A Rochester woman led her team to a historic victory on University Challenge.

Jerushah Jardine captained the first University of East London line-up to be quizzed by Jeremy Paxman on the famous BBC show.

In a nail-biting first round last night, UEL defeated the University of Glasgow 150-135.

Jerushah, along with team mates Kelly Travers, Chris Ducklin and Rachel Evans have now booked their place in the last 16.

Team captain Jerushah, who is studying for a PhD in peatland ecology, admitted appearing in front of the TV cameras and answering questions posed by Jeremy Paxman was a nerve-racking experience.

But said the team grew into the experience as the match unfolded.

“We had various strategies to deal with the nerves and we really supported each other leading up to the match,” she said. “Once it started we felt pretty calm and felt we were ready."

All four team members answered key questions – including one memorable moment when Chris correctly recalled the bear with 'a hard stare’ was Paddington Bear.

“It’s just amazing that Paddington Bear came up as one of the questions,” said Chris, an MSc Civil Engineering student.

“It goes back to early in my life when I had done something and one of my friends said she was giving me the ‘Paddington stare’.

“It was a bit of a Slumdog Millionaire moment when you refer not necessarily to your education to provide the answer but to your experience.”

Jerushah added: "It was very much a team effort. I think we’ve all got our own areas where we feel more confident or less confident. Everybody played an absolutely vital role – especially Chris for knowing the Paddington Bear answer.”

UEL is competing in University Challenge for the first time in its history after it was one of 28 teams selected for the 2016-17 series from the 130 universities who applied.

The 28 qualifiers included six Cambridge and five Oxford colleges. UEL was the only post-1992 university to make it through.

Prof John Joughin, the UEL vice-chancellor, complimented the team on their victory.

“The team did brilliantly just to qualify for University Challenge, so to get off to a winning start is absolutely fantastic,” he said.

“Their fantastic range of knowledge and their calmness under pressure was hugely impressive.

“I would like to congratulate them on their historic achievement and also thank staff who helped with their preparations.”

Jerushah is hoping to follow in the footsteps of her husband by winning University Challenge – 33 years after he did it.

Husband Peter who was a member of the Dundee University team that won the competition in 1983.