Edinburgh University win University Challenge. Picture: BBC iPlayer

The four-man team, made up of captain Max Fitz-James, Matt Booth, Marco Malusa and Robbie Campbell became the first from Scotland to win since 1984 and the first non-Oxbridge finalist in six years.

Host Jeremy Paxman praised both teams for contesting a “great final” before Edinburgh were presented with the trophy by novelist Sebastian Faulks.

Captain Fitz-James told BBC Scotland’s The Nine: “The main secret is to be good as a team and that came in the selection process; they really made an effort to find people who had a complementary basis of knowledge so it wasn’t just down to one person, we did it as a team.

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“The best training was watching past episodes and doing it together as a team, so we would get together every Monday and watch past episodes, pause and try and answer the questions before the team.

“This is the third year in a row that Edinburgh reached the semi-finals so we were very pleased we got one further than that, and even more pleased when we finally lifted the trophy.”

The team carried a Greyfriars Bobby mascot with them throughout the competition.

University principal, Prof Peter Mathieson, said: “I would like to send my personal congratulations to the University of Edinburgh team for this fantastic achievement.

“The standards set in University Challenge are incredibly high.

“It’s a huge tribute to the students involved to have beaten off very tough competition from some of the sharpest minds in UK universities and won the final.

“University Challenge is a real television institution and everyone associated with the University should be justifiably proud of what the team has achieved.”