Editing University Challenge

{{Short description|British TV quiz (since 1962)}}
{{about|the British series|the New Zealand series|University Challenge (New Zealand TV series){{!}}''University Challenge'' (New Zealand TV series)|the ''Peep Show'' episode|University Challenge (Peep Show){{!}}University Challenge (''Peep Show'')}}
{{pp-dispute|small=yes}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox television
| image                = University Challenge TV card.png
| genre                = [[Quiz show]]
| presenter            = {{plainlist|
* [[Bamber Gascoigne]]
* [[Jeremy Paxman]]
* [[Amol Rajan]]
}}
| voices               = {{plainlist|
* Don Murray-Henderson
* [[Jim Pope]]
* [[Roger Tilling]]
}}
| country              = United Kingdom
| language             = English
| num_series           = 53
| num_episodes         = 1,792<ref>This figure included all episodes from both the ITV and BBC series, as well as the 2002 ''Reunited'' series and all special episodes. The figure does not include the spin-off ''University Challenge: The Professionals''.</ref>{{clarify|date=October 2016}}
| location             = {{plainlist|
* [[Granada Studios]] (1962–2013)
* [[Dock10 (television facility)|Dock10 studios]] (2013–present)
}}
| runtime              = 30 minutes
| theme_music_composer = Derek New
| opentheme            = "Ting A Ling" performed by [[Duke Ellington]] (1962–1963)<br/>"College Boy" performed by: Derek New (1963–2000)<br/>the [[Balanescu Quartet]] (2000–present)
| company              = {{plainlist|
* [[ITV Granada|Granada Television]] (1962–2009)
* [[ITV Studios|ITV Studios Entertainment]] (2009–2020)
* [[ITV Studios#Lifted Entertainment|Lifted Entertainment]] (2021–present)
}}
| channel              = [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]]
| first_aired          = {{start date|df=y|1962|9|21}}
| last_aired           = {{end date|df=y|1987|12|31}}
| channel2             = [[BBC Two]]
| first_aired2         = {{start date|df=y|1992|12|28}}
| last_aired2          = present
| related              = {{plainlist|
* ''[[College Bowl]]''
* ''University Challenge: The Professionals''
* ''[[The 3rd Degree (radio series)|The 3rd Degree]]''
* ''[[Christmas University Challenge]]''
}} 
}}
'''''University Challenge''''' is a British television [[game show|quiz programme]] which first aired in 1962. ''University Challenge'' aired for 913 episodes on [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] from 21 September 1962 to 31 December 1987, presented by quizmaster [[Bamber Gascoigne]]. The BBC revived the programme on 21 September 1994, the programme's 32nd anniversary, with [[Jeremy Paxman]] as the quizmaster. Paxman relinquished his role as host following the conclusion of the [[University Challenge 2022–23|52nd series]] in 2023, and was succeeded by [[Amol Rajan]].

The current title holders are [[Christ's College, Cambridge]], who won their first title in the final of the [[University Challenge 2024–25|2024-25 series]] on 12 May 2025. On 21 April 2023, the BBC unveiled a new set and title card, which debuted on Rajan's first episode, aired on 17 July 2023.

The show has always been produced by the same company (originally named [[Granada Television]], renamed [[ITV Studios]] in 2009 and renamed again [[Lifted Entertainment]] in 2021), under licence from Richard Reid Productions and the [[College Bowl]] Company.<ref>{{cite web|title=Richard Reid Productions|url=http://www.universitychallenge.com/|website=University Challenge|access-date=27 April 2016}}</ref> It was recorded at [[Granada Studios]] in [[Manchester]] from its inception until the studios closed in 2013; it is now recorded at [[Dock10 (television facility)|Dock10 studios]] in [[City of Salford|Salford]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.salfordnow.co.uk/2020/12/17/christmas-tv-specials-filmed-in-salford/|accessdate=26 April 2021|title=Christmas TV specials filmed in Salford this year|work=Salford Now|first=Callum|last=Metcalfe|date=17 December 2020}}</ref>

==History==
===Format continuity===
Despite periodic changes to the sets, studio layout, and presentation, ''University Challenge'' has preserved a high level of continuity from 1962 to the present. Some commentators have cited this as an essential element of its success.<ref name=mount>See [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/10748721/Dont-ever-change-University-Challenge.html Don't ever change, University Challenge] by Harry Mount, the Daily Telegraph, 7 April 2014.</ref> Elements of this continuity include:
*The longevity of its quizmasters, with only three presenters in the programme's history;
*The split-screen presentation during the starter question phase, which appears to place one team physically above the other. In the final years of the original Bamber Gascoigne era, the studio set genuinely was two-tiered, although the split-screen effect returned for the revived series and has been used ever since;
*Long serving voiceover announcers, with only three in the programme's history – Don Murray-Henderson from 1962 until his death in 1971, then [[Jim Pope]] until his death in 2001, then [[Roger Tilling]]. Tilling's delivery typically becomes increasingly high-pitched as the episode progresses;<ref>{{youTube|HjFENtIZCjM|Roger Tilling Interview BBC Breakfast April 2017}}</ref>
*The theme tune "College Boy" by Derek New, which has been with the series since the 1960s (although the first series used "Ting A Ling" by [[Duke Ellington]]).<ref name=mount/><ref name="ting">{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3wF_vf1JDI|title=University Challenge Intros – 1962–2022 (UK, NZ & Aus)|publisher=University Challenge|date=26 Jan 2022|accessdate=21 August 2023}}</ref> "College Boy" was originally scored for an ensemble of [[tubular bells]], [[flugelhorn]], [[harpsichord]], brushed [[hi-hat]], [[bass drum]] and [[double bass]]. The original theme returned for the early Paxman-era episodes and was later replaced by a [[string quartet]] arrangement of the theme recorded by the [[Balanescu Quartet]].

===ITV (1962 to 1987)===
[[File:Bamber Gascoigne.JPG|thumb|right|[[Bamber Gascoigne]] hosted the original series of ''University Challenge'' from 1962 to 1987 and the 1992 Granadaland special.]]
The programme had its beginnings in an American television quiz show called ''[[College Bowl]]''. Cecil Bernstein, brother of [[Sidney Bernstein, Baron Bernstein|Sidney Bernstein]] who founded [[ITV Granada|Granada Television]] in 1954, had seen the programme in the United States and liked the format. It was decided that Granada would produce a similar programme with competing teams from universities across the United Kingdom.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Made in Manchester: University Challenge celebrates 50 years on our screens |last=Taylor |first=Paul |url=http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/tv_and_showbiz/s/1588567_made-in-manchester-university-challenge-celebrates-50-years-on-our-screens |newspaper=Manchester Evening News |date=12 September 2012 |access-date=12 September 2012 |archive-date=19 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019041342/http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/tv_and_showbiz/s/1588567_made-in-manchester-university-challenge-celebrates-50-years-on-our-screens |url-status=dead }}</ref> From its inception in 1962, ''University Challenge'' was hosted by [[Bamber Gascoigne]], who died in 2022. The programme's first match was a match between the [[University of Leeds]] (featuring a pre-famed Ian Channell, better known as [[The Wizard of New Zealand]]) and the [[University of Reading]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=University Challenge – 1963 |url=https://blanchflower.org/uc/uc63.html |access-date=2023-05-29 |website=blanchflower.org}}</ref> The show was a cult favourite with a small but loyal core audience, and was one of a select few ITV programmes that was transmitted without any advertising breaks. Originally, the series started off in many areas, being broadcast at peak times or just after the nightly news around 22:30; by the early 1970s, the series was relegated to irregular timeslots by the various ITV regional companies, with some broadcasting the show during daytime, at weekends or late at night. In the absence of a regular networked slot, audience figures would often fall, leading the producers to make changes to the long-standing format of the programme. [[London Weekend Television|LWT]] stopped broadcasting the show in October 1983, with [[Thames Television|Thames]] following suit shortly afterwards.<ref>The Times (London, England), Wednesday, 12 Oct 1983; pg. 14;</ref> Thames resumed screening the series in 1984 however they only screened the Quarter-finals To the final in December 1984, when it was networked for the first time. 

The programme was not broadcast in 1985 and returned in April 1986, when it continued to networked by ITV and broadcast at 15:00 on weekdays. The gameplay was revised, initial games were staged over two legs; the first in the classic format and the second played as a relay, where contestants selected questions from specific categories such as sport, literature and science, passing a baton between players whenever a "lap" of two correct answers was scored. The final series was also networked, but broadcast around 11:00 during the summer holiday period. Even so, the new networked time did little to save the series from the axe. The last ITV series was broadcast in 1987.

