STUDENTS of Birkbeck College, Bloomsbury, have redeemed themselves in the grand final of television's University Challenge quiz this week, after a disastrous performance last year made them the butt of jokes everywhere, writes Kay Shelley.
'They narrowly lost in the final shown on BBC2 on Tuesday, collecting a respectable 195 points against winners for the second year running, Magdelene College, Oxford, who scored 225 points.
The University of London college in Malet Street has had to suffer jibes like "universally challenged" and "How many berks are there in Birkbeck?" since 1997 when they bombed to an alltime low score of only 40 points in an early round.
That dubious honour was surpassed this year by New Hall, Cambridge, which managed just 35 points in the quarter-final.
Birkbeck's huge improvement was due to more careful selection and practicing with a buzzer system. Applicants were whittled down from 25 to a first and reserve team.
A college spokeswoman said last year's disaster was due to stage fright, but also an over-relaxed selection process which allowed the first four applicants to be chosen.
The four mature students who got to appear on TV were team captain and MA student Mark Conway, university administrator and PhD student Catherine Arbuthnott, engineer and BA student Mike Austin and bookseller and BA student Neil Best.
Said Catherine: "This year we've proved that even though Birkbeck students are part-time, we are as good if not better than younger students. Birkbeck can hold its head up again."