Editing University Challenge (section)

===Teams===
Teams consist of four members and most represent a single [[List of British universities|university]]. The exceptions to this are [[collegiate university|colleges]] of the [[University of Oxford]], the [[University of Cambridge]], the [[University of London]] and formerly the [[University of Wales]] which enter independent teams. While a number of other British universities have constituent colleges, only those where some teaching is undertaken at the college level may enter independent teams. The competing teams each year are selected by the show's producers, based both on scores from a general trivia quiz and the producers' judging of the suitability of the teams for television.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bradley|first1=Wendy|title=I'm gutted about University Challenge. And it's got nothing to do with Paxman|website=[[TheGuardian.com]]|date=15 September 2014|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/15/gutted-university-challenge-paxman-diversity|access-date=25 March 2015}}</ref> Oxford and Cambridge ("Oxbridge") colleges are prevalent in the competition: for instance, of the Christmas series between 2011 and 2022, Oxbridge colleges represented one-quarter of teams and three-quarters of winners.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/dec/18/bbc-called-to-defend-elitist-format-of-university-challenge|title=BBC called to defend 'elitist' format of University Challenge|work=[[The Guardian]]|last=Weaver|first=Matthew|date=18 December 2023|accessdate=9 April 2024}}</ref>

The contestants are identified by their surnames during gameplay, apart from at the beginning when they introduce themselves with their full names, where they are from and what they are studying.

The teams generally consist of mixed genders, mostly young adults but with some mature students also appearing.