The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge could each enter up to five of their constituent colleges as separate teams, which are not themselves universities: they have far fewer students – numbering in the hundreds rather than thousands – than most universities. This was one ostensible inspiration for a 1975 protest, in which a team from the [[Victoria University of Manchester|University of Manchester]] (which included [[David Aaronovitch]]) came second to [[Downing College, Cambridge]], when they started a round by answering every question "[[Che Guevara]]", "[[Karl Marx|Marx]]", "[[Leon Trotsky|Trotsky]]" or "[[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]]", in the hope of making the resulting show unbroadcastable.<ref name=UNperMD>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01m49vh|title=Your Starter for Ten: 50 Years of University Challenge|author1=[[Mark Damazer]] (presenter)|author2=Jo Meek (producer)|publisher=BBC ("Radio 4 Extra")|access-date=24 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=BBC tightens University Challenge rules in response to fiasco |last=Gallagher |first=Paul |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jun/21/university-challenge-rules-television |newspaper=The Guardian |date=21 June 2009 |access-date=6 January 2012}}</ref>
It was, however, broadcast, although only portions of the episode still exist in the Granada Television archives. Granada subsequently banned the University of Manchester for several years.<ref>{{Cite news |title='University Challenge' Won By Manchester Team for Third Time |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/03/19/university-challenge-won-manchester_n_1364276.html |work=[[HuffPost]]|date=19 March 2012 |access-date=19 March 2012}}</ref>

===BBC===
[[File:Jeremy Paxman at the Forward Prizes judging meeting 2014 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|[[Jeremy Paxman]] hosted ''University Challenge'' from 1994 to 2023 and ''[[Christmas University Challenge|its Christmas spin-off]]'' from 2011 to 2022.]]
[[File:Angus Deayton.jpg|thumb|right|[[Angus Deayton]] hosted the 2003 and 2005 ''[[Comic Relief]]'' editions of ''University Challenge''.]]
[[File:Secret Comedy Podcast - 3 August 2013 - 11 (9430466386) (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|[[David Baddiel]] hosted the 2019 ''Comic Relief'' edition of ''University Challenge''.]]
[[File:Kirsty_wark_podium.jpg|thumb|right|[[Kirsty Wark]] hosted the 2020 and 2021 ''[[Children in Need]]'' editions of ''University Challenge''.]]
''University Challenge'' was revived by the [[BBC]] in 1994, although still produced by Granada Television (branded since 2009 as ITV Studios), using the original format, with minor differences, and presented by [[Jeremy Paxman]].

During the show's hiatus, a special edition of the show was made by the BBC, as part of a themed evening of programmes dedicated to Granada Television. It was presented by Bamber Gascoigne and broadcast on [[BBC Two|BBC2]] on 28 December 1992. The teams included one of students from [[Keble College, Oxford]], which had fielded the winning team in the final 1987 season, and a graduates team of celebrity alumni who had previously appeared on the programme as students, including journalist [[John Simpson (journalist)|John Simpson]] and actor [[Stephen Fry]]. This show was preceded by a short documentary about the show's history. Bamber Gascoigne's final appearance as host was in ''Universe Challenge'' in 1998 (see below).

Paxman relinquished his role as host following the conclusion of the [[University Challenge 2022–23|52nd series]] in 2023, after which he was succeeded by [[Amol Rajan]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Minelle |first=Bethany |date=18 August 2022 |title=Amol Rajan replaces Jeremy Paxman as University Challenge host |url=https://news.sky.com/story/amol-rajan-replaces-jeremy-paxman-as-university-challenge-host-12675786 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818122123/https://news.sky.com/story/amol-rajan-replaces-jeremy-paxman-as-university-challenge-host-12675786 |archive-date=18 August 2022 |access-date=18 August 2022 |website=Sky News}}</ref> In October 2022, an ITV documentary, ''Paxman: Putting Up With Parkinson's'', explored how [[Parkinson's disease]] has impacted him<ref>{{Cite web |last=MD |first=Peter Grinspoon |date=2018-08-24 |title=Cannabidiol (CBD): What we know and what we don't |url=https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/cannabidiol-cbd-what-we-know-and-what-we-dont-2018082414476 |access-date=2022-10-04 |website=Harvard Health |language=en}}</ref> and revealed that Paxman recorded his last episode of ''University Challenge'' on 15 October 2022, which aired on 29 May 2023.<ref>{{Citation |title=Paxman: Putting Up With Parkinson's – Paxman: Putting Up With Parkinson's |url=https://www.itv.com/hub/paxman-putting-up-with-parkinsons/10a2082a0001 |language=en |access-date=2022-10-04}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-04 |title=TV tonight: Jeremy Paxman on Parkinson's, dissecting brains and quitting University Challenge |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/oct/04/tv-tonight-jeremy-paxman-on-parkinsons-dissecting-brains-and-quitting-university-challenge |access-date=2022-10-04 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref>

On 21 April 2023, the BBC unveiled a new set and title card, which debuted on Rajan's first episode, which aired on 17 July 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |title=First look images of new University Challenge set and host Amol Rajan |url=https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/2023/university-challenge-first-look-new-set-amol-rajan |access-date=2023-05-31 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=BBC Two – University Challenge, 2023/24, Trinity College, Cambridge v Manchester |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001nxvc |website=[[BBC Online]] |access-date=5 July 2023}}</ref>

====Postgraduates====
Since its revival in 1994, the programme has featured a number of teams of [[postgraduate]] and [[mature students]], whose participation has been criticised.<ref>{{Cite news|author=Nicole Martin|title=University Challenge 'needs upper age limit' &#91;print version: Your starter for 10: how old are these students?&#93;|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/14/nstudents114.xml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214211352/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2007%2F12%2F14%2Fnstudents114.xml|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 December 2007|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=17 December 2007|orig-year=14 December 2007|page=14|location=London|access-date=12 October 2021}}</ref> The [[Open University]] won the 1999 series with a team with an average age of 46. In the quarter-final, they narrowly beat a slightly younger team from part-time and mature student specialist [[Birkbeck, University of London]]. Birkbeck won the competition in 2003, also with a substantially mature team. Host [[Jeremy Paxman]] said that the Open University team was "not in the spirit" of the competition.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Paxman Slams 'Quiz Professionals'|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/361491.stm|publisher=BBC News|date=5 June 1999}}</ref> The team publicly replied by challenging him to specify in what way this was "contrary to the spirit of the quiz – or of the university".<ref>"How Lance Left Paxman at a Loss for Words" – Mensa Magazine, August, 1999</ref>

====Ineligible contestants====
In 2009, [[Sam Kay]], part of the team from [[Corpus Christi College, Oxford]], was accused of not being a student when the show was filmed.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/university-challenge-winners-dethroned/2000957.article|title= University Challenge winners dethroned|publisher=Broadcast|author=Michael Rosser|date=2009-03-02}}</ref> Kay, who had completed a [[chemistry]] degree the previous summer, had been planning to go on to study for a [[Doctor of Philosophy]], but dropped out as he did not have sufficient funding. He then became an [[accountant]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7917481.stm|title= BBC in University Challenge probe|publisher=BBC|date=1 March 2009|access-date=1 March 2009}}</ref> The team, whose captain [[Gail Trimble]] was dubbed the "human [[Google]]",<ref>{{cite news|url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/latestnews/University-Challenge-winners--stripped.5030768.jp|title=University Challenge winners stripped of title – for having zero common sense|newspaper=[[The Scotsman]]|author=Brian Ferguson|date=3 March 2009|access-date=3 March 2009}}</ref> won the competition but was subsequently disqualified and the trophy awarded to the runners-up, the University of Manchester.<ref name=BBC-Disqualification>{{cite press release | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2009/03_march/02/challenge.shtml | title = University Challenge: a joint statement from the BBC and Granada | date = 2 March 2009 | access-date = 2 March 2009 | work = BBC Press Office | publisher = BBC}}</ref>

