Quiz: match the celebrities to their degrees

Jamie Oliver is studying for a ‘proper geeky’ master’s degree in nutrition. Photograph: Greg Zabilski/ABC via Getty Images

Star chef – and former school drop-out – Jamie Oliver recently revealed that he is studying for master’s degree in nutrition. “It’s proper geeky, I could go off on one,” he said of the course, which he is taking at St Mary’s University in Twickenham (although lecturers give him private lessons at home).

But he’s far from the only celebrity to have dabbled in a bit of book learning. Can you match the A-listers to their academic achievements?

1. 

   Which stellar (some might say interstellar) A-list actress has contributed to an academic journal by co-authoring an article entitled: ‘‘Frontal lobe activation during object permanence: data from near-infrared spectroscopy"?

   1. Jennifer Lawrence

   2. Natalie Portman

   3. Kirsten Dunst

2. 

   Which stoner-movie regular has studied for several master’s degrees, including creative writing at Columbia and filmmaking at New York University’s prestigious Tisch School of the Arts?

   1. Seth Rogen

   2. Vince Vaughn

   3. James Franco

3. 

   Which writer failed his degree due to a dissertation-related mishap? (He produced a 15,000-word essay on video games, which was the not the topic agreed upon with his university.)

   1. Charlie Brooker

   2. Chris Morris

   3. Armando Iannucci

4. 

   Which world-famous fashion designer ditched the library for the catwalk after completing a PhD in political science?

   1. Alexander McQueen

   2. Miuccia Prada

   3. Yves Saint-Laurent

5. 

   Which rock legend also has a penchant for astrophysics, earning a PhD with a dissertation on the topic of interplanetary dust?

   1. Robert Plant

   2. Roger Daltrey

   3. Brian May

6. 

   Which former footballer and manager – in a life of many different careers – also formerly worked at British Aerospace, using a master’s degree in engineering?

   1. Harry Redknapp

   2. Iain Dowie

   3. Neil Warnock

7. 

   Which California punk band's lead singer dropped out of a molecular biology PhD to focus on music?

   1. Tom DeLonge from Blink-182

   2. Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day

   3. Dexter Holland from The Offspring

8. 

   Which comedian and smash-hit sitcom star has a PhD in neuroscience?

   1. Lisa Kudrow

   2. Mayim Bialik

   3. Julia Louis-Dreyfus

9. 

   Which of these supermodels holds a master’s in public health?

   1. Elle Macpherson

   2. Christy Turlington

   3. Kate Moss

10. 

    Which actor, known for playing foolish characters, earned a master’s in electrical engineering from the University of Oxford?

    1. Matt Lucas

    2. Rowan Atkinson

    3. Jim Carrey

Solutions

1:B, 2:C, 3:A, 4:B, 5:C, 6:B, 7:C, 8:B, 9:B, 10:B

Scores

1. 8 and above.

   Distinction. Well done! You’ve reached the A-list

2. 4 and above.

   Merit. You’ve clearly been swotting up (with celebrity magazines)

3. 0 and above.

   No marks for you. Back to the university of life

4. 1 and above.

   Pass. Perhaps celebrities aren’t your specialist subject