Furious row erupts over University Challenge as RuPaul’s Drag Race star slams BBC for allowing Oxford and Cambridge to enter multiple teams

Your starter for ten. Since 1962, there has been 53 series of University Challenge. Of these, how many times has a team from Oxford or Cambridge won?

The answer is 27 times.

And it’s not because the top two ranked universities are simply better, it’s because they are at an advantage by being able to enter multiple teams each year.

This has seemingly caused an issue with RuPaul’s drag race star Kate Butch, the stage name of Marcus Crabb, who has started an unlikely brawl on X, formerly Twitter.

‘I’m almost militant about how I feel that Oxford and Cambridge should not be allowed to enter University Challenge 30 times a year, it’s not called College Challenge is it?’

Each series of the BBC quiz show typically includes at least ten entries for Cambridge and Oxford colleges while the remaining 18 places go to other universities.

RuPaul’s Drag Race star Kate Butch (pictured) has started a brawl on X over whether or not Oxbridge colleges should be allowed to enter University Challenge as separate teams

Since stating their views online, the drag artist, originally from Buxton, Derbyshire, has had to mute notifications after more than 400,000 people have seen the post and taken to the comments to share their own opinions.

One fan of the long-running quiz show said: ‘Sometimes I think that, and other times I think it’s best they do it like that or they would enter a super team and either Oxford or Cambridge would win every year.’

As it stands, the last Oxbridge team to win was St John’s College from Cambridge in 2018.

Someone else commented: ‘Oxford and Cambridge compete as college teams because if they each played as a university team they would be essentially invincible. 

‘As it is, the colleges appear “30 times a year” because they win the (untelevised) heats.’

A third added: ‘Letting them compete in colleges isn’t fair to other collegiate universities like Durham.’

This is not the first time the long-running quiz show has come under fire for the sheer amount of participating Oxbridge teams.

During an episode in 1975, Manchester University’s team only answered with the names of Marxists out of protest against the Oxbridge colleges being able to enter as separate teams.

Last year, Professor Frank Coffield accused the BBC of ‘rigging’ University Challenge by allowing separate Oxford and Cambridge colleges to enter while limiting other universities to one entry each. 

Peterhouse College (bottom) from Cambridge University emerged victorious from the final of University Challenge in 2015. Out of 53 series of the quiz show, a team from Oxford or Cambridge has won 27 times

Kate Butch took to X, formerly Twitter, and said: ‘I’m almost militant about how I feel that Oxford and Cambridge should not be allowed to enter University Challenge 30 times a year’

The drag artist had to mute notifications after more than 400,000 users viewed the post and chimed in 

He argued that it broke the corporation’s impartiality rules.

In one complaint letter, the University College London academic wrote: ‘Each of the 70-plus Oxbridge colleges [even those with only 300/400 students] is allowed to compete in University Challenge, but huge civic universities like Manchester and Birmingham [with upwards of 40,000 students] are allowed only one entry each.

‘What justification has the BBC for rigging the programme in this way?’

In another, he said : ‘Why has the BBC allowed the format of this programme to treat all other universities in the UK apart from Oxbridge as second class?’

The BBC responded and said the rules of the competition allow for ‘institutions that deliver higher education course at the level of bachelor’s degree or equivalent or higher’ to apply to take part on the show.

A BBC spokesperson told FEMAIL: ‘All education institutions that design and deliver teaching towards university level qualifications are welcome to apply to University Challenge independently.

‘This is not limited to Oxbridge colleges, but also includes around 300 colleges of further and higher education across the UK, several member institutions of the University of London, and a number of UK conservatoires and art schools.’

But Coffield was not happy with this response and said: ‘It still does not explain why more than 70 Oxbridge colleges are treated as separate universities.

‘My main criticism still stands and the BBC is avoiding answering it.’

University Challenge host Amol Rajan has not yet  addressed the high numbers of Oxbridge teams compared to other universities.

Rajan studied English at Downing College, Cambridge.