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University Challenge 2020–21

{{Short description|Season of television quiz programme}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{DISPLAYTITLE:University Challenge 2020–21}}

{{more citations needed|date=September 2020}}

The 50th series of University Challenge began on 13 July 2020 on BBC Two and ended on 5 April 2021.{{cite web |title=University Challenge Series 27, Episode 1 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000kxwm |website=BBC Online |access-date=1 July 2020 |archive-date=5 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200705223253/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000kxwm |url-status=live }} It was won by the University of Warwick for the institution's second title.{{cite web |last1=Gaskell |first1=Jacob |title=Magdalene College, Cambridge defeated by Warwick in the University Challenge Grand Final |url=https://thetab.com/uk/cambridge/2021/04/05/magdalene-college-cambridge-defeated-by-warwick-in-the-university-challenge-grand-final-149696 |website=thetab.com |access-date=6 April 2021 |date=5 April 2021}}{{cite news |last1=Rich |first1=Caleb |title='No group hugs!': the University Challenge final – reviewed by last year's winner |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/apr/06/no-group-hugs-the-university-challenge-final-reviewed-by-last-years-winner |access-date=18 April 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=6 April 2021}}

COVID-19

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, University Challenge took a six-month hiatus from filming episodes. Recording resumed with the highest scoring losers play-offs, with contestants now separated by perspex screens and wearing ear-pieces to allow them to hear their teammates. The show also relaxed the rule that banned students from competing if they completed their degree during the recording of the series.{{cite web |title=University Challenge Series 27, Episode 15 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000np6c |website=BBC Online |access-date=15 December 2020 |archive-date=19 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019173732/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000np6c |url-status=live }}

The University of Manchester and three Oxford colleges – Merton, Balliol and Corpus Christi – all fielded reserves when filming resumed.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

Results

  • Winning teams are highlighted in bold.
  • Teams with green scores (winners) returned in the next round, while those with red scores (losers) were eliminated.
  • Teams with orange scores had to win one more match to return in the next round.
  • Teams with yellow scores indicate that two further matches had to be played and won (teams that lost their first quarter-final match).
  • A score in italics indicates a match decided on a tie-breaker question.

=First round=

class="wikitable"
Team 1colspan="2" | ScoreTeam 2TotalBroadcast date
University of Glasgow

| style="background:#88ff88"|200

| style="background:orange"|145

| University of Exeter

| 345

| 13 July 2020

University of Leicester

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|125}}

| style="background:#88ff88"|180

| Durham University

| 305

| 20 July 2020

Linacre College, Oxford

| style="background:orange"|140

| style="background:#88ff88"|210

| The Open University

| 350

| 27 July 2020

Imperial College London

| style="background:orange"|155

| style="background:#88ff88"|190

| University of Strathclyde

| 345

| 3 August 2020

University of Reading

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|50}}

| style="background:#88ff88"|295

| Birkbeck, University of London

| 345

| 10 August 2020

Balliol College, Oxford

| style="background:#88ff88"|150

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|135}}

| Clare College, Cambridge

| 285

| 17 August 2020

University of Bristol

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|135}}

| style="background:#88ff88"|175

| Corpus Christi College, Oxford

| 310

| 24 August 2020

Darwin College, Cambridge

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|90}}

| style="background:#88ff88"|255

| University of St Andrews

| 345

| 31 August 2020

University of York

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|100}}

| style="background:#88ff88"|170

| King's College London

| 270

| 7 September 2020

Merton College, Oxford

| style="background:#88ff88"|210

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|40}}

| Wolfson College, Cambridge

| 250

| 14 September 2020

Royal Academy of Music

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|50}}

| style="background:#88ff88"|220

| St John's College, Cambridge

| 270

| 21 September 2020

University of Warwick

| style="background:#88ff88"|255

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|105}}

| Wolfson College, Oxford

| 360

| 28 September 2020

University of Edinburgh

| style="background:orange"|155

| style="background:#88ff88"|200

| University of Manchester

| 355

| 5 October 2020

Magdalene College, Cambridge

| style="background:#88ff88"|170

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|130}}

| University College, Oxford

| 300

| 12 October 2020

==Highest scoring losers play-offs==

class="wikitable"
Team 1colspan="2" | ScoreTeam 2TotalBroadcast date
Imperial College London

