University Challenge in ‘elitism’ row

THE BBC has been accused of elitism over its University Challenge rules which allow separate Oxbridge colleges to enter while limiting other universities to one team each.

The show is in its 52nd series, with eight of its 28 entrants hailing from Oxford or Cambridge colleges. The previous edition saw nine of the 28 entrants drawn from Oxbridge.

Frank Coffield, an emeritus professor of education at University College London, said the show’s ‘grotesque, inequitable and indefensible’ Oxbridge bias breaks the corporation’s impartiality rules and perpetuates elitism in the UK.

A BBC spokesman said: ‘All education institutions that deliver teaching towards university-level qualifications are welcome to apply to University Challenge independently.

‘This is not limited to Oxbridge colleges, but includes 300 colleges of further and higher education across the UK.’