Queen Mary students claim top honours in the University of London Gold Medal Competition 2025
Queen Mary students won three of the four awards at the annual competition, which recognises outstanding medical and dental students from London-based universities.
Queen Mary dental student Hilary Leung took home the Gold medal
Students from Queen Mary University of London took home three of the four awards at this year’s University of London Gold Medal Competition, hosted at Queen Mary University of London.
The competition, which has been running since 1903, is an annual contest for the most outstanding medical and dental graduates from London-based universities, including Queen Mary, UCL, King's College London, St Georges (University of London), and Imperial.
Final year medical (MBBS) and dental (BDS) students are nominated by each university based on academic excellence in their final year. During the competition, the students undergo rigorous face-to-face examination by a panel of external examiners, testing candidates' knowledge across various areas of medicine and dentistry. The winner in each category receives the Gold Medal and a £500 award and the runner-up receives the Betuel Prize and a £200 award.
At the 2025 awards, Hilary Cecilia Leung took home the Gold Medal and Sakinah Nassurally was awarded the Betuel prize in the BDS category. In the MBBS category, Siddharth Sasindran was awarded the Betuel prize, with the Gold prize awarded to Anya Nanchahal from Imperial.
Hilary Cecilia Leung, BDS Gold 2025 winner, said:
“It is an incredible honour to cap off my dental school journey with being awarded the University of London Gold Medal for BDS. I feel so fortunate to have spoken with and competed against such distinguished candidates, to whom I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations.
The competition was as exciting as it was intellectually demanding - the examiners challenged us to think outside the box and problem solve on our feet, in topics beyond the usual scope of undergraduate dentistry.
This achievement and that of my fellow Barts candidates attests to the tireless support of our incredible faculty and alumni in preparation for the competition. It was an incredible opportunity to learn from such accomplished experts in their respective fields.
I wish to extend heartfelt gratitude to all that were involved, and to congratulate the BDS Class of 2025!"