{"id":593610,"date":"2025-11-25T21:31:48","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T21:31:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/593610\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T21:31:48","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T21:31:48","slug":"wonderfully-stressful-last-round-of-university-challenge-for-bristol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/593610\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Wonderfully stressful\u2019 last round of University Challenge for Bristol"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Leah Hoyle<\/strong>, Third year, English<\/p>\n

The University of Bristol team, along with mascot \u2018Isambear Kingdom Brunel\u2019, missed out on a coveted quarter final place by 25 points.<\/p>\n

Yesterday on BBC Two at 8.30pm, Bristol faced the University of Warwick, which had previously beaten the University of Sheffield in an \u2018astonishing come back.\u2019<\/p>\n

University Challenge host Amol Rajan concluded that the game was extremely close – \u2018it was so tight, until so late\u2019 – ending with 145 points for Bristol and 180 points for the winning Warwick.<\/p>\n

\"\"The team tackle a tough question on a 2005 design for the sister gallery of the Louvre | Screenshotted from the BBC, aired on 24 November 2025 on BBC Two<\/p>\n

Both Bristol and Warwick showed their support for each other as the game began. \u2018It\u2019s very nice of you to applaud your opponents\u2026. But from now it\u2019s war,\u2019 host Amol Rajan warned the competing teams.<\/p>\n

Managing to sustain a significant 15-point lead until halfway, Bristol felt like a strong force in the game. At this point, they had nailed bonus questions on trees in poems, noodles in Japanese cuisine, opera, and the elements in control rods.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Bristol achieve \u2018hugely impressive win\u2019 in first round of University Challenge<\/p>\n

This past Monday, the University of Bristol team went head-to-head with Cardiff University resulting in a \u2018comprehensive and hugely impressive\u2019 win.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Speaking to Epigram,\u00a0 Bristol captain Huge Goodwill (Meng Aerospace Engineering) said, \u2018I feel so lucky to have been part of such a great team, and although our time in the competition has come to an end, the experience will stay with us forever.\u2019<\/p>\n

Goodwill was joined by the rest of the previous round’s championing cohort; Lewys Jenkins (BSc Mathematics), Lois Connolly (BA Liberal Arts), and Nathaniel Joyce (MSci Biology)<\/p>\n

\"\"This year’s University of Bristol team outside Dock10 studios, the filming location for University Challenge | Lewys Jenkins<\/p>\n

This episode comes after Bristol\u2019s startling 65-point-win against Cardiff this August, in which Rajan noted \u2018Bristol answered almost twice as many questions correctly.\u2019<\/p>\n

Lois Conolly told Epigram that there was some pressure to succeed: \u2018We desperately wanted to get a spot in the quarter finals. The last two Bristol teams made it very far, so we wanted to live up to that legacy.\u2019<\/p>\n

Warwick snatched up the chance for the picture round, featuring stills from films a. The team struggled with this but were much more solid on prime numbers, the rivers of England and Wales, and the history of the National Rugby League.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

University of Bristol to develop new \u2018digital library\u2019 as part of UK\u2019s AI revolution<\/p>\n

The plans come after the launch of Isambard-AI at University of Bristol in July, and supports the wider strategy of the University, and the West of England, to develop their position as a hub for AI innovation.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When discussing the fight for the picture round, Connolly spoke about the backlash of answering incorrectly: \u2018It\u2019s easy to beat yourself up about it, especially since a lot of people were complaining online, but at this point I find it quite funny and I don\u2019t mind.\u2019<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Bristol SU meets with MPs to voice tuition fee concerns in Parliament<\/p>\n

The SU attended an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for students event in Westminster on November 5, joining discussions on proposed tuition fee changes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

With just 5 minutes to go, Warwick took the lead. However,\u00a0 Jenkins did not back down, interrupting Rajan to answer a question on the authorship of the Murakami novel 1Q84. This gained Bristol their last bonus question and 15 points.<\/p>\n

Despite a strong effort from Bristol, Warwick was victorious after some invaluable bonus questions that Rajan described as \u2018wonderfully stressful.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rajan thanked the Bristol team and their mascot,\u00a0saying it was a \u2018massive pleasure having you here.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"\"The team beat Cardiff in the first round of the series by 180 points to 100 points | Lewys Jenkins<\/p>\n

Goodwill said to Epigram, \u2018Meeting Amol Rajan, you can tell he has the perfect balance of intelligence, humility, and wit to present the programme, and long may it continue.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018I was really proud to represent Bristol!\u2019 Connolly explained, \u2018Not only because we\u2019ve done so well on the show before, but I really love this city and I\u2019m proud I go to the University of Bristol.\u2019<\/p>\n

Jenkins echoed his teammate’s sentiment, and had a message for fellow University of Bristol quizzers: \u2018I’d highly encourage trying out for the show even if you don’t think you have a chance,\u2019 he said to Epigram.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

University of Bristol to axe Stoke Bishop bus passes<\/p>\n

The University is rolling back free bus passes for the next academic year.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The next episode of University Challenge is scheduled for December 8 at 8:30pm on BBC Two, although Bristol won\u2019t be a part of it \u2013 Edinburgh and Trinity College Cambridge will go head to head.<\/p>\n

Featured image: Screenshotted from the BBC, aired on 24 November 2025 on BBC Two<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Leah Hoyle, Third year, English The University of Bristol team, along with mascot \u2018Isambear Kingdom Brunel\u2019, missed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":593611,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,748,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-593610","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115612482087232420","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=593610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/593611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=593610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=593610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=593610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}