internationally, Parth Pandya and Alastair Bowyer broke 25th out of 48 teams to the octo-finals of World Universities Debating Championship 2023 held in Madrid.

All positions (save the Media, Treasurer and Equity Officers) are elected in the AGM held in Spring.

The Board of Ten is led and chaired by the President and Convener and consists of: President and Convener; the Treasurer; the Chief Whip; the Chair of Ways and Means; the Clerk; the Steward to the House (Social Secretary); the Media Officers (2); the Diversity and Inclusion Officer; the Director of Student Development and Activities; and the Parent(s) of the House.

They are responsible for the planning and organising of the wider society interaction with the St Andrews University student community.

At this stage a vote is taken by 'oral acclamation' — the announcement of which is met with a cry of 'Oohh', and after a vote the convenor generally believes to be closer than is apparent to the rest of the House (who nearly always believe that the 'nays' have it, which would result in the minutes being read in full), the minutes are taken as read, and the convenor requested to 'resign' on the basis of having effectively overruled the House.

The Gaudeamus used to be sung at the end of each debate, as the Board of Ten and speakers process out of the chamber but now they simply rise and leave at the command of the President.