University Challenge 2024 reveals winner as institution makes new record

"For such an outstanding team, you just couldn't quite get the rhythm right with the starters, which meant you had to sit there while these guys got all the bonuses.

"But, my goodness, what an amazing performance. What a high scoring final. You guys really have been astonishingly impressive, and in any other year, you might well have won it. Thank you so much," Rajan said.

"Imperial, 285 - that's remarkable. You have now set a record for this competition. Imperial College of University of London have won this competition more times than any other institution, and that's thanks to you, so well done!"

Team captain Suraiya Haddad Haddad said: "It feels brilliant. I mean, the team is fantastic, and also I just wanted to say thank you so much to UCL - a really lovely team, you played brilliantly!"

At the beginning of this academic year, the BBC show invited every eligible university and university college in the UK to put forward a team for the series. Around 120 applied, and from those, the show selected 28 unis to go head-to-head.

It was a close final with two very good teams.

Imperial College had a faultless run this season, with an average score of 235 points per game. They beat the likes of Lincoln College Oxford, Sheffield and Manchester.

The team included Lee from Hong Kong and Canada, who is studying chemistry; computer science student Jones from Hong Kong; team captain Haddad, who is from Manchester and studying medicine; and science and engineering master's student Debnath, who is originally from India.

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In the final, they faced UCL, who hadn't lost a single match all season, seeing off two Cambridge colleges and two Oxford colleges.

With an average of just under 200 points for each match, the UCL team included Hall from North Finchley, who is studying law; Izzatdust, who is originally from Portugal and doing a master's in intellectual history; team captain Sawh from North London, who is studying medicine; and Cranleigh local Finlay, who is doing a master's in Public Administration.

Had they won, UCL would have made history as the first ever team from the uni to win.

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