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. |