QE alumnus Ben Pugh (2002-2009) has helped his team from Pembroke College, Cambridge, to victory in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the BBC’s University Challenge.
He made a significant contribution to the team’s 240–160 point victory over Balliol College, Oxford, in the first of a two-part quarter-final. His team reached the quarter-finals after securing victories in two previous rounds.
Ben was very quick on the buzzer, answering a range of starter questions on diverse subjects including dance tempo, planet recognition, literature and geography, which helped his team to establish an early 90-point lead. He was clearly pleased with a question in his specialist field on the meaning of the Russian acronym Gulag – as he is reading German and Russian.
Ben studied English Literature, French, German and History at A-level at QE, securing a grade A in all four subjects – the top grade at the time. He was placed in the top five in the UK in AQA’s GCSE German and French courses. While he was a pupil, Ben supported younger QE boys in the weekly language clinics.