University Challenge 2021–22

The 51st series of University Challenge began on 12 July 2021 on BBC Two.^[1] The final aired on 4 April 2022 when Imperial College London and the University of Reading were declared the series winners and runners-up respectively.

In this series, the University of Dundee made its debut appearance in the BBC series.

Results

• Winning teams are highlighted in bold.
• Teams with green scores (winners) returned in the next round, while those with red scores (losers) were eliminated (as it was impossible for them to be in the highest scoring losers).
• 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
King's College London	115	100	University of Glasgow	215	12 July 2021
University College London	135	140	St Hilda's College, Oxford	275	19 July 2021
London Business School	100	180	Hertford College, Oxford	280	26 July 2021
Emmanuel College, Cambridge	135	140	University of St Andrews	275	2 August 2021
Queen Mary University of London	115	90	Oxford Brookes University	205	9 August 2021
University of Strathclyde	110	175	University of Reading	285	16 August 2021
University of Durham	90	190	Trinity College, Cambridge	280	23 August 2021
University of Exeter	130	80	University of Manchester	210	30 August 2021
University of Edinburgh	270	80	Peterhouse, Cambridge	350	6 September 2021
St John's College, Cambridge	155	210	Imperial College London	365	13 September 2021
St Catharine's College, Cambridge	130	120	University College, Oxford	250	20 September 2021
University of Dundee	145	135	Royal Northern College of Music	280	27 September 2021
Wolfson College, Oxford	110	165	University of Bristol	275	4 October 2021
University of Birmingham	245	10	University of Sussex	255	11 October 2021

Highest scoring losers play-offs

Team 1	Score		Team 2	Total	Broadcast date
University College London	170	175	St John's College, Cambridge	345	18 October 2021
Emmanuel College, Cambridge	180	115	Royal Northern College of Music	295	25 October 2021

Second round

Team 1	Score		Team 2	Total	Broadcast date
St John's College, Cambridge	220	45	Queen Mary University of London	265	1 November 2021
Emmanuel College, Cambridge	125	120	St Catharine's College, Cambridge	245	8 November 2021
University of Edinburgh	185	175	University of Bristol	360	15 November 2021
St Hilda's College, Oxford	45	235	Trinity College, Cambridge	280	22 November 2021
University of Reading	245	50	University of Dundee	295	29 November 2021
King's College London	165	115	Hertford College, Oxford	280	6 December 2021
University of Birmingham	225	50	University of St Andrews	275	13 December 2021
University of Exeter	70	205	Imperial College London	275	3 January 2022

Quarterfinals

Team 1	Score		Team 2	Total	Broadcast date
University of Reading	170	135	University of Birmingham	305	10 January 2022
King's College London	50	235	Imperial College London	285	17 January 2022
St John's College, Cambridge	140	155	Emmanuel College, Cambridge	295	24 January 2022
University of Edinburgh	230	95	Trinity College, Cambridge	325	31 January 2022
University of Birmingham	115	140	King's College London	255	7 February 2022
University of Reading	120	225	Imperial College London	345	14 February 2022
Emmanuel College, Cambridge	145	150	University of Edinburgh	295	21 February 2022
St John's College, Cambridge	155	125	Trinity College, Cambridge	280	28 February 2022
King's College London	80	85	Emmanuel College, Cambridge	165	7 March 2022
University of Reading	145	70	St John's College, Cambridge	215	14 March 2022

Semifinals

Team 1	Score		Team 2	Total	Broadcast date
Imperial College London	170	65	Emmanuel College, Cambridge	235	21 March 2022
University of Edinburgh	115	145	University of Reading	260	28 March 2022

Final

Team 1	Score		Team 2	Total	Broadcast date
Imperial College London	125	115	University of Reading	240	4 April 2022

In what was the most closely fought final since 2006 (when the University of Manchester beat Trinity Hall, Cambridge also by ten points), Imperial had leads of 90 to 25 and 105 to 45 before Reading fought back to take a narrow 120 to 105 lead. Max Zeng (Imperial) then narrowly beat the Reading captain Michael Hutchinson to a starter on the Brecon Beacons, after which Imperial took two bonuses and a five-point lead in the process. A five-point penalty for Reading was the final change in the scoreline before the gong.

• The trophy and title were thus awarded to the Imperial team of Max Zeng, Fatima Sheriff, Michael Mays, and Gilbert Jackson.
• The trophy was presented by Russian-born Dutch-British physicist Andre Geim.

Spin-off: Christmas Special 2021

First round

Each year, a Christmas special sequence is aired featuring distinguished alumni. Out of 7 first-round winners, the top 4 highest-scoring teams progress to the semi-finals. The teams consist of celebrities who represent their alma maters.

• 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 Edinburgh	160	125	University of Leicester	285	20 December 2021
University of Winchester	95	130	University of Bradford	225	21 December 2021
University of Bristol	95	125	King's College, Cambridge	220	22 December 2021
London School of Economics	75	130	Hertford College, Oxford	205	23 December 2021
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge	130	145	St Anne's College, Oxford	275	24 December 2021
Birkbeck, University of London	125	30	University of Portsmouth	155	27 December 2021
University of Kent	115	95	Goldsmiths, University of London	210	28 December 2021

Standings for the winners

Rank	Team	Team captain	Score
1	University of Edinburgh	Miles Jupp	160
2	St Anne's College, Oxford	John Robins	145
3=	University of Bradford	Martin Roberts	130
	Hertford College, Oxford	Adam Fleming
5=	King's College, Cambridge	Shahidha Bari	125
	Birkbeck, University of London	Jolyon Maugham
7	University of Kent	Peter White	115

Semi-finals

Team 1	Score		Team 2	Total	Broadcast date
University of Edinburgh	145	125	University of Bradford	270	29 December 2021
Hertford College, Oxford	155	95	St Anne's College, Oxford	250	30 December 2021

Final

Team 1	Score		Team 2	Total	Broadcast date
University of Edinburgh	235	95	Hertford College, Oxford	330	31 December 2021

The winning University of Edinburgh team consisted of Catherine Slessor, Thomasina Miers, Miles Jupp and Phil Swanson. The second placed Hertford College team consisted of Soweto Kinch, Elizabeth Norton, Adam Fleming and Isabelle Westbury.