A few days later, it was also revealed that Charles Markland, a member of the [[University Challenge 2008|2008 winning team]] from [[Christ Church, Oxford]], had transferred his studies to [[Balliol College, Oxford|Balliol College]] halfway through the series. He said that his team captain had contacted a researcher concerning the situation, and had been told that this was not a problem and that the same team should be maintained for continuity purposes.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7922672.stm|title= University quiz hit by new claims|publisher=BBC|date=4 March 2009|access-date=4 March 2009}}</ref> It was also revealed that Freya McClements, captain of the 2004 winning team from [[Magdalen College, Oxford]], was at the time studying at [[Trinity College, Dublin]]. Although it was mentioned in a BBC news story at the time, no action was taken because the BBC stated that the facts had not been brought to their attention.<ref>{{cite news|last=Holmwood|first=Leigh|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/mar/03/university-challenge-winners-break-rules|title=Previous University Challenge winners appear to break rules|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=3 March 2009|access-date=4 March 2009 | location=London}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/3622739.stm|title=Scholar tops university quiz|publisher=BBC|date=13 April 2004|access-date=4 March 2009}}</ref>

====Editing====
In 2016, at the [[Henley on Thames|Henley Literary Festival]], Jeremy Paxman said that, when students were unable to answer several consecutive starter questions, those questions were often deleted before the show is broadcast.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/shortcuts/2016/oct/05/your-starter-for-10-is-university-challenge-cheating-us |title=Your starter for 10 – is University Challenge cheating us? |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=5 October 2016 |work=The Guardian |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125212620/https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/shortcuts/2016/oct/05/your-starter-for-10-is-university-challenge-cheating-us |url-status=live |archive-date=25 January 2021 |access-date=25 January 2021}}</ref>

===In popular culture===
*In an episode of the BBC comedy series ''[[Not the Nine O'Clock News]]'', first broadcast on 15 December 1980, [[Griff Rhys Jones]] plays Bamber Gascoigne in a sketch that pitches two teams of criminals representing prisoners from [[HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs|Wormwood Scrubs]] and [[HM Prison Parkhurst|Parkhurst]]. The teams score "points" (remission of sentence) by "[[grassing]]" on possible suspects involved in a crime.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00cys6q|title=BBC Two – Not the Nine O'Clock News, Series 3, Episode 8|website=BBC|access-date=13 February 2019}}</ref>
*In 1984 an episode of ''[[The Young Ones (TV series)|The Young Ones]]'', entitled "[[Bambi (Young Ones episode)|Bambi]]" (a play on Bamber Gascoigne's name), centred on a parody of ''University Challenge'' with a match between the fictitious teams of Scumbag College and [[List of fictional Oxbridge colleges|Footlights College, Oxbridge]]. The cast included Stephen Fry, who participated in the real competition in 1980 while at Cambridge, and fellow alumni and [[Footlights]] members [[Emma Thompson]] and [[Hugh Laurie]] as part of the "Footlights College" team, and Griff Rhys Jones as the host. The teams are arranged physically one above the other, in a parody of the show's split-screen format.<ref>{{cite news|author=Jess Denham |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/rik-mayall-dead-actor-and-comedians-funniest-moments-9515759.html |title=Rik Mayall death anniversary: Funniest moments from Blackadder to The Young Ones &#124; Features &#124; Culture |newspaper=The Independent |access-date=18 April 2016}}</ref>
*A quiz themed around BBC science fiction situation comedy ''[[Red Dwarf]]'', broadcast in 1998, is entitled ''Universe Challenge''. It opens as if it were a regular episode, but with [[Chris Barrie]] impersonating Jeremy Paxman. Gascoigne comes from behind with a [[Blaster (Star Wars)|blaster gun]] and blows him out of the chair to take over as host. This was Gascoigne's last appearance as host.<ref>{{IMDb title|469215|Universe Challenge (1998)}}</ref>
*In a list of the [[100 Greatest British Television Programmes]] drawn up by the [[British Film Institute]] in 2000, voted for by industry professionals, ''University Challenge'' was placed 34th.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/list/ls000151593/ | title=The BFI TV 100 (2000) – a list | work=IMDb | date=11 April 2011 |orig-year= 12 February 2013 | access-date=9 November 2014 | author=deadmonger}}</ref>
* ''[[Starter for Ten (novel)|Starter For Ten]]'' is the title of a novel, first published in 2003, by British author [[David Nicholls (writer)|David Nicholls]]. The plot is about a first-year student, Brian Jackson, who attempts to join his university team competing in ''University Challenge''. Nicholls also adapted the novel into the film ''[[Starter for 10 (film)|Starter for 10]]'' in 2006, starring [[James McAvoy]] as Jackson, with [[Mark Gatiss]] portraying Gascoigne.
*In 2006 [[Armando Ianucci]]'s ''[[Time Trumpet]]'' presented a parody of ''University Challenge'', set in a future where students are 'too lazy to learn'; this parody was later referenced in an episode of the 2007–08 series of ''University Challenge'' by the team captain of [[SOAS, University of London|SOAS]], Joe Perry, who, not knowing the real answer, simply answered "Venezuela?"{{citation needed|date=October 2016}}
*The quiz was the subject of the hour-long BBC Two documentary ''The Story So Far'', first broadcast in November 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00793tb|title=The Story So Far, University Challenge – BBC Two|publisher=bbc.co.uk|access-date=12 December 2016}}</ref> 
* In 2014, a two part documentary narrated by [[Richard Osman]] called 'Class of 2014' outlined a brief history of the programme and the team selection process both within the universities and by the production staff. The documentary attracted some criticism due to the large emphasis on Oxbridge and Manchester during the programme.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tcs.cam.ac.uk/news/0032741-university-challenge-criticised-for-oxbridge-bias.html|title=University Challenge criticised for Oxbridge bias|date=14 July 2014|access-date=30 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202072448/http://www.tcs.cam.ac.uk/news/0032741-university-challenge-criticised-for-oxbridge-bias.html|archive-date=2 February 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* In March 2017 semi-finalist team captains [[Bobby Seagull]] of [[Emmanuel College, Cambridge]], and [[Eric Monkman]] of [[Wolfson College, Cambridge]], appeared on BBC One's ''[[The One Show]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/university-challenge-monkman-seagull_uk_58d8e3a8e4b02a2eaab5703f|title=Monkman Vs Seagull: A Potted History of the University Challenge Captains' Bromance|date=27 March 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2017-03-29/eric-monkman-belted-out-the-imperial-march-on-the-one-show-because-monkman|title=Eric Monkman belted out the Imperial March on The One Show, because Monkman|work=Radio Times }}</ref> In August 2017 the two were featured on BBC Radio 4's ''[[Today (BBC Radio 4)|Today]]'' programme<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05br52h|title=Monkman and Seagull on 'divine inspiration' for puzzles, Today – BBC Radio 4|website=BBC|date=7 August 2017 }}</ref> ahead of hosting their own show, ''Monkman and Seagull's Polymathic Adventure'', on 21 August.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40811103|title=University Challenge stars get own show|date=3 August 2017|work=BBC News}}</ref>
*In 2024, Amol Rajan's reply "We need [[Jungle music|jungle]], I’m afraid" was widely sampled by music producers, becoming a [[viral phenomenon]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/jan/13/we-need-jungle-im-afraid-how-university-challenge-went-viral-on-the-rave-scene|title='We need jungle, I'm afraid': how University Challenge went viral on the rave scene|first=James|last=Tapper|newspaper=The Observer |date=13 January 2024|via=The Guardian}}</ref>

==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.

==Notable contestants==
[[File:University Challenge - Pro-Celebrity edition (1992).jpg|thumb|right|Pro-Celebrity edition, 1992.]]
Notable contestants in the regular student competition. Special Celebrity Christmas editions, where all competitors are distinguished, are excluded.''

