Last week, on Tuesday 12th and Thursday 14th November, over 120 students from all nine colleges put their general knowledge to the test in challenging quizzes on arts and culture, history and geography, maths and technology, and biological and medical sciences.

Across two evenings, students sat fiendishly difficult test papers on challenging topics including parabolas, the Mozambique Channel, haemoglobin, and even Nikki Minaj. Participants had 20-minutes to answer 40 challenging questions in exam conditions.

After all the scores have been marked and verified, we are pleased to report the following outcomes:

Answering just one or two questions correctly on these tricky papers is no mean feat and so we would like to thank and congratulate everyone that took part: regardless of your score.

Students’ Union Activities Officer, Jack Watson, said that “our revived, somewhat gruelling, selection process for this year’s University Challenge delegation and the 9 Colleges’ Intercollege Quiz Competition has been a great success! Working from feedback from last year’s team who entered the first stage of the programme’s selection, as well as insight from meeting one of the producers of the show, we have worked hard, in conjunction with the College Competitions Coordinator, to create a new process which aims to separate our eight toughest quizzers from the rest.

We’re really looking forward to the final selection night on Thursday, and a big thank you and well done to all those involved, from the Great Hall Porters putting the desks out to the students who came and sat in them – well done!”

The top two performers from each paper have now been invited to compete to secure their place on the University Challenge team in a live on-the-buzzer final that will take place this Thursday 21st November from 6pm in LUMS LT02. All students are invited to come along to support the team and find out who will progress to the next stage with the University Challenge production team.

The eight students competing for one of four spaces (plus one reserve) are:

• Talhah Hussain
• Alice Nguyen
• Eoin Neale
• Lex Wiggins
• Matthew Fickling
• Josie Hyland
• Sophie Chatwin
• Fatima Al Sharef

The top individual from each college from each paper has also been invited to represent their college in the Intercollege Quiz Competition; they are:

Bowland

• Matthew Fickling
• Joshua Gage
• Alice Nguyen
• Jack Strong

Cartmel

• Leo Barnett
• Gabriel Gawerski
• Kao Moy
• Oliver Westerby

County

• Billy Banks
• Callum Coicaud
• Ethan Stromberg
• Alicia Turner

Furness

• Bianca Giancola
• Eoin Neale
• Louis Peckham
• Lex Wiggins

Fylde

• Sami Bartlett
• Tom Fairhurst
• Christopher Hindley
• William Parnham

Grizedale

• Sophie Chatwin
• JJ McClure
• Sander Morris
• William Yates

Graduate

• Fergus Henstridge
• Daniel Hodgson
• Joe Liptrot
• Rachel McLean

Lonsdale

• Sebastian Boulger
• Tom Inness
• Adam Pybus
• Hugo Sladdin

Pendle

• Fatima Al Sharef
• Oliver Bennett
• Josie Hyland
• George Massey

The Intercollege Quiz Competition also launches this Thursday 21st November in LUMS LT02 from 6pm following the University Challenge selection final. The first rounds have been drawn at random, and you can follow the live tournament bracket here. Match 1 will see Fylde and Pendle colleges face off on-the-buzzer this week.

Best of luck to all participants in these next stages and another big thank you and congratulations to everyone who entered to reach this stage.