University Challenge

[FadedRed]

Love this programme but think it's time that

1. Teams should consist on Undergraduates only. Maybe a separate series for Post grad teams.
2. Oxford and Cambridge should only have one team each, not separate teams for all the colleges.

Any one agree?

No. Unis have to make up the best team they can. And no again - sorry - some of the oxford or Cambridge colleges may only have a few thousand students, whereas the Uni of London has 95,000 undergrads!

Fine then why not allow all collegiate unis to enter teams for all the colleges rather than one @spottybetty ?

It's University Challenge, not undergraduate challenge.

But I do think collegiate universities shouid all enter on same terms - so either all of them all enter individual colleges (if the colleges want to enter) or they have a single entry (as Durham already does). Not bothered which, just prefer one or the other rather than both.

When the programme first started, there were considerably fewer universities and university students than now, and rarely anyone other than undergrads.
Now there can be a team of (average age) twenty year old undergrads against a team of forty year old PhD's - doesn't seem a very level playing field anymore.

Love UC
DH and I play along against each other and keep score
We’ve been doing it for 15 years!

Record it then you can pause to...err...think about the answers!

It was won by a one man team tonight.

Yes, the Darwin team captain was awesome.

mammmamia DH and I also do that Glad to find we are not alone. and occasionally I let him win

Don't agree at all especially the Oxford/Cambridge bit.

Each college is separate and the students take pride in their college so why shouldn't they represent them.

fadedred 🙌🏻

I've got an interest, as my son is on one of the teams this year! He's told us all sorts of interesting behind the scenes stuff. They're really looking for personalities and quirky characters on the teams.

Clionba wow! Would love to hear all the insider stuff.
The programme they did a couple of years ago about the making of UC was fascinating. Did you see that?
But, slightly disappointed to hear they are looking for 'personalities and quirky characters' - IMO any student that is prepared to put themselves on TV in that already challenging (sorry for the pun) situation shows sufficient character, quirky or not.
All the best for your son and his team!

No I didn't see it!
I think to get past the interview stage the team had to show that they were tv material, I think, although it does go on ability as well, I think! They like characters, but it does make it watchable. When I saw him I just focused on the fact that he hadn't ironed his shirt!! I couldn't look at anything else! Thanks for the good wishes!

I love the characters. Monkman was brilliant last year and I am loving the new Darwin captain.

When I was a student at University of Manchester in the mid-1970s our team answered every question “Marx” in protest at Oxbridge being able to field individual colleges. At the time the rules precluded polys because they did not award their own degrees - it was the council for national academic awards. But of course the oxbridge colleges could not award their own degrees - students were awarded a degree from either oxford or camebridge university. Oxbridge colleges are favoured and over represeted - but whats new in that

DH and I are reasonably intelligent but we are constantly astounded at how much these young people know, just how???

My son has always been an avid quizzer and loved general knowledge. When he was small we bought him a book about animals and he memorised everything and got us to test him! World Cup, classical myths, flags of the world, modern art, the periodic table, he just seems to know a lot of stuff. We joke that he's quicker than Google!

So the Captain of the Hertford College Oxford team is a History undergraduate called Tudor!!
You'd really have to be good at History with that name!

Friend was the understudy for my uni team back when we were all students - we never thought he was that smart to be honest... but then we never saw him sober as a general rule!