CLOSING DATE: MIDNIGHT ON THIS COMING WEDNESDAY (15 DECEMBER 2021)

UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE - 2022 SERIES

Do you have a good level of knowledge in a specific subject or across a range of subjects? Can you cope with facing Jeremy Paxman? Will you still be a student here up to the end of April 2022? Then why not take part in the selection process for the next University of Manchester team on University Challenge?

The selection process is taking place entirely online, and is rather different from previous years.

• The makers of University Challenge have advised those of us who select teams that, rather than relying on a single test covering the full range of subjects which appear on the programme, it will be more effective if the process includes tests on a range of subjects.
• This will enable team selectors to identify people who can combine their subject knowledge to form a strong team, rather than focus solely on people who are very good generalists.
• Of course, very good generalists are also welcome, and will also be identifiable via this process.

The links below give access to 20-question general knowledge tests in six different broad subject areas as represented on University Challenge.

• Geography test
• History test
• Literature test
• Science test
• Social Science test
• Visual Art test

You are welcome to attempt one, some or all of these.

• Please download the Excel answer template file using this link and type your answers into the appropriate cells.
• i.e. Column B if you are attempting the Geography test, Column C if you are attempting the History test, and so on.
• Please then email the file to me (stephen.pearson@manchester.ac.uk) as an attachment using your University of Manchester email account..
• Someone who attempts only one of the tests will be considered for the team just as much as someone who attempts all six of the tests.
• As noted above, team selectors are being encouraged to identify people who can combine their subject knowledge to form a strong team.
• (As is probably obvious, you should not use Google – or any other external sources – to answer the questions in the tests.)

The tests will be available until midnight at the end of this coming Wednesday (15 December), but please submit your answers as early in the week as possible.

• Everybody who submits answers will receive an email by Thursday at the latest, to let them know whether they are in contention for the team.
• People who perform well enough on one or more of the subjects represented in these 20-question tests will be invited to the second and final stage of the selection process.
• This will take the form of an individual Zoom-based oral test of knowledge in the subjects on which they performed well in the first stage, arranged to take place at a mutually convenient time.

TEAM MEMBERSHIP - ARE YOU ELIGIBLE?

You are eligible to be a member of the team if you meet the following three criteria.

1) You will still be a student of the University of Manchester during the periods when all stages of the competition are filmed (see below).

2) You have not appeared on television in University Challenge in either of its incarnations, namely while it was hosted by Bamber Gascoigne between 1962 and 1987 or while it has been hosted by Jeremy Paxman since 1994.

3) You would be available for filming at studios in Manchester on all potential filming dates. The first round of matches is scheduled to be filmed during the period 23 February - 27 February 2022, the second round during the period 24 - 27 March 2022, and the remaining matches (up to and including the final) during the period 23 - 26 April 2022.

Stephen Pearson
Organiser, University of Manchester team for University Challenge