| style="background:#88ff88"|160

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|155}}

| University of Exeter

| 315

| 19 October 2020

Linacre College, Oxford

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|125}}

| style="background:#88ff88"|155

| University of Edinburgh

| 280

| 26 October 2020

=Second round=

class="wikitable"
Team 1colspan="2" | ScoreTeam 2TotalBroadcast date
Imperial College London

| style="background:#88ff88"|180

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|90}}

| University of St Andrews

| 270

| 2 November 2020

University of Manchester

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|100}}

| style="background:#88ff88"|135

| University of Strathclyde

| 235

| 9 November 2020

Merton College, Oxford

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|90}}

| style="background:#88ff88"|190

| University of Warwick

| 280

| 16 November 2020

University of Edinburgh

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|145}}

| style="background:#88ff88"|165

| Durham University

| 310

| 23 November 2020

St John's College, Cambridge

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|155}}

| style="background:#88ff88"|200

| Balliol College, Oxford

| 355

| 30 November 2020

University of Glasgow

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|90}}

| style="background:#88ff88"|175

| King's College London

| 265

| 7 December 2020

Corpus Christi College, Oxford

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|115}}

| style="background:#88ff88"|185

| Magdalene College, Cambridge

| 300

| 14 December 2020

The Open University

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|95}}

| style="background:#88ff88"|205

| Birkbeck, University of London

| 300

| 4 January 2021

=Quarterfinals=

class="wikitable"
Team 1colspan="2" | ScoreTeam 2TotalBroadcast date
Magdalene College, Cambridge

| style="background:orange"|240

| style="background:yellow"|140

| Birkbeck, University of London

| 380

| 11 January 2021

Balliol College, Oxford

| style="background:orange"|145

| style="background:yellow"|95

| King's College London

| 240

| 18 January 2021

University of Strathclyde

| style="background:yellow"|115

| style="background:orange"|155

| Durham University

| 270

| 25 January 2021

Imperial College London

| style="background:yellow"|120

| style="background:orange"|200

| University of Warwick

| 320

| 1 February 2021

Magdalene College, Cambridge

| style="background:orange"|160

| style="background:#88ff88"|200

| University of Warwick

| 360

| 8 February 2021

King's College London

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|95}}

| style="background:orange"|265

| Imperial College London

| 360

| 15 February 2021

Balliol College, Oxford

| style="background:#88ff88"|175

| style="background:orange"|75

| Durham University

| 250

| 22 February 2021

Birkbeck, University of London

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|105}}

| style="background:orange"|135

| University of Strathclyde

| 240

| 1 March 2021

Imperial College London

| style="background:#88ff88"|200

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|100}}

| Durham University

| 300

| 8 March 2021

Magdalene College, Cambridge

| style="background:#88ff88"|185

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|125}}

| University of Strathclyde

| 310

| 15 March 2021

=Semifinals=

class="wikitable"
Team 1colspan="2" | ScoreTeam 2TotalBroadcast date
Imperial College London

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|135}}

| style="background:#88ff88"|160

| University of Warwick

| 295

| 22 March 2021

Magdalene College, Cambridge

| style="background:#88ff88"|270

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|50}}

| Balliol College, Oxford

| 320

| 29 March 2021

=Final=

class="wikitable"
Team 1colspan="2" | ScoreTeam 2TotalBroadcast date
University of Warwick

| style="background:gold"|195

| style="background:silver"|{{fontcolor|white|140}}

| Magdalene College, Cambridge

| 335

| 5 April 2021

  • The trophy and title were awarded to the Warwick team of Richard Pollard, George Braid, Andrew Rout, and Owain Burrell.
  • Simon Armitage, Poet Laureate and former Oxford Professor of Poetry, presented the trophy; he had captained a University of Manchester team in the Christmas series in 2016.