===Entertainers===
*[[Stephen Fry]] – [[Queens' College, Cambridge]], 1980
*[[Clive James]] – [[Pembroke College, Cambridge]], 1968<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/dec/10/clive-james-16-my-dress-sense-baroque-glory|title=Clive James: 'At 16, my dress sense was in the first full flower of its baroque glory'|first=Clive|last=James|date=10 December 2016|access-date=12 December 2016|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref>
*[[Miriam Margolyes]] – [[Newnham College, Cambridge]], 1963<ref name='brandreth'>{{cite book|title=Have You Eaten Grandma?|first=Gyles|last=Brandreth|page=135|publisher=Penguin|date=2018|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MZxnDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT135|access-date=31 March 2019|isbn=978-0241352656|author-link=Gyles Brandreth}}</ref>
*[[John Sessions]] – reserve for [[Bangor University|UCNW Bangor]], 1973
*[[June Tabor]] – [[St Hugh's College, Oxford]], 1968
*[[The Wizard of New Zealand]] (Ian Brackenbury Channell) – [[University of Leeds]], 1963<ref>{{youTube|2oZk6DWlw8I|Granada TV's "University Challenge" 1962/3}}</ref>

===Authors===
*[[Sebastian Faulks]] – [[Emmanuel College, Cambridge]], 1972
*[[Julian Fellowes]] – [[Magdalene College, Cambridge]], 1969
*[[David Starkey]] – [[Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge]]

===Politicians===
*[[Aaron Bell (politician)|Aaron Bell]] – [[St John's College, Oxford]], 2001
*[[Tim Boswell]] – [[New College, Oxford]]
*[[Damian Collins]] – [[St Benet's Hall, Oxford]], 1995
*[[Kwasi Kwarteng]] – [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], 1995
*[[David Lidington]] – [[Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge]], 1978
*[[David Mellor]] – [[Christ's College, Cambridge]]
*[[Malcolm Rifkind]] – [[University of Edinburgh]], 1967
*[[Mary Robinson]] – [[Trinity College Dublin]], 1966

===Journalists===
*[[David Aaronovitch]] – [[Victoria University of Manchester]], 1975
*[[John Authers]] – [[University College, Oxford]], 1987
*[[Christopher Hitchens]] – [[Balliol College, Oxford]], 1968<ref>Blake Morrison [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/may/29/hitch-22-christopher-hitchens-review I contain multitudes], [[The Guardian]], 29 May 2010</ref>
*[[Charles Moore (journalist)|Charles Moore]] – [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], 1978
*[[John Simpson (journalist)|John Simpson]] – [[Magdalene College, Cambridge]], 1964
*[[Josh Spero]] – [[Magdalen College, Oxford]], 2004

===Others===
*[[Brandon Blackwell]] (Quizzer / TV personality) – [[Imperial College London]], 2020
*[[Daisy Christodoulou]] (Teacher / Education campaigner) – [[University of Warwick]], 2007
*[[Patrick Finglass]] (Academic) – [[St John's College, Oxford]], 2001
*[[Alex Guttenplan]] (Academic) – [[Emmanuel College, Cambridge]], 2010
*[[Sarah Healey]] (Civil Servant) – [[Magdalen College, Oxford]], 1998
*[[Mark Labbett]] (Quizzer / TV personality) – [[University of Glamorgan]], 1997<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-11-05/meet-the-chasers-mark-labbett|title=Meet the Chasers: Mark Labbett|publisher=radiotimes.com|access-date=12 December 2016}}</ref>
*[[Eric Monkman]] (Academic / TV presenter) – [[Wolfson College, Cambridge]], 2017
*[[Mark Pallen]] (Academic) – [[Imperial College London]], 1996
*[[Jenny Ryan]] (Quizzer / TV personality) – [[University of Leeds]], 2003
*[[Bobby Seagull]] (Teacher / TV presenter) – [[Emmanuel College, Cambridge]], 2017
*[[Dorjana Širola]] (Quizzer) – [[Somerville College, Oxford]], 2002
*[[Michael Taylor (historian)|Michael Taylor]] (Historian) – [[Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge]], 2015
*[[Gail Trimble]] (Academic) – [[Corpus Christi College, Oxford]], 2009

==Winners==
The [[University of Manchester]] and [[Magdalen College, Oxford]] have both enjoyed four wins each, with [[Imperial College London]] having won a record five times.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/252554/imperial-wins-university-challenge-historic-fifth/|title=Imperial wins university challenge|website=Imperial|date=8 April 2024 }}</ref> The University of Manchester and Magdalen College, Oxford are also the only teams to successfully defend the title the year after their win (Manchester's 2009 win came only after the original winner was disqualified). Trinity College, Cambridge and Durham University hold three titles, and a further six institutions have two titles: Sussex, the Open University, Sidney Sussex–Cambridge, Keble–Oxford, University–Oxford and Warwick. At the time of Magdalen College, Oxford's third win in 2004, no other institution had won more than twice; the trophy in use since 1994 was given to the college in perpetuity and a new once created for use from 2005.

===ITV series===
{| class=wikitable
|-
!width=40|Year
!width=500|Winners
!width=500|Runners-up
|-
|1963
|[[University of Leicester]]
|[[Balliol College, Oxford]]
|-
|1965
|[[New College, Oxford]]
|[[Worcester College, Oxford]]
|-
|1966
|[[Oriel College, Oxford]]
|[[University of Birmingham]]
|-
|1967
|[[University of Sussex]]
|[[King's College London]]
|-
|1968
|[[Keele University]]
|[[Jesus College, Cambridge]]
|-
|1969
|[[University of Sussex]] <small>(2)</small>
|[[University of Essex]]
|-
|1970
|[[Churchill College, Cambridge]]
|[[Christ's College, Cambridge]]
|-
|1971
|[[Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge]]
|[[Trinity College, Oxford]]
|-
|1972
|[[University College, Oxford]]
|[[Keble College, Oxford]]
|-
|1973
|[[Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge]]
|[[Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge]]
|-
|1974
|[[Trinity College, Cambridge]]
|[[Balliol College, Oxford]]
|-
|1975
|[[Keble College, Oxford]]
|[[University of Hull]]
|-
|1976
|[[University College, Oxford]] <small>(2)</small>
|[[King's College London]]
|-
|1977
|[[Durham University]]
|[[New College, Oxford]]
|-
|1978
|[[Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge]] <small> (2) </small>
|[[Magdalene College, Cambridge]]
|-
|1979
|[[University of Bradford]]
|[[Lancaster University]]
|-
|1980
|[[Merton College, Oxford]]
|[[Queens' College, Cambridge]]
|-
|1981
|[[Queen's University Belfast]]
|[[University of Edinburgh]]
|-
|1982
|[[University of St Andrews]]
|[[University College, Oxford]]
|-
|1983
|[[University of Dundee]]
|[[Durham University]]
|-
|1984
|[[Open University|The Open University]]
|[[University of St Andrews]]
|-
|1986
|[[Jesus College, Oxford]]
|[[Imperial College London]]
|-
|1987
|[[Keble College, Oxford]] <small>(2)</small>
|[[University College, Oxford]]
|}

===BBC series===
{| class=wikitable
|-
!width=40|Year
!width=500|Winners
!width=500|Runners-up
|-
|[[University Challenge 1994–95|1995]]
|[[Trinity College, Cambridge]] <small>(2)</small>
|[[New College, Oxford]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 1995–96|1996]]
|[[Imperial College London]]
|[[London School of Economics]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 1996–97|1997]]
|[[Magdalen College, Oxford]]
|[[Open University|The Open University]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 1997–98|1998]]
|[[Magdalen College, Oxford]] <small>(2)</small>
|[[Birkbeck, University of London]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 1998–99|1999]]
|[[Open University|The Open University]] <small>(2)</small>
|[[Oriel College, Oxford]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 1999–2000|2000]]
|[[Durham University|University of Durham]] <small>(2)</small>
|[[Oriel College, Oxford]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 2000–01|2001]]
|[[Imperial College London]] <small>(2)</small>
|[[St John's College, Oxford]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 2001–02|2002]]
|[[Somerville College, Oxford]]
|[[Imperial College London]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 2002–03|2003]]
|[[Birkbeck, University of London]]
|[[Cranfield University]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 2003–04|2004]]
|[[Magdalen College, Oxford]] <small>(3)</small>
|[[Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 2004–05|2005]]
|[[Corpus Christi College, Oxford]]
|[[University College London]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 2005–06|2006]]
|[[University of Manchester]]
|[[Trinity Hall, Cambridge]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 2006–07|2007]]
|[[University of Warwick]]
|[[University of Manchester]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 2007–08|2008]]
|[[Christ Church, Oxford]]
|[[University of Sheffield]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 2008–09|2009]]
|[[University of Manchester]] <small>(2)</small>
|[[Corpus Christi College, Oxford]] (Disqualified)
|-
|[[University Challenge 2009–10|2010]]
|[[Emmanuel College, Cambridge]]
|[[St John's College, Oxford]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 2010–11|2011]]
|[[Magdalen College, Oxford]] <small>(4)</small>
|[[University of York]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 2011–12|2012]]
|[[University of Manchester]] <small>(3)</small>
|[[Pembroke College, Cambridge]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 2012–13|2013]]
|[[University of Manchester]] <small>(4)</small>
|[[University College London]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 2013–14|2014]]
|[[Trinity College, Cambridge]] <small>(3)</small>
|[[Somerville College, Oxford]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 2014–15|2015]]
|[[Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge]]
|[[Magdalen College, Oxford]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 2015–16|2016]]
|[[Peterhouse, Cambridge]]
|[[St John's College, Oxford]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 2016–17|2017]]
|[[Balliol College, Oxford]]
|[[Wolfson College, Cambridge]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 2017–18|2018]]
|[[St John's College, Cambridge]]
|[[Merton College, Oxford]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 2018–19|2019]]
|[[University of Edinburgh]]
|[[St Edmund Hall, Oxford]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 2019–20|2020]]
|[[Imperial College London]] <small>(3)</small>
|[[Corpus Christi College, Cambridge]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 2020–21|2021]]
|[[University of Warwick]] <small>(2)</small>
|[[Magdalene College, Cambridge]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 2021–22|2022]]
|[[Imperial College London]] <small>(4)</small>
|[[University of Reading]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 2022–23|2023]]
|[[Durham University|University of Durham]] <small>(3)</small>
|[[University of Bristol]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 2023–24|2024]]
|[[Imperial College London]] <small>(5)</small>
|[[University College London]]
|-
|[[University Challenge 2024–25|2025]]
|[[Christ's College, Cambridge]]
|[[University of Warwick]]
|-
|}

