Key • 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 orange 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.
2011 results First Round Semi-finals Final The 2011 series was won by
Trinity College, Cambridge whose team of Robin Bhattacharyya,
Daisy Goodwin,
John Lloyd, and
Edward Stourton beat the
University of Warwick's team of
Vadim Jean,
Daisy Christodoulou,
Christian Wolmar and
Carla Mendonça.
2012 results First Round Semi-finals Final The 2012 series was won by
New College, Oxford whose team of
Rachel Johnson,
Patrick Gale,
Kate Mosse and Yan Wong beat the
University of East Anglia's team of
John Boyne,
Razia Iqbal,
David Grossman and
Charlie Higson.
2013 results First Round Semi-finals Final The 2013 series was won by
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge whose team of
Quentin Stafford-Fraser,
Helen Castor,
Mark Damazer and
Lars Tharp beat
Emmanuel College, Cambridge and their team of
Hugo Rifkind,
Mary-Ann Ochota,
Simon Singh and
Rory McGrath.
2014 results First Round Semi-finals Final The 2014 series was won by
Trinity Hall, Cambridge whose team of
Tom James,
Emma Pooley,
Adam Mars-Jones and
Dan Starkey beat the
University of Hull and their team of
Rosie Millard,
Malcolm Sinclair,
Jenni Murray and
Stan Cullimore.
2015 results First Round Semi-finals Final The 2015 series was won by
Magdalen College, Oxford whose team of
Robin Lane Fox,
Heather Berlin,
Louis Theroux and
Matt Ridley beat the
University of Sheffield and their team of
Sid Lowe,
Nicci Gerrard,
Adam Hart and
Ruth Reed.
2016 results First Round Semi-finals Final The 2016 series was won by
St Hilda's College, Oxford whose team of
Fiona Caldicott,
Daisy Dunn,
Val McDermid and
Adèle Geras beat the
University of Leeds and their team of
Louise Doughty,
Gus Unger-Hamilton,
Kamal Ahmed and
Steve Bell.
2017 results First Round Semi-finals Final The 2017 series was won by
Keble College, Oxford whose team of
Paul Johnson,
Frank Cottrell-Boyce,
Katy Brand and
Anne-Marie Imafidon beat the
University of Reading and their team of
Anna Machin,
Martin Hughes-Games,
Sophie Walker and
Pippa Greenwood.
2018 results First Round Semi-finals Final The 2018 series was won by
Peterhouse, Cambridge whose team of
Dan Mazer,
Mark Horton,
Michael Howard and
Michael Axworthy beat the
University of Bristol and their team of
Philip Ball,
Laura Wade,
Misha Glenny and
Iain Stewart.
2019 results First Round Semi-finals Final The 2019 series was won by the
University of Leeds whose team of
Jonathan Clements,
Henry Gee,
Richard Coles and
Timothy Allen beat
Wadham College, Oxford and their team of
Jonathan Freedland,
Tom Solomon,
Anne McElvoy and
Roger Mosey.
2020 results First Round Semi-finals Final The 2020 series was won by
The Courtauld Institute of Art whose team of
Tim Marlow,
Lavinia Greenlaw,
Jacky Klein and
Jeremy Deller beat the
University of Manchester and their team of
David Nott,
Juliet Jacques,
Adrian Edmondson and
Justin Edwards.
2021 results First Round Semi-finals Final The 2021 series was won by the
University of Edinburgh whose team of
Catherine Slessor,
Thomasina Miers,
Miles Jupp and Phil Swanson beat
Hertford College, Oxford and their team of
Soweto Kinch,
Elizabeth Norton,
Adam Fleming and
Isabelle Westbury.
2022 results First Round Semi-finals Final The 2022 series was won by
Balliol College, Oxford whose team of
Elizabeth Kiss,
Andrew Copson,
Martin Edwards and Martin O’Neill beat the
University of Hull and their team of Katharine Norbury,
James Graham,
Sian Reese-Williams and Graeme Hall. This was the last Christmas special to be hosted by Jeremy Paxman after 11 years.
2023 results There were only six first-round matches due to one episode being removed. This was after complaints were received from two contestants who felt their accessibility requirements were not met during filming. Neither the contestants nor their institution have been named, other than being colleges of Oxford and Cambridge. The rest of the series was broadcast as normal.
First Round Semi-finals Final The winning
Middlesex University team consisted of David Heathcote,
Lola Young,
Heather Phillipson and
David Hepworth, who beat
Corpus Christi College, Oxford and their team of
Francesca Happé,
Michael Cockerell,
Alex Bellos and
Steve Waters.
2024 results Semi-finals Final Snatching victory on the final starter-for-ten, the winning
Durham University team consisted of
Liz James,
Tracey MacLeod,
Carla Denyer, and
Sophia Smith Galer, who beat the
Queens' College, Cambridge team of
John Zarnecki,
Stephanie Merritt,
Jenny Kleeman and
Richard K. Morgan.
2025 results For the 2025 series, to mark the fifteenth anniversary of the Christmas edition of the programme, one team from each prior series was invited back for another attempt.
Semi-finals Final Taking the honours for the second year in a row, the winning
Durham University team consisted of
Liz James,
Tracey MacLeod,
Carla Denyer, and
Sophia Smith Galer, who beat the
Keble College, Oxford team of
Paul Johnson,
Frank Cottrell-Boyce,
Anne-Marie Imafidon and
Caroline Criado Perez. ==References==