Home Life Style Furious row breaks out over University Challenge as RuPaul’s Drag Race star criticizes BBC for allowing Oxford and Cambridge to enter multiple teams

Furious row breaks out over University Challenge as RuPaul’s Drag Race star criticizes BBC for allowing Oxford and Cambridge to enter multiple teams

0 comments
Amol Rajan, who studied English at Cambridge, has hosted University Challenge since Jeremy Paxman stepped down in 2023.

Your starter for ten. Since 1962, there have been 53 series of University Challenge. Of these, how many times has an Oxford or Cambridge team won?

The answer is 27 times.

And it’s not because the two top-ranked universities are simply better, but because they have the advantage of being able to enter multiple teams each year.

This has apparently caused an issue with RuPaul’s drag racing star Kate Butch, stage name Marcus Crabb, who has started an unlikely feud on unknownformerly Twitter.

“I’m almost militant about how I feel Oxford and Cambridge shouldn’t be allowed to take part in the University Challenge 30 times a year – it’s not called the College Challenge is it?”

Each series of the BBC quiz usually includes at least ten entries for the universities of Cambridge and Oxford, while the remaining 18 places go to other universities.

Amol Rajan, who studied English at Cambridge, has hosted University Challenge since Jeremy Paxman stepped down in 2023.

RuPaul's Drag Race star Kate Butch (pictured) has started an X fight over whether or not Oxbridge colleges should be allowed to take part in University Challenge as separate teams.

RuPaul’s Drag Race star Kate Butch (pictured) has started an X fight over whether or not Oxbridge colleges should be allowed to take part in University Challenge as separate teams.

Since voicing her views online, the drag performer, originally from Buxton, Derbyshire, has had to mute notifications after more than 400,000 people viewed the post and took to the comments to share their own opinions.

One fan of the long-running quiz show said: “Sometimes I think that, and other times I think they’d better do it that way or they’d get into a super team and Oxford or Cambridge would win every year.”

As things stand, the last Oxbridge team to win was St John’s College, Cambridge in 2018.

Someone else commented: ‘Oxford and Cambridge compete as university teams because if they each played as a university team they would be essentially invincible.

“As it stands, colleges appear ’30 times a year’ because they win the (non-televised) playoffs.”

A third added: “Allowing them to compete at universities is not fair to other university colleges like Durham.”

This is not the first time the long-running quiz show has been criticized for the large number of participating Oxbridge teams.

During one episode in 1975, the Manchester University team only responded with the names of Marxists in protest against the fact that Oxbridge colleges could enter as separate teams.

Last year, Professor Frank Coffield accused the BBC of “rigging” University Challenge by allowing entry to separate Oxford and Cambridge universities, while limiting other universities to one entry each.

Peterhouse College (below) at the University of Cambridge emerged victorious from the final of the University Challenge in 2015. Out of 53 heats in the competition, a team from Oxford or Cambridge won 27 times

Peterhouse College (below) at the University of Cambridge emerged victorious from the final of the University Challenge in 2015. Out of 53 heats in the competition, a team from Oxford or Cambridge won 27 times

Kate Butch took to X, formerly Twitter, and said:

Kate Butch took to

The drag performer had to silence notifications after more than 400,000 users saw the post and chimed in.

The drag performer had to silence notifications after more than 400,000 users saw the post and chimed in.

He argued that it violated the corporation’s impartiality rules.

In a letter of complaint, the university college One London academic wrote: “Each of the 70+ Oxbridge universities (even those with just 300/400 students) can compete in University Challenge, but large civic universities such as Manchester and Birmingham (with over 40,000 students) can only They are allowed one entry each.

“What justification does the BBC have for manipulating the program in this way?”

In another, he said: “Why has the BBC allowed the format of this program to treat all other UK universities, except Oxbridge, as second class?”

The BBC responded and said the competition rules allow “institutions delivering higher education courses at degree level or equivalent or above” to apply to take part in the programme.

A BBC spokesperson told FEMAIL: ‘All educational institutions that design and deliver teaching to university-level qualifications can apply for the University Challenge independently.

“This is not limited to Oxbridge colleges but also includes around 300 further education colleges across the UK, several University of London member institutions and a number of UK conservatories and art schools.”

But Coffield was unhappy with this response and said: ‘It still does not explain why more than 70 Oxbridge colleges are treated as separate universities.

“My main criticism still stands and the BBC avoids responding to it.”

University Challenge host Amol Rajan is yet to address the large number of Oxbridge teams compared to other universities.

Rajan studied English at Downing College, Cambridge.

You may also like