Students celebrate epic quiz show success

​​​​​​​Edinburgh has won the popular television quiz show University Challenge for the first time.

They  overcame St Edmund Hall, Oxford - who were strong favourites to win the series - in a thrilling final by 155 points to 140.

Edinburgh is the first Scottish university to triumph in the second series. The last Scottish team to win a grand final was Dundee in 1983.

Stellar team 

The team, which had a Greyfriars Bobby mascot, was made up of Matt Booth, Marco Malusa, Max Fitz-James and Robbie Campbell Hewson.

St Edmund Hall streaked into an early lead but Edinburgh captain Max Fitz-James almost single-handedly hauled Edinburgh back into contention. 

Supremacy changed hands several times before Edinburgh put on another spurt and clinched the game. 

British novelist, and former University Challenge contestant, Sebastian Faulks presented the winning team with their prize. 

I would like to send my personal congratulations to the University of Edinburgh team for this fantastic achievement. The standards set in University Challenge are incredibly high. It’s a huge tribute to the students involved to have beaten off very tough competition from some of the sharpest minds in UK universities and won the final. University Challenge is a real television institution and everyone associated with the University should be justifiably proud of what the team has achieved.

Professor Peter Mathieson
Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh

Popular quiz show

University Challenge first aired in 1962, with  host Bamber Gascoigne at the helm, and it ran until 1987.

After a nine-year break, it restarted with broadcaster Jeremy Paxman in the chair.

Had St Edmund Hall won, it would be the sixth consecutive year that an Oxbridge college had won the BBC Two quiz.

Image credit

Homepage image © ITV Studios.

Related links

Watch the final on catch up 

Edinburgh University Students Association