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Test the Nation contest

September 2003

Super-talented Bristol Cathedral School pupil George Alexander notched up the best score in the country in a national TV quiz. Thirteen-year-old George chatted live on TV with quizmaster Anne Robinson after his triumph in the BBC’s Test the Nation contest. After tackling the quiz online on the computer at his Brislington home, George was awarded a score of 145 – the highest score in the country on the night. This was well ahead of the national English average of 112 and the average score for the Bristol area of 113. He then received a call from the Anne Robinson, famous for her scathing repartee in The Weakest Link. “She was quite nice to me. She asked me which questions I found hard – I said the history-type ones,” said George.

His headmaster, Mr Kevin Riley, said: “I am very pleased that George has done so well. He is an exceptionally talented musician, but he is certainly not a narrow specialist: his success in the quiz reflects the benefits of the well-rounded education that we seek to offer.” Despite George’s success, he does not spend all his time swotting up on facts from encyclopaedias. “I was really surprised that I did so well – I just watch the news quite a lot and I like history programmes and comics,” he said. General knowledge is not the only thing at which George excels – he has a music scholarship at Bristol Cathedral School and has played the cello in the National Children’s Orchestra. Talent runs in the family, too. His twin brother, John, who is also a Year 9 Bristol Cathedral School pupil, managed an almost equally impressive total of 142 in the quiz. The boys’ father, Mr Kevin Alexander, said he was “extremely proud” of George’s achievement.

In the quiz, entrants had up to 20 seconds for each of the 70 questions. These were on multiple-choice topics ranging from history and entertainment to science and sport. Examples included:

• What is 2003 in Roman numerals?

• At sea level, what temperature in Fahrenheit does water boil at?

• How many stars make up the Plough?

The test can be attempted by visiting www.bbc.co.uk/testthenation.

Editor’s note: All entrants to the quiz were asked the same 70 questions. Their final scores were calculated using a weighting based on a number of factors, including their age.

 

Bristol Cathedral School, College Square, Bristol, BS1 5TS. Tel 0117 929 1872
E-mail Head@BristolCathedral.org.uk