===Most series wins===
{| class="wikitable"
!width=20|Rank
!width=500|University/College
!width=20|Number of wins
!width=500|Win year(s)
|-
|1
|[[Imperial College London]]
|5
|[[University Challenge 1995–96|1996]], [[University Challenge 2000–01|2001]], [[University Challenge 2019–20|2020]], [[University Challenge 2021-22|2022]], [[University Challenge 2023-24|2024]]
|-
|rowspan="2"|2
|[[Magdalen College, Oxford]]
|4
|[[University Challenge 1996–97|1997]], [[University Challenge 1997–98|1998]], [[University Challenge 2003–04|2004]], [[University Challenge 2010–11|2011]]
|-
|[[University of Manchester]]
|4
|[[University Challenge 2005–06|2006]], [[University Challenge 2008–09|2009]], [[University Challenge 2011–12|2012]], [[University Challenge 2012–13|2013]]
|-
|rowspan="2"|4
|[[Trinity College, Cambridge]]
|3
|1974, [[University Challenge 1994–95|1995]], [[University Challenge 2013–14|2014]]
|-
|[[Durham University]]
|3
|1977, [[University Challenge 1999–2000|2000]], [[University Challenge 2022–23|2023]]
|-
|rowspan="6"|6
|[[University of Sussex]]
|2
|1967, 1969
|-
|[[University College, Oxford]]
|2
|1972, 1976
|-
|[[Keble College, Oxford]]
|2
|1975, 1987
|-
|[[Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge]]
|2
|1971, 1978
|-
|[[Open University|The Open University]]
|2
|1984, [[University Challenge 1998–99|1999]]
|-
|[[University of Warwick]]
|2
|[[University Challenge 2006–07|2007]], [[University Challenge 2020–21|2021]]
|}

<small>Information in these tables obtained from Blanchflower – University Challenge Series Champions.<ref name=blanch>{{cite web|author=Sean Blanchflower|title=University Challenge Series Champions|url=http://www.blanchflower.org/uc/uc75.html|website=www.blanchflower.org|access-date=26 February 2008}}</ref></small>

===Lowest scores===
Little is known about the lowest scores from the Bamber Gascoigne series, except that the lowest score ever was in the 1971–72 season, when the [[University of Sussex]], fresh from two series wins, managed only 10 points.<ref name="University Challenge - Statistics">{{cite web|url=http://www.blanchflower.org/uc/stats_lowscore.html|title=University Challenge – Lowest Scores|author=Sean Blanchflower|website=www.blanchflower.org|access-date=21 February 2012}}</ref> However, a low score was also achieved by [[Victoria University of Manchester]] in their first round match in 1975 when, for much of the recording, they answered only with the names of [[Marxist]]s as a protest against the Oxford and Cambridge colleges being able to enter separate teams.<ref>{{cite news|author=Paul Gallagher |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jun/21/university-challenge-rules-television |title=BBC tightens University Challenge rules in response to fiasco &#124; Television & radio |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=18 April 2016}}</ref>

Under Jeremy Paxman, the lowest score achieved by a student team was also 10 which, coincidentally, was also achieved by a team from the University of Sussex, in the first round of the [[University Challenge 2021–22|2021–22 series]] when they faced the [[University of Birmingham]] who scored 245. In the same series, the lowest winning score for a student team was achieved, by [[Emmanuel College, Cambridge]], who scored 85 in a quarter final against [[King's College London]] who scored 80. The second lowest losing score is 15, which was achieved by the [[University of Exeter]] in a 2008–09 quarter-final against [[Corpus Christi College, Oxford|Corpus Christi, Oxford]], whose team captain [[Gail Trimble]] answered 15 starter questions correctly. However, the Corpus Christi team were later disqualified from the competition after it was found that team member Sam Kay had been ineligible for the last three matches.<ref name="Gail Trimble's Corpus Christi stripped of University Challenge title">{{Cite periodical|title=Gail Trimble's Corpus Christi stripped of University Challenge title|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/mar/02/gail-trimble-university-challenge-team-lose-title|magazine=The Guardian|access-date=31 August 2009 | location=London | first=Leigh | last=Holmwood | date=2009-03-02}}</ref> Therefore, the second lowest score officially achieved against eligible opponents under Paxman was by [[Lincoln College, Oxford]], who totalled 30 in a semi-final against the eventual series champions the [[University of Manchester]], in an episode televised on 9 February 2009, just two weeks after the Corpus Christi vs Exeter match; this was also matched in the grand final by [[St John's College, Oxford]], against [[Peterhouse, Cambridge]], on 18 April 2016.

Before these matches, the lowest Paxman-era score was 35, reached by [[New Hall, Cambridge]], 1997.<ref name="UC lowest scores">{{Cite web|title=University Challenge – lowest scores|url=http://www.blanchflower.org/uc/stats_lowscore.html|author=Sean Blanchflower|website=www.blanchflower.org|access-date=26 February 2008}}</ref> This score would have been lower if all deductions for incorrect interruptions had been applied.<ref>On the TV programme ''The 100 Most Embarrassing TV Moments Ever'', the New Hall performance was repeated and a member of the team said that they stopped losing points.</ref>{{better source needed|date=November 2013}}

The lowest score under Amol Rajan's chairmanship so far is 25, scored by [[Wadham College, Oxford]] in the second round of the [[University Challenge 2024–25|2024–25 series]] against the then-defending champions [[Imperial College London]], who scored 345.

The lowest score during the ''Professionals'' series was achieved by the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] team, who scored 25 in 2003.

In the 2014 ''[[Christmas University Challenge]]'' series, a team of alumni from [[Newcastle University]] finished with 25. An all-time record low score for the series was achieved in the final of the 2017 ''Christmas'' series, when [[Keble College, Oxford]], beat the [[University of Reading]] 240–0. The previous year's ''Christmas'' series saw the lowest winning score of all time, 75, scored by the [[University of Nottingham]], who defeated their opponents, the [[University of Bristol]], by just five points.

===Highest scores===
[[University College, Oxford]], scored 520 points in the final ITV season in 1987.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blanchflower.org/uc/stats_hiscore.html|title=University Challenge – Statistics|author=Sean Blanchflower|website=blanchflower.org|access-date=12 December 2016}}</ref>
In the Jeremy Paxman era, the team from [[Open University]] scored the highest score, 415, in the semi-final in 1997 against [[Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School]].

