As is now traditional here (but slightly earlier than in recent years), we once again we bring you this year’s King William’s College General Knowledge Paper 2025-26.
For over 120 years the College has set an annual general knowledge test, known as the General Knowledge Paper. The pupils sit the test twice: once unseen on the day before the Christmas holidays, and again when they return to school in the New Year – after spending the holiday researching the answers. The test used to be mandatory but these days participation is voluntary. Since 1951 the quiz has been published in the Guardian.
The quiz, which is always 18 sets of 10 questions, is well known to be highly difficult, a common score being just two correct answers. The best scores are around 12% for the unseen test and about 70% for the second attempt – and of course the average scores are going to be very much lower than this.
The quiz is always introduced with the Latin motto Scire ubi aliquid invenire possis, ea demum maxima pars eruditionis est, “To know where you can find anything is, after all, the greatest part of erudition” – something my father always impressed on me as “Education is not knowing, it is knowing where to find out”.
You can find this year’s General Knowledge Paper on the King William’s College website at https://kwc.im/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GKP_2025_26.pdf and in the Guardian.
I’ve not yet tried this year’s test myself, but unseen I don’t normally have many more clues that the KWC pupils!
Enjoy the quiz as a break from festive preparations, or keep it to amuse the family over Christmas!
