University Challenge Team selection - Wednesday 25 November 2015 2-5pm, Rutherford Lecture Theatre in the Schuster Building
Published on 19 November 15
The University of Manchester has triumphed in the 'University Challenge' tournament an incredible FOUR times; the most successful competitor since the series relaunch in 1995 (as settled in our victory against Magdalen College, Oxford in the 'Champion of Champions' match a couple of years ago). We're pushing for our fifth victory in the 2015-16 competition and need to find the brightest brains on campus to form our team.
Stephen Pearson, the team coach who has led the University team to the last three of their victories, has the following message for those interested:
“Do you have a good range of general knowledge? Can you cope with facing Jeremy Paxman? Will you still be a student here up to (and including) April 2016? Then why not come along to the two-stage selection test for the University of Manchester team which will apply for the next series of University Challenge?
The first stage is a written test comprising 100 general knowledge questions, which will take place on Wednesday 25 November 2015. It will start at 2pm, but you can turn up at any time provided that you finish the test by 5pm. (You shouldn't need to spend more than about 45 minutes on the test.)
The people who achieve the highest scores in this written test will be invited to the second stage in the process, which will be a test of speed on the buzzer in answering University Challenge starter questions. This will take place later the same day, between 7pm and 8pm.
If you are keen to apply to be on the team but you aren't free on that afternoon, please let me know (stephen.pearson@manchester.ac.uk ), and I'll do my best to make alternative arrangements. It would, however, probably prove impossible to make alternative arrangements for anybody who wasn't free between 7pm and 8pm on that evening for the head-to-head competition between the highest scorers on the written test.
To get an idea of whether you're likely to be in contention for a place on the team, you can test yourself with a previous year's selection test. (The test may take some time to load, but should appear eventually.) After typing your answers, you can click to compare your answers with the correct ones and so calculate your score for yourself. Unless you can score at least 25/100 on this test, you're unlikely to be in contention for a place on the team, and most people who have made it onto the team in past years have scored at least ten points more than this on a similar test.”
So get on down to the team selection, give the test a go and it could be you that helps make it a fabulous fifth victory this year!