===Specials===
{| class=wikitable
|-
!Year
!Special Event
!Winners
!Runners Up
|- valign=top
|1978
|College Bowl-University Challenge World Championship<ref>This was played under [[College Bowl]] rules, with [[Art Fleming]] hosting</ref>
|University Challenge "all-stars"
|[[Stanford University]]
|- valign=top
|1979
|College Bowl-University Challenge World Championship
|[[Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge]]
|[[Davidson College]]
|- valign=top
|1984
|1984 Christmas special
|
|
|- valign=top
|1986
|International best of three series
|Great Britain ([[Jesus College, Oxford]], 1985)
|New Zealand ([[University of Auckland]], 1985)
|- valign=top
|1987
|International best of three series
|Great Britain ([[Keble College, Oxford]], 1986)
|New Zealand ([[University of Otago]], 1986)
|- valign=top
|1992
|Pro-Celebrity match
|Celebrity Past Contestants <small>([[Alastair Little]], [[John Simpson (journalist)|John Simpson]], [[Stephen Fry]], [[Charles Moore (journalist)|Charles Moore]])</small><small>(Appropriately enough, all the celebrities studied at [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge colleges]] making this an [[Oxbridge]] match.)</small>
|Keble College, Oxford <small>(A team of current students from the college, as they were the "defending champions", having won the last series of the show, back in 1987.)</small>
|- valign=top
|1997
|College Bowl Challenge
|[[University of Michigan]]
|Imperial College London, 1996
|- valign=top
|1997
|Mastermind Challenge
|Magdalen College, Oxford, 1997
|The last 4 [[Mastermind (TV series)|Mastermind]] finalists from the [[Magnus Magnusson]] era: Claire Ockwell, Andrea Weston, Colin Cadby (Captain) and Anne Ashurst (series champion)
|- valign=top
|1997
|College Bowl Challenge
|USA
|UK
|- valign=top
|1998
|Champions' Challenge
|Magdalen College, Oxford, 1997
|Imperial College London, 1996
|- valign=top
|1998
|Universe Challenge
|''[[Red Dwarf]]'' Fans: <small>(Darryl Ball, Kaley Nichols, Steve Rogers [Chairman of the Official ''Red Dwarf'' Fan Club], Pip Swallow, Sharon Burnett [Co-author of ''The Red Dwarf Quiz Book''])</small>
|''[[Red Dwarf]]'' Cast: <small>([[Robert Llewellyn]], [[Danny John-Jules]], [[Chris Barrie]], [[Chloë Annett]], [[Craig Charles]])</small>
|- valign=top
|1998
|Challenge
|Magdalen College, Oxford, 1998
|Leicester, 1963
|- valign=top
|1999
|Journalists Special
|Tabloids <small>([[Jane Moore]], [[Peter Hitchens]], [[Ann Leslie]], [[Tony Parsons (British journalist)|Tony Parsons]])</small>
|Broadsheets <small>([[Decca Aitkenhead]], [[Libby Purves]], [[Boris Johnson]], [[Richard Ingrams]])</small>
|- valign=top
|2002
|University Challenge: Reunited
|Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, 1979
|Keele, 1968
|- valign=top
|2003
|[[Comic Relief (charity)|Comic Relief]] match
|The Townies <small>([[Jeremy Beadle]], [[Gina Yashere]], [[Danny Baker]], [[Johnny Vaughan]])</small>
|The Gownies <small>([[David Baddiel]], [[Frank Skinner]], [[Stephen Fry]], [[Clive Anderson]])</small>
|- valign=top
|2003
|University Challenge: The [[Professional]]s
|[[Inland Revenue|The Inland Revenue]]
|[[Royal Meteorological Society]]
|- valign=top
|2004
|International "Grand Final": UK vs India
|[[Sardar Patel College of Engineering]] (SPCE), Mumbai: <small>(Nirad Inamdar, Bharat Jayakumar, Nishad Manerikar, Shrijit Plappally)</small>
|[[Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge]]: <small>(Laura Ashe, Darren Khodaverdi, Lameen Souag, Edward Wallace)</small>
|- valign=top
|2004
|University Challenge: The Professionals
|[[British Library]]
|[[Oxford University Press]]
|- valign=top
|2004
|Christmas Special 1
|Television <small>([[Monty Don]], [[Martha Kearney]], [[Andrew Neil]], [[Clare Balding]])</small>
|Radio <small>([[Henry Blofeld]], [[Jenni Murray]], [[Ned Sherrin]], [[Roger Bolton (producer)|Roger Bolton]])</small>
|- valign=top
|
|Christmas Special 2
|Critics <small>([[Waldemar Januszczak]], [[Russell Davies]], [[Brian Sewell]], [[Andrew Graham-Dixon]])</small>
|Theatre <small>([[Adrian Noble]], [[Harriet Walter]], [[Tim Rice]], [[Ken Campbell]])</small>
|- valign=top
|
|Christmas Specials: Final
|Critics
|Television
|- valign=top
|2005
|[[Comic Relief (charity)|Comic Relief]] 2005 Match
|The South <small>([[Sarah Alexander]], [[Hugh Grant]], [[Stephen Fry]], [[Omid Djalili]])</small>
|The North <small>([[Colin Murray]], [[John Thomson (comedian)|John Thomson]], [[Armando Iannucci]], [[Neil Morrissey]])</small>
|- valign=top
|2005
|University Challenge: The Professionals
|[[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council Office]]
|[[Romantic Novelists' Association]]
|- valign=top
|2005
|Christmas Special 1
|News <small>([[Kate Adie]], [[Nick Robinson (journalist)|Nick Robinson]], [[Michael Buerk]], [[Bridget Kendall]])</small>
|Politics <small>([[Mark Oaten]], [[Diane Abbott]], [[Tim Yeo]], [[Stephen Pound]])</small>
|- valign=top
|
|Christmas Special 2
|Writers <small>([[Tony Marchant (playwright)|Tony Marchant]], [[Andrew Davies (writer)|Andrew Davies]], [[Iain Banks]], [[Jimmy McGovern]])</small>
|Actors <small>([[Robert Powell]], [[Samuel West]], [[Janet Suzman]], [[Martin Jarvis (actor)|Martin Jarvis]])</small>
|- valign=top
|
|Christmas Specials: Final
|Writers
|News
|- valign=top
|2006
|University Challenge: The Professionals
|[[Bodleian Library]]
|[[Royal Statistical Society]]
|- valign=top
|2008
|University Challenge: The Professionals
|[[Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Justice]]
|[[National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom)|National Physical Laboratory]]
|- valign=top
|2011
|Christmas University Challenge
|[[Trinity College, Cambridge]] <small>([[University Challenge 1994–95|Robin Bhattacharyya]], [[Daisy Goodwin]], [[John Lloyd (producer)|John Lloyd]], [[Edward Stourton (journalist)|Edward Stourton]])</small>
|[[University of Warwick]] <small>([[Vadim Jean]], [[Daisy Christodoulou]], [[Christian Wolmar]], [[Carla Mendonça]])</small>
|- valign=top
|2012
|Christmas University Challenge
|[[New College, Oxford]] <small>([[Rachel Johnson]], [[Patrick Gale]], [[Kate Mosse]], Yan Wong)</small>
|[[University of East Anglia]] <small>([[John Boyne]], [[Razia Iqbal]], [[David Grossman (journalist)|David Grossman]], [[Charlie Higson]])</small>
|- valign=top
|2013
|Christmas University Challenge
|[[Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge]] <small>([[Quentin Stafford-Fraser]], [[Helen Castor]], [[Mark Damazer]], [[Lars Tharp]])</small>
|[[Emmanuel College, Cambridge]] <small>([[Hugo Rifkind]], [[Mary-Ann Ochota]], [[Simon Singh]], [[Rory McGrath]])</small>
|- valign=top
|2014
|Champion of Champions
|[[University of Manchester]] <small>([[University Challenge 2008–09|Henry Pertinez]], [[University Challenge 2005–06|Gareth Aubrey]], [[University Challenge 2011–12|Tristan Burke]], [[University Challenge 2012–13|Adam Barr]])</small>
|[[Magdalen College, Oxford]] <small>([[University Challenge 2010–11|Matthew Chan]], [[University Challenge 2003–04|Freya McClements]], [[University Challenge 1996–97|Jim Adams]], [[University Challenge 1997–98|Sarah Healey]])</small>
|- valign=top
|2014
|Christmas University Challenge
|[[Trinity Hall, Cambridge]] <small>([[Tom James (rower)|Tom James]], [[Emma Pooley]], [[Adam Mars-Jones]], [[Dan Starkey (actor)|Dan Starkey]])</small>
|[[University of Hull]] <small>([[Rosie Millard]], [[Malcolm Sinclair (actor)|Malcolm Sinclair]], [[Jenni Murray]], [[Stan Cullimore]])</small>
|- valign=top
|2015
|Christmas University Challenge
|[[Magdalen College, Oxford]] <small>([[Robin Lane Fox]], [[Heather Berlin]], [[Louis Theroux]], [[Matt Ridley]])</small>
|[[University of Sheffield]] <small>([[Sid Lowe]], [[Nicci French|Nicci Gerrard]], [[Adam Hart]], [[Ruth Reed]])</small>
|- valign=top
|2016
|Christmas University Challenge
|[[St Hilda's College, Oxford]] <small>([[Fiona Caldicott]], [[Daisy Dunn]], [[Val McDermid]], [[Adèle Geras]])</small>
|[[University of Leeds]] <small>([[Louise Doughty]], [[alt-J|Gus Unger-Hamilton]], [[Kamal Ahmed (journalist)|Kamal Ahmed]], [[Steve Bell (cartoonist)|Steve Bell]])</small>
|- valign=top
|2017
|Christmas University Challenge
|[[Keble College, Oxford]] <small>([[Paul Johnson (economist)|Paul Johnson]], [[Frank Cottrell-Boyce]], [[Katy Brand]], [[Anne-Marie Imafidon]])</small>
|[[University of Reading]] <small>([[Anna Machin]], [[Martin Hughes-Games]], [[Sophie Walker]], [[Pippa Greenwood]])</small>
|- valign=top
|2018
|Christmas University Challenge
|[[Peterhouse, Cambridge]] <small>([[Dan Mazer]], [[Mark Horton (archaeologist)|Mark Horton]], [[Michael Howard]], [[Michael Axworthy]])</small>
|[[University of Bristol]] <small>([[Philip Ball]], [[Laura Wade]], [[Misha Glenny]], [[Iain Stewart (geologist)|Iain Stewart]])</small>
|- valign=top
|2019
|[[Comic Relief (charity)|Comic Relief]] 2019 Match
|Team Freeman <small>([[Luisa Omielan]], [[Robert Rinder]], [[Martin Freeman]], [[Kerry Godliman]])</small>
|Team Manford <small>([[Darren Harriott]], [[Vick Hope]], [[Jason Manford]], [[Emily Atack]])</small>
|- valign=top
|2019
|Christmas University Challenge
|[[University of Leeds]] <small>([[Jonathan Clements]], [[Henry Gee]], [[Richard Coles]], [[Timothy Allen]])</small>
|[[Wadham College, Oxford]] <small>([[Jonathan Freedland]], [[Tom Solomon (neurologist)|Tom Solomon]], [[Anne McElvoy]], [[Roger Mosey]])</small>
|- valign=top
|2020
|[[Children in Need]] 2020 Match
|Team BBC <small>([[Dane Baptiste]], [[Anita Rani]], [[Dara Ó Briain]], [[Steve Pemberton]])</small>
|Team ITV <small>([[Iain Stirling]], [[Charlene White]], [[Fay Ripley]], [[Joel Dommett]])</small>
|- valign=top
|2020
|Christmas University Challenge
|[[The Courtauld Institute of Art]] <small>([[Tim Marlow]], [[Lavinia Greenlaw]], [[Jacky Klein]], [[Jeremy Deller]])</small>
|[[University of Manchester]] <small>([[David Nott]], [[Juliet Jacques]], [[Ade Edmondson]], [[Justin Edwards (actor)|Justin Edwards]])</small><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2020/christmas-university-challenge-line-up|title = Christmas University Challenge announces line up}}</ref>
|- valign=top
|2021
|[[Children in Need]] 2021 Match
|Team BBC <small>([[Angela Barnes]], [[Mishal Husain]], [[Rick Edwards]], [[Jon Culshaw]])</small>
|Team ITV <small>([[Russell Kane]], [[Denise Welch]], [[Kaye Adams]], [[Ranj Singh]])</small>
|- valign=top
|2021
|Christmas University Challenge
|[[University of Edinburgh]] <small>([[Catherine Slessor]], [[Thomasina Miers]], [[Miles Jupp]], Phil Swanson)</small>
|[[Hertford College, Oxford]] <small>([[Soweto Kinch]], [[Elizabeth Norton]], [[Adam Fleming (journalist)|Adam Fleming]], [[Isabelle Westbury]])</small>
|- valign=top
|2022
|Christmas University Challenge
|[[Balliol College, Oxford]] <small>([[Elizabeth Kiss]], [[Andrew Copson]], [[Martin Edwards (author)|Martin Edwards]], Martin O'Neill)</small>
|[[University of Hull]] <small>(Katharine Norbury, [[James Graham (playwright)|James Graham]], [[Sian Reese-Williams]], Graeme Hall, Sarah Peverley)</small>
|- valign=top
|2023
|Christmas University Challenge
|[[Middlesex University]] <small>(David Heathcote, [[Lola Young, Baroness Young of Hornsey|Lola Young]], [[Heather Phillipson]], [[David Hepworth]], [[Dan Renton Skinner]])</small>
|[[Corpus Christi College, Oxford]] <small>([[Francesca Happé]], [[Michael Cockerell]], [[Alex Bellos]], [[Steve Waters]])</small>
|- valign=top
|2024
|Christmas University Challenge
|[[Durham University]] <small>([[Liz James]], [[Tracey MacLeod]], [[Carla Denyer]], [[Sophia Smith Galer]])</small>
|[[Queens' College, Cambridge]] <small>([[John Zarnecki]], [[Stephanie Merritt]], [[Jenny Kleeman]], [[Richard K. Morgan]])</small>
|}

