The 54th series of University Challenge began on 12 August 2024 on BBC Two, and ended with the final on 12 May 2025, when Christ's College, Cambridge beat the University of Warwick for their inaugural championship, while also being the first Oxbridge winners in seven years.
Results There were no debutant institutions in this series, all institutions having appeared previously, however this series saw the first University of Leeds team in over 13 years, having last appeared in 2011, and Exeter College, Oxford's previous appearance was in 2008. 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 Team 1 Score Team 2 Total Broadcast date Queen's University Belfast240 University of Liverpool 365 12 August 2024 Open University190175 University College London 365 19 August 2024 Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge325 University of Bristol 405 26 August 2024 University of Warwick275 University of East Anglia 400 2 September 2024 St Catharine's College, Cambridge180 Wadham College, Oxford 300 9 September 2024 Imperial College London310 University of Manchester 385 16 September 2024 University of Reading240 University of Exeter 340 23 September 2024 Darwin College, Cambridge205 Birkbeck, University of London 315 30 September 2024 Oriel College, Oxford200165 Durham University 365 7 October 2024 Exeter College, Oxford205 Christ's College, Cambridge 315 14 October 2024 University of St Andrews145200 Cardiff University 345 21 October 2024 University of Leeds175 University of Edinburgh 300 28 October 2024 London School of Economics235 University of Leicester 335 4 November 2024 SOAS University of London155195 St Edmund Hall, Oxford 350 11 November 2024
Highest scoring losers play-offs Team 1 Score Team 2 Total Broadcast date University College London215 University of St Andrews 320 18 November 2024 Durham University150 SOAS University of London 295 25 November 2024
Second round Team 1 Score Team 2 Total Broadcast date University College London255 London School of Economics 310 2 December 2024 Durham University180 Open University 295 9 December 2024 University of Exeter290 University of Bristol 325 16 December 2024 Darwin College, Cambridge155 University of Edinburgh 280 6 January 2025 Wadham College, Oxford345 Imperial College London 370 13 January 2025 Christ's College, Cambridge215 St Edmund Hall, Oxford 315 20 January 2025 Cardiff University180 Queen's University Belfast 250 27 January 2025 University of Warwick215 Oriel College, Oxford 325 3 February 2025
Quarter-finals Team 1 Score Team 2 Total Broadcast date Imperial College London160180 Christ's College, Cambridge 340 10 February 2025 Queen's University Belfast95215 University of Warwick 310 17 February 2025 University College London120225 Darwin College, Cambridge 345 24 February 2025 Open University95135 University of Bristol 230 3 March 2025 Christ's College, Cambridge205155 University of Warwick 360 10 March 2025 Imperial College London180 Queen's University Belfast 350 17 March 2025 Darwin College, Cambridge160150 University of Bristol 310 24 March 2025 University College London235 Open University 340 31 March 2025 University of Warwick220 University College London 345 7 April 2025 Queen's University Belfast200 University of Bristol 265 14 April 2025
Semi-finals Team 1 Score Team 2 Total Broadcast date Christ's College, Cambridge220 University of Bristol 270 21 April 2025 Darwin College, Cambridge180 University of Warwick 340 28 April 2025
Final Team 1 Score Team 2 Total Broadcast date Christ's College, Cambridge175 University of Warwick 345 12 May 2025
In what was the most closely contested final seen in the revival era of University Challenge, Warwick led for almost the entire match, having held sizable scoring margins of 125 to 40, and 175 to 115; the latter being held with less than five minutes to go.
Christ's, however, clawed their way back, and ultimately tied level on the final starter-for-ten, after Anniko Firman identified Agamemnon as the Greek ruler whose translated line in Book 11 of Homer's Odyssey was used to create the title of the 1930 William Faulkner novel As I Lay Dying. They then correctly answered one of the resulting bonuses before the gong, to complete their comeback victory and end the series unbeaten.
The trophy and title were thus awarded to the Christ's College, Cambridge team of Anniko Firman, Brendan Bethlehem, Oscar Despard and Linus Luu, leaving the Warwick team which consisted of Ananya Govindarajan, Thomas Hart, Oscar Siddle and Benjamin Watson as the runners-up.
The trophy was presented by Sir Ian McKellen in a separate ceremony at the ADC Theatre in Cambridge.
Spin-off: Christmas Special 2024 A spin-off Christmas series has been aired since 2011, featuring distinguished alumni.
First round Out of seven first-round winners, only the top four highest-scoring teams progress to the semi-finals.
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.
Team 1 Score Team 2 Total Broadcast date University of Warwick265 Durham University 300 23 December 2024 Worcester College, Oxford155 University of Bristol 260 24 December 2024 Manchester Metropolitan University University of Brighton 245 26 December 2024 Leeds Trinity University University of Nottingham 215 27 December 2024 University of Southampton150 Churchill College, Cambridge 275 29 December 2024 Emmanuel College, Cambridge175 Queens' College, Cambridge 270 30 December 2024 University of St Andrews London School of Economics 195 31 December 2024
Semi-finals Team 1 Score Team 2 Total Broadcast date Durham University120 Worcester College, Oxford 205 1 January 2025 Churchill College, Cambridge105 Queens' College, Cambridge 200 2 January 2025
Final Team 1 Score Team 2 Total Broadcast date Durham University125 Queens' College, Cambridge 245 3 January 2025
Having taken the lead on the final starter question, the winning Durham University team consisted of Liz James, Tracey MacLeod, Carla Denyer, and Sophia Smith Galer, who beat Queens' College, Cambridge and their team of John Zarnecki, Stephanie Merritt, Jenny Kleeman and Richard K. Morgan.
References
External links University Challenge homepage Blanchflower Results Table