See also a full list of the institutions that have appeared on the show since its return in 1994, and the years in which they were on.
159 institutions have appeared on the series since its return in 1994. 29 Cambridge colleges (ie all except Clare Hall and Hughes Hall) have appeared on 158 occasions, and 38 Oxford colleges (all 38 colleges except All Souls, Green Templeton, Mansfield, and St Antony's, plus the permanent private halls Greyfriar's Hall, Regents Park, St Benet's Hall and Wycliffe Hall) 152 times. All 17 constituent colleges of the University of London have also appeared, other than the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
Here is a table of all institutions who have appeared on at least 8 series.
| 24 series | Durham |
| 23 series | Edinburgh |
| 22 series | Manchester |
| 21 series | Warwick |
| 20 series | York |
| 19 series | Bristol; St Andrews |
| 17 series | University, London |
| 16 series | Imperial, London; Sheffield |
| 13 series | Exeter; Queen's, Belfast; Trinity, Cambridge |
| 12 series | Birmingham; Glasgow; Liverpool; Magdalen, Oxford; Newcastle; Nottingham; Open |
| 11 series | Southampton |
| 10 series | Balliol, Oxford; Birkbeck, London; LSE |
| 9 series | Cardiff; Jesus, Cambridge |
| 8 series | Christ Church, Oxford; Emmanuel, Cambridge; Reading; St John's, Oxford; Strathclyde; Sussex |
Most appearances, all-time — team or individual
In addition, I can also conjecture the single teams or individuals who have made the most appearances over the years. Whilst I cannot be sure of the record-holders, I have found the following people who have been on more than 10 shows.
Leicester, 1963 (15 appearances). Champions of the first series, Leicester appeared an impressive 12 times in their winning series, the only series where the quarter and semi-finals were also best-of-three. They returned to face a team of 'Leicester staff' in the first student-dons game the next year, played the 1998 champions in the 1998-9 series and returned again for the Reunited series. Of their 15 matches, Leicester lost on 4 occasions.
Sidney Sussex, Cambridge, 1978 (14 appearances). The 1977-8 champions first appeared 5 times on the 1976-7 series, losing narrowly in the semi-finals and allowed to return the next year due to an error. They appeared (at least) 4 times on their return, later playing against a team of Dons plus the College Bowl champions, and then 3 times in the Reunited series. They are almost certainly the team who have chalked up the most victories, losing only once along the way.
Keele, 1968 (12 appearances). The 1967-8 series champions managed 8 games during their winning run, and then had a Christmas special against St Hilda's 1966 team the following year. Finishing as runners-up in the Reunited series added an additional 3 games. Keele won 10 of their 12 matches.
Balliol, Oxford, 1963 (11 appearances). Also benefitting from the best-of-three quarter and semi-finals, the runners-up in the first series managed 11 appearances in the same series. They won 8 of their 11 matches.
Sussex, 1967 (11 appearances). The 1966-7 series champions, Sussex, appeared 9 times on their first series, then for a Christmas special against St Hilda's 1966 team, and again for the Reunited series. They also won 8 of their 11 matches.
Keble, Oxford, 1987 (11 appearances). Bamber's final series champions played 7 times on their way to the series win, followed by 3 games against the New Zealand champions later that year. And a single win in the Reunited series means that they are the undefeated team with the most victories.
Robin Bhattacharrya (11 appearances). Robin appeared 5 times as part of the 1995 Trinity, Cambridge team, returning a further time on the Reunited series. He then made 3 appearances on the 2011 Christmas series and 2 further times for Christmas 2025, again for Trinity, Cambridge. His only defeat was in the 2025 Christmas semi-final.
On the subject of winning streaks, there are at most three teams from the 23 Bamber Gascoigne series that never lost a game: Fitzwilliam, Cambridge, 1973 (who may have lost one of their final games), Durham, 1977, and Keble, Oxford, 1987.