University Challenge viewers rejoiced yesterday as the Open University beat Linacre College, Oxford on the BBC Two show.
The team from the Open University, who had an average age of 52, beat the post-graduate Oxford college 210 to 140 leaving fans overjoyed at the underdogs’ win.
Oxford University is ranked number one in the world by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, and is notoriously hard to get into.
Meanwhile, most Open University courses don’t have entry requirements and are designed for students of any age – many of whom work full-time alongside their studies.
The team from the Open University, who had an average age of 52, beat the post-graduate Oxford college 210 to 140 leaving fans overjoyed at the underdog’s win. Pictured is the final shot of the two teams before the OU scored an extra 10 points in the last second
On last night’s episode, the OU team, lead by engineering student Jill Taylor from Riddlesden, Yorkshire, answered questions on literature, composers and chemistry to advance to the second round of the show.
And viewers at home were very excited about the win, saying they were routing for the inclusive institution, which has more than 174,000 students making it the UK’s largest University.
‘Watching the Open University beat Oxford on #UniversityChallenge has brought me so much joy tonight!’ one Twitter user wrote.
‘Superb win by Open University, well played Linacre College Oxford, thoroughly enjoyed watching, thank you Jezza,’ added another, referring to the host Jeremy Paxman.
On last night’s episode, the OU team lead by engineering student Jill Taylor (second right) from Riddlesden, Yorkshire, answered questions on literature, composers and chemistry to advance to the second round of the show
Viewers at home were very excited about the win, saying they were routing for the inclusive institution, which has more than 174,000 students making it the UK’s largest University
‘Nice to see the Open University smashing an Oxford College. There’s no substitute for life experience,’ commented a third.
‘I love the Open University!’ said another.
Others praised the programme for including mature students.
While the Open team had an average age of 52, the Linacre were also older than most students at an average age of 27.
Linacre, one of the newer Oxford colleges founded in 1962 is only for post-graduate students and has a student body of around 500.
‘#UniversityChallenge Open doing it for the Mature student,’ one wrote.
Another added: ‘Once again urging everyone to remember that mature students are students too, and deserve their spot on #UniversityChallenge as much as anyone else!
While the Open team had an average age of 52, the Linacre were also older than most students at an average age of 27. The team was lead by James King (second right) from Hampshire who is studying for a PhD in Climate science
Many praised the programme for including mature students in its line-up, as the team’s had an average age of 39.5 between them
‘Fascinating episode of University Challenge on Monday. Despite an average age of over 50,’ commented a third.
‘Open University enjoyed a superb win!’ wrote another.
The Open University was granted Royal charter in 1969 and was the brainchild of the social reformer Michael Young, who convinced Labour Prime Minster Harold Wilson that, through ‘TV and radio state-sponsored correspondence courses’, a brand new university would ‘provide an opportunity for those, who, have not been able to take advantage of higher education’.
Wilson made the OU his pet project, defended it from the doubters and was on hand for its first academic meeting in July 1969.