University Challenge, a long-running British television quiz show, pits teams of university students against each other in a battle of brains.
Over 100 institutions applied for this year’s programme, but the University of Bristol is one of only 28 who made it onto the televised episodes.
This year’s University of Bristol team consists of captain Hugo Goodwill (Meng Aerospace Engineering), Lewys Jenkins (BSc Mathematics), Lois Connolly (BA Liberal Arts), Nathaniel Joyce (MSci Biology) and reserve team member Madhu Kannan (MSci Psychology and Neuroscience).
The Quiz Society at Bristol runs a competitive three-stage process to select members of the University Challenge team.
A 100-question written quiz open to all students is followed by a round of buzzer-style questions for the top performers. Finalists then undergo individual interviews led by the committee and past contestants. From this, a team of top performers is assembled to represent the university on the national stage.
Hugo Goodwill, University of Bristol Team Captain, said: “It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience to compete in University Challenge. As a huge fan of the show, it’s been an amazing opportunity to take part, especially as I tried out for the Bristol team three times before being successful in my final year of university”.
Last year’s team had an impressive run in the 2024/25 series of University Challenge, reaching the semi-finals.
Building on that momentum, this year’s team is eager to showcase their knowledge and expertise.