Reading bids for University Challenge success in 2021 series

The show will air on BBC Two at 8.30pm on Monday 16th August

Four students are set to represent Reading on the academic quiz show, University Challenge, on BBC Two tonight.

The latest team, made up of a mixture of students including local Reading residents, will be taking on the Jeremy Paxman challenge, going up against the University of Strathclyde and hoping to progress through the first round.

The team is made up of the following:

• Michael Hutchinson (team captain) - studied for a PGCE in Maths
• Alex Skopic - studying for a Master's in English Literature
• Margaret Ounsley - studying for a PhD in Poor Law History
• Sylvian Patrick Jesudoss - studying for a PhD in Marketing at Henley Business School

The two reserve team members are: Kira Bishop (second year Maths and Psychology) and Sarah Turvey (studying for a Master's in Education).

Team captain Michael Hutchinson said: "The whole experience has been a blast! It is very exciting to represent the University of Reading on one of the most famous of quiz shows. It has certainly been an interesting experience preparing and filming under lockdown. We only met in person the first time on the day of filming! We hope people enjoy watching as much as we enjoyed filming."

The team will be hoping to do better than last year's squad who went out in the first round. They will also be looking to avoid the unique honour received by the Reading alumni team from 2018. The team, made up of famous and notable former students, got to the final round of the Christmas series, where they scored zero against the University of Oxford's Keble College.