University Challenge 2022–23

The 52nd series of University Challenge began on 29 August 2022 on BBC Two. A special programme commemorating the show's 60th anniversary was broadcast on the same night.

This was the final series hosted by Jeremy Paxman, who then stood down from the role after 29 years. From July 2023 onwards, Amol Rajan succeeded Paxman as host for the 53rd series of the long-running student quiz show.

Paxman’s last-ever appearance as host aired on 29 May 2023 at the end of the series, when the University of Durham won their third title by defeating the University of Bristol in the final, which was coincidentally a rematch of the very first game back in August.

In this series, the universities of Coventry and Roehampton made their debut appearances, while Robert Gordon University made only their second appearance since 1994 in Jeremy Paxman's inaugural series.

Results

 * Winning teams are highlighted in bold.
 * Teams with green scores (winners) returned in the next round, while those with red scores (losers) were eliminated (as it was impossible for them to be in the highest scoring losers).
 * Teams with orange scores had to win one more match to return in the next round.
 * Teams with yellow scores indicate that two further matches had to be played and won (teams that lost their first quarter-final match).
 * A score in italics indicates a match decided on a tie-breaker question.

Semi-finals
This was the first time since the 2006-07 series that there were no Oxbridge teams in the semi-finals.

Final

 * The trophy and title were awarded to the Durham team of Harry Scully, Chloe Margaux, Alex Radcliffe, and Bea Bennett, who beat the Bristol team of Sam Kehler, Jacob McLaughlin, Tess Richardson, and Alejandro Ortega.
 * The trophy was presented by Jung Chang.
 * This was the last regular series to be hosted by Jeremy Paxman after 29 years.

First round
Each year, a Christmas special sequence is aired featuring distinguished alumni. Out of 7 first-round winners, the top 4 highest-scoring teams progress to the semi-finals. The teams consist of celebrities who represent their alma maters. This was the last Christmas special to be hosted by Jeremy Paxman after 11 years.


 * 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 grey 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.

Final
The winning Balliol College, Oxford team consisted of Elizabeth Kiss, Andrew Copson, Martin Edwards and Martin O’Neill, who beat the University of Hull and their team of Katharine Norbury, James Graham, Sian Reese-Williams and Graeme Hall.