<small>Some information from this table was obtained from the web pages listed in {{cite web|title=Special Series|url=http://www.blanchflower.org/uc/results.html|publisher=Sean Blanchflower|access-date=26 February 2008}}</small>

==Transmissions==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}

===ITV series===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! Series !! Start date !! End date !! Episodes
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1962–63|1]]''' || 21 September 1962 || 26 November 1963 || 62
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1963–65|2]]''' || 3 December 1963 || 26 May 1965 || 60
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1965–66|3]]''' || 25 August 1965 || 8 June 1966 || 42
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1966–67|4]]''' || 7 September 1966 || 3 June 1967 || 40
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1967–68|5]]''' || 27 September 1967 || 24 July 1968|| 44
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1968–69|6]]''' || 2 August 1968 || 13 July 1969 || 45
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1969–70|7]]''' || 20 July 1969 || 30 August 1970 || 46
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1970–71|8]]''' || 25 October 1970 || 1 August 1971 || 41
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1971–72|9]]''' || 17 October 1971 || 23 July 1972 || 41
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1972–73|10]]''' || 25 October 1972 || 5 September 1973 || 39
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1973–74|11]]''' || 31 October 1973 || 2 October 1974 || 40
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1974–75|12]]''' || October 1974 || 31 October 1975 || 40
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1975–76|13]]''' || 7 November 1975 || 10 December 1976 || 44
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1976–77|14]]''' || 17 December 1976 || 31 October 1977  || 36
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1977–78|15]]''' || 7 November 1977 || 20 November 1978 || 43
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1978–79|16]]''' || 27 November 1978 || 4 February 1980 || 40
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1980|17]]''' || 18 February 1980 || 8 December 1980 || 37
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1981|18]]''' || 15 December 1980 || 7 December 1981 || 39
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1982|19]]''' || 14 January 1982 || 16 January 1983 || 43
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1983|20]]''' || 30 January 1983 || 21 December 1983 || 39
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1984|21]]''' || 20 January 1984 || 27 December 1984<ref>https://x.com/woodg31/status/1740092799142478054/photo/1 TV listings for 27th Dec 1984.</ref>|| 34
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1986|22]]''' || 7 April 1986 || 30 May 1986 || 40
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1987|23]]''' || 13 July 1987 || 4 September 1987 || 40
|}
{{col-2}}