Spin-off: Christmas Special 2020

=First round=

Each year, a Christmas special sequence is aired featuring distinguished alumni. Out of 7 first-round winners, the top 4 highest-scoring teams progress to the semi-finals. The teams consist of celebrities who represent their alma maters.

  • Winning teams are highlighted in bold.
  • Teams with green scores (winners) returned in the next round, while those with red scores (losers) were eliminated.
  • Teams with grey scores won their match but did not achieve a high enough score to proceed to the next round.
  • A score in italics indicates a match decided on a tie-breaker question.

class="wikitable"

! Team 1 !! colspan="2" | Score !! Team 2 !! Total !! Broadcast date

Christ's College, Cambridge

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|50}}

| style="background:#88ff88"|180

| St John's College, Oxford

| 230

| 21 December 2020

University of Manchester

| style="background:#88ff88"|175

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|30}}

| Queen's University, Belfast

| 205

| 22 December 2020

The Courtauld Institute of Art

| style="background:#88ff88"|150

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|100}}

| Goldsmiths, University of London

| 250

| 23 December 2020

University of Nottingham

| style="background:grey"|{{fontcolor|white|145}}

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|70}}

| University of Sheffield

| 215

| 24 December 2020

University of Central Lancashire

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|60}}

| style="background:#88ff88"|170

| Loughborough University

| 230

| 26 December 2020

Durham University

| style="background:grey"|{{fontcolor|white|90}}

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|65}}

| Downing College, Cambridge

| 155

| 28 December 2020

New College, Oxford

| style="background:grey"|{{fontcolor|white|110}}

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|60}}

| University of Reading

| 170

| 29 December 2020

==Standings for the winners==

class="wikitable"

!Rank

!Team

!Team captain

!Score

bgcolor="#D0F0C0"

|1

|St John's College, Oxford

|John Lanchester

|180

bgcolor="#D0F0C0"

|2

|University of Manchester

|Ade Edmondson

|175

bgcolor="#D0F0C0"

|3

|Loughborough University

|Kate Fox

|170

bgcolor="#D0F0C0"

|4

|The Courtauld Institute of Art

|Jacky Klein

|150

5

|University of Nottingham

|Levison Wood

|145

6

|New College, Oxford

|Lucy Cooke

|110

7

|Durham University

|Sarah Keith-Lucas

|90

=Semi-finals=

class="wikitable"
Team 1colspan=2 | ScoreTeam 2TotalBroadcast date
St John's College, Oxford

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|135}}

| style="background:#88ff88"|180

| The Courtauld Institute of Art

| 315

| 30 December 2020

University of Manchester

| style="background:#88ff88"|140

| style="background:#f44;"|{{fontcolor|white|70}}

| Loughborough University

| 210

| 31 December 2020

=Final=

class="wikitable"
Team 1colspan=2 | ScoreTeam 2TotalBroadcast date
The Courtauld Institute of Art

| style="background:gold"|150

| style="background:silver"|{{fontcolor|white|90}}

| University of Manchester

| 240

| 1 January 2021

The winning The Courtauld Institute of Art team of Tim Marlow, Lavinia Greenlaw, Jacky Klein and Jeremy Deller beat the University of Manchester team of David Nott, Juliet Jacques, Ade Edmondson and Justin Edwards.

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006t6l0 University Challenge homepage]
  • [http://www.blanchflower.org/uc/uc21.html Blanchflower Results Table]

{{University Challenge}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:University Challenge 2020-21}}

2020

Category:2020 British television seasons

Category:2021 British television seasons