Editing University Challenge (section)

==Gameplay==
[[File:Universitychallenge2023.jpg|thumb|alt=Screenshot of Amol Rajan's first episode, featuring Trinity College, Cambridge and the University of Manchester. |From a 2023 episode of ''University Challenge'']]

===Teams===
Teams consist of four members and most represent a single [[List of British universities|university]]. The exceptions to this are [[collegiate university|colleges]] of the [[University of Oxford]], the [[University of Cambridge]], the [[University of London]] and formerly the [[University of Wales]] which enter independent teams. While a number of other British universities have constituent colleges, only those where some teaching is undertaken at the college level may enter independent teams. The competing teams each year are selected by the show's producers, based both on scores from a general trivia quiz and the producers' judging of the suitability of the teams for television.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bradley|first1=Wendy|title=I'm gutted about University Challenge. And it's got nothing to do with Paxman|website=[[TheGuardian.com]]|date=15 September 2014|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/15/gutted-university-challenge-paxman-diversity|access-date=25 March 2015}}</ref> Oxford and Cambridge ("Oxbridge") colleges are prevalent in the competition: for instance, of the Christmas series between 2011 and 2022, Oxbridge colleges represented one-quarter of teams and three-quarters of winners.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/dec/18/bbc-called-to-defend-elitist-format-of-university-challenge|title=BBC called to defend 'elitist' format of University Challenge|work=[[The Guardian]]|last=Weaver|first=Matthew|date=18 December 2023|accessdate=9 April 2024}}</ref>

The contestants are identified by their surnames during gameplay, apart from at the beginning when they introduce themselves with their full names, where they are from and what they are studying.

The teams generally consist of mixed genders, mostly young adults but with some mature students also appearing.

===Tournament structure===
The current tournament format used for each series is that of a direct [[tournament#Knockout tournaments|knockout tournament]] starting with 28 teams. The fourteen first-round winners progress directly to the last sixteen. Two [[repechage]] matches, involving the four highest scoring losing teams from the first round, whose losing scores often exceed winning scores in other first-round matches, fill the remaining places in the last sixteen. Teams in the quarter-final round (last eight teams) have to win two matches in the round to progress to the semi-finals. Equally, teams must lose two quarter-final matches in order to be eliminated from that round. The pairings for matches are often chosen in order to keep stronger teams apart.<ref>{{Cite book|title=On University Challenge (Illustrated) |url=http://lystellion.livejournal.com/84288.html |publisher=Jacob Funnell |access-date=15 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110820093946/http://lystellion.livejournal.com/84288.html |archive-date=20 August 2011}}</ref>

===Question format===
Starter questions are answered individually and are worth ten points. The catchphrase "your starter for ten" inspired [[David Nicholls (writer)|David Nicholls]]' 2003 novel ''[[Starter for Ten (novel)|Starter for Ten]]'' and the 2006 [[Starter for 10 (film)|film]] based on it starring [[James McAvoy]]. An incorrect interruption of a starter question incurs a five-point penalty; during the ITV series this took the form of five points being awarded to the opposing team, whereas in the BBC series five points are deducted from the interrupting team.

The team answering a starter correctly gets a set of three bonus questions worth a potential fifteen points, for which they can confer. Sets of bonus questions are thematically linked. They rarely share a connection with the preceding starter question, except when they are bonuses following a picture or music question. Generally, there are three separate bonus questions worth five points each, but occasionally a bonus will require the enumeration of a given list with five, ten or fifteen points given for correctly giving a certain number of items from the list (for example, "there are seven [[SI base unit|fundamental SI units]]. Give five for five points, six for ten points or all seven for fifteen points"). It is the team captain's responsibility to give the answer to the bonus questions unless another member of the team is specified with the phrase "Nominate [name]". The team member so named may then give the answer instead.

In the course of a game there are two picture rounds (occurring roughly one quarter and three-quarters of the way through) and one music round (at the halfway point), where the subsequent bonuses are connected thematically to the starter; if a picture or music starter is not correctly answered, the accompanying bonus questions are held back until a normal starter is correctly answered. Usually, in the recent contests, the first picture round focuses on science and technology, geography, and languages, while the second picture round focuses on art, film, television, and literature.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}} Pieces of music played for the music round may be classical or popular – for example, on 25 July 2011, the pieces played were winners of the [[Eurovision Song Contest]]. Occasionally, audio clips other than music (e.g. speech, animal sounds or other field recordings) are used. The 2010 Manchester University team included a [[visual impairment|visually impaired]] student, Rachael Neiman, and the picture rounds in episodes involving the team were [[word puzzle]]s for which she was provided with [[Braille]] transcriptions.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/blind-rachaels-new-challenge-882298 |title=Blind Rachael's new Challenge |last=Bentley |first=Paul |author2=Kathryn Faulkner |date=4 February 2010 |work=South Manchester Reporter |access-date=10 March 2010}}</ref> In the 7th episode of the 2024 Christmas series, three audio rounds replaced the usual picture rounds to accommodate two visually impaired participants, [[Jamie MacDonald (Scottish comedian)|Jamie MacDonald]] and [[Halima Begum]]. These audio rounds included identifying bird songs, depictions of snow in classical music and songs featured on the 1974 [[Pazz & Jop]] list.

The pace of questioning gradually increases through the show. The sound of a [[gong]] signals the end of the game. At this point, the game immediately ends, even if the quizmaster is halfway through asking a question. In the event of a tied score at the sound of the gong, a [[sudden death (sport)|sudden death]] question is asked, the first team to answer correctly being deemed the winner; this is repeated until a team either gives a correct answer to a question or is deducted five points for an incorrect interruption to a question. The ending of the programme is usually signified with the quizmaster saying, "It's goodbye from ([name of losing team], who say goodbye), it's goodbye from ([name of winning team], likewise), and it's goodbye from me: goodbye!" Afterwards, during the closing credits Rajan sometimes walks over and confers with the losing team.

===Production===
While the starter questions are being read out, the teams are shown on screen one above the other by means of a split-screen effect. When a player buzzes in, the shot zooms in to that player, accompanied by a voiceover identifying the player by team and surname, for example "Nottingham, Munro". The voiceovers are performed live in the studio by [[Roger Tilling]] and become more energetic towards the end of the programme. The 1986 series experimented with an actual two-tier set, which was discontinued the following year.