===BBC series===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! Series !! Start date !! End date !! Episodes
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1994–95|24]]''' || 21 September 1994 || 29 March 1995 || 27
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1995–96|25]]''' || 1 November 1995 || 1 May 1996 || 27
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1996–97|26]]''' || 12 November 1996 || 4 June 1997 || 27
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1997–98|27]]''' || 10 September 1997 || 21 April 1998 || 27
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1998–99|28]]''' || 2 September 1998 || 27 April 1999 || 31
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 1999–2000|29]]''' || 13 September 1999 || 9 May 2000 || 31
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 2000–01|30]]''' || 4 September 2000 || 2 April 2001 || 31
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 2001–02|31]]''' || 23 July 2001 || 11 March 2002 || 31
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 2002–03|32]]''' || 2 September 2002 || 31 March 2003 || 31
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 2003–04|33]]''' || 15 September 2003 || 12 April 2004 || 31
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 2004–05|34]]''' || 13 September 2004 || 9 May 2005 || 31
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 2005–06|35]]''' || 19 September 2005 || 15 May 2006 || 31
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 2006–07|36]]''' || 7 August 2006 || 16 April 2007 || 31
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 2007–08|37]]''' || 9 July 2007 || 3 March 2008 || 31
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 2008–09|38]]''' || 7 July 2008 || 23 February 2009 || 31
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 2009–10|39]]''' || 6 July 2009 || 5 April 2010 || 37
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 2010–11|40]]''' || 5 July 2010 || 4 April 2011 || 37
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 2011–12|41]]''' || 4 July 2011 || 19 March 2012 || 37
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 2012–13|42]]''' || 16 July 2012 || 29 April 2013 || 37
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 2013–14|43]]''' || 15 July 2013 || 7 April 2014 || 37
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 2014–15|44]]''' || 14 July 2014 || 13 April 2015 || 37
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 2015–16|45]]''' || 13 July 2015 || 18 April 2016 || 37
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 2016–17|46]]''' || 11 July 2016 || 10 April 2017 || 37
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 2017–18|47]]''' || 17 July 2017 || 23 April 2018 || 37
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 2018–19|48]]''' || 16 July 2018 || 22 April 2019 || 37
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 2019–20|49]]''' || 15 July 2019 || 20 April 2020 || 37
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 2020–21|50]]''' || 13 July 2020 || 5 April 2021 || 37
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 2021–22|51]]''' || 12 July 2021 || 4 April 2022 || 37
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 2022–23|52]]'''|| 29 August 2022 || 29 May 2023 || 37
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 2023–24|53]]'''|| 17 July 2023 || 8 April 2024 || 37
|-
| '''[[University Challenge 2024–25|54]]'''|| 12 August 2024 || 12 May 2025 || 37
|}
{{col-end}}

==Spin-off shows==
The producers of the programme have taken the more recent inclusion of mature students to its logical conclusion by making two series without any student participants: ''University Challenge Reunited'' (2002) brought former teams back together, while ''University Challenge: The Professionals'' (from 2003) matched occupational groups such as civil servants, architects and doctors against each other. In 2003, the former was won by the 1979 team from [[Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge]], the latter by a team from the [[Inland Revenue]]. The 2004 ''Professionals'' series was won by the [[British Library]], and the 2005 series by the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council Office]]. In 2006, ''Professionals'' was won by staff of the [[Bodleian Library]] of the University of Oxford.

The show has seen numerous specials, including those for specific professions and celebrity editions, such as ''Universe Challenge'', presented by former host and Red Dwarf fan, Bamber Gascoigne, where the cast of ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' challenged a team of their "ultimate fans" to celebrate ''Red Dwarf'''s 10th anniversary on the air. The cast was [[Chris Barrie]] (captain), [[Danny John-Jules]], [[Robert Llewellyn]], [[Chloë Annett]] and [[Craig Charles]]. The cast, who at times seemed amazed at the fans' knowledge, lost, but by only 15 points, 280–295.

===Similar programmes===
''Sixth Form Challenge'', hosted by [[Chris Kelly (TV presenter)|Chris Kelly]], appeared briefly between 1965 and 1967. The sixth form contestants represented leading [[Public school (United Kingdom)|public school]]s and [[grammar school]]s. An untelevised version, ''[[Schools' Challenge]]'', continues to run at junior and senior secondary school levels.

''[[Challenging Times]]'' was a quiz show for teams representing higher education institutes in Ireland, televised by [[RTÉ]] from 1991 to 2001.

===Other countries===
''[[University Challenge (New Zealand)|University Challenge]]'' ran in New Zealand for 14 seasons, from 1976 until 1989, with international series held between the previous years' British and New Zealand champions in both 1986 and 1987. It originally aired on [[TVNZ 1]] and was hosted by [[Peter Sinclair (New Zealand)|Peter Sinclair]] from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1980 to 1989. From 1978 to 1979, Sinclair was briefly dropped from the show and was replaced by [[University of Otago]] lecturer Charles Higham, Sinclair returned in 1980 and from 1981 to 1982, the show briefly moved to [[TVNZ 2]], it moved back to TV1 in 1983 and remained on the network until the series original conclusion in 1989. The series was revived in 2014 by [[Cue TV]] and aired on [[Prime (New Zealand TV channel)|Prime]] with Cue TV owner Tom Conroy as host and ran until its second conclusion in 2017.

''University Challenge'', hosted by Magnus Clarke, ran in Australia on the [[ABC Television (Australian TV network)|ABC]] from 1987 until 1989. In the 1988 series, the [[University of New South Wales]] defeated the [[University of Melbourne]] in the final by 245 points to 175.<ref>{{youTube|sm8lDOY5o8E|University Challenge Australian Grand Final 1988 NSW v Melbourne Part 1}} {{Dead link|date=September 2021}}</ref>

''University Challenge India'' started in summer 2003, with the season culminating in the finals of March 2004 where [[Sardar Patel College of Engineering]] (SPCE), Mumbai, beat [[Indian School of Business]] (ISB), Hyderabad. The 2004–2005 season finale saw a team of undergraduate engineering students from [[Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology]] (NSIT), Delhi, beat a team of management students from the [[Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode]]. The Indian winners of the 2003–2004 season went on to beat the finalists from the UK show, [[Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge]]. UC India is produced by [[BBC World]] India, and Synergy Communications, co-owned by [[Siddhartha Basu]], who also hosted the show.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Siddhartha Basu: The quizmaster on his latest programme on BBC, the University Challenge (UC)|url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?221139 |date=18 August 2003|magazine=[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]]}}</ref>

University Challenge inspired the format of two [[Dutch language|Dutch-language]] shows: ''Universiteitsstrijd''<ref>{{Cite web|title=De Universiteitsstrijd gemist? Start met kijken op NPO Start|url=https://www.npostart.nl/de-universiteitsstrijd/VPWON_1259288|access-date=2021-03-27|website=www.npostart.nl|language=nl}}</ref> (the Netherlands), which ran for one season in 2016 on [[Omroep NTR|NTR]], and {{Interlanguage link|De Campus Cup|lt=''De Campus Cup''|nl}}<ref>{{Citation|title=(Her)bekijk Campus Cup|url=https://www.vrt.be/vrtnu/a-z/de-campus-cup/|language=nl|access-date=2021-03-27}}</ref> (Belgium), which ran since 2019 on [[Canvas (TV channel)|Canvas]].

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140330023109/http://sotontab.co.uk/2014/03/10/interview-university-challenge-team/ Southampton 'University Challenge' team interview] – a rare insight into the personalities of a University Challenge team
*{{BBC programme}}
*[http://www.blanchflower.org/uc/ Sean Blanchflower's ''University Challenge'' pages]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100105095425/http://ukgameshows.com/ukgs/University_Challenge ''University Challenge'', with photograph of the highest-ever scoring team, from University College, Oxford, in the 1987 final against Keble College, Oxford] at [[UKGameshows.com]]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110820093946/http://lystellion.livejournal.com/84288.html A full, illustrated behind-the-scenes account of the matches of the lowest-ever scoring team in the Paxman-era, by an Exeter contestant]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060626100551/http://www.agmcbride.com/uci/ ''University Challenge'' India] – a tribute
*[http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/audio/nonpodcast/uni_challenge.mp3 Interview with the winning 2007 University of Warwick team]
* {{IMDb title|id=0177465|title=University Challenge}}
* {{Screenonline TV title|1330354|University Challenge}}
*[https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jun/21/university-challenge-rules-television BBC Tightens University Challenge Rules in Response to Fiasco]

{{University Challenge}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:University Challenge| ]]
[[Category:1962 British television series debuts]]
[[Category:1960s British game shows]]
[[Category:1970s British game shows]]
[[Category:1980s British game shows]]
[[Category:1990s British game shows]]
[[Category:2000s British game shows]]
[[Category:2010s British game shows]]
[[Category:2020s British game shows]]
[[Category:BBC television game shows]]
[[Category:British English-language television shows]]
[[Category:British television series based on American television series]]
[[Category:ITV game shows]]
[[Category:Quiz games]]
[[Category:Student quiz television series]]
[[Category:Television shows produced by Granada Television]]
[[Category:Television series by ITV Studios]]
[[Category:Universities in the United Kingdom]]