Celebrating July graduations 2023

A huge congratulations to UCL's 8,000 postgraduate and medical students, who graduated at ceremonies last week at London’s ExCeL Centre.

Our Graduation Ceremonies in July 2023 offered a chance for our Postgraduate cohorts, as well as our new medical doctors, to come together and celebrate their achievements in a joyful and festive atmosphere. The 23 ceremonies over six days at London’s ExCeL Centre saw over 8,000 students and 19,000 guests come together with staff from across the university, welcoming them to our alumni family. There were also three ceremonies held especially for our alumni, welcoming back students from the 2020, 2021 and 2022 cohorts who had previously been unable to attend a graduation ceremony. 

The six days of celebrations also saw graduates lining up to have their photos taken with our life-sized ‘Jeremy Beartham’ bear, feline friends in attendance and even a marriage proposal on stage! One graduate said: “I'm so proud to embrace my new identity as a UCL alumna on this lovely occasion. It was heartwarming to celebrate with my family, run into old classmates and share surprised laughter. To those who couldn't join us physically, I wish to pass on this sense of jubilation – no matter which corner of the world you are in, it's your big day too! Thank you to all who made this happen – including the staff, student ambassadors... and of course, a special mention to the graduates ourselves!”

We were delighted to include messages from notable alumni, including: 

• Leanne Case (MSc Urban Regeneration, 2012), Strategist and Founder of Vzir Consulting; 
• Catherine Gladwell (MA Education and International Development, 2009), Founder and Chief Executive of Refugee Education UK; 
• Dr Joshua Wolrich (MSc Clinical and Public Health Nutrition, 2021), NHS Doctor, Registered Associate Nutrionist and author of Food Isn't Medicine;  
• Maryam Moshiri (BA Italian, 2000), BBC Chief News Presenter; 
• Craig Bennett (MSc Conservation, 1995), Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trusts; 
• Tolulope Ogunsina (MSc Technology Entrepreneurship 2013), Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Playbrush; 
• Dr Supti Sarkar (MEng Biochemical Engineering with Study Abroad, 2001, and MPhil Biochemical Engineering, 2005), Digital asset transformation strategist at PwC; 
• Martha Bowler (MSc Global Health and Development, 2020), Software Engineer at Stitch Health; 
• Dr Sebastian Bailey (BSc Psychology with Cognitive Science, 1997), President and Co-Founder of MindGym. 

Also speaking and receiving an honorary Doctorate was Professor Orlando Patterson, John Cowles Chair in sociology at Harvard University. Professor Patterson studies the history of slavery and freedom, race and inequality in the Americas and social and economic development in Jamaica and is the author of nine academic books and three novels. You can watch their speeches on the UCL Graduations website. 

Kirsty Walker, UCL’s Vice-President (External Engagement) said: “Our graduation ceremonies are joyous occasions when our community of staff and alumni come together to celebrate the achievements of our graduates.

“The atmosphere at the ExCeL Centre and back on the quad was buzzing. I would like to thank our teams of staff and Student Ambassadors for making sure our graduates and their supporters felt welcome and special.

“My special thanks goes to our Events team, who managed the huge job of making sure that things ran smoothly across all 23 ceremonies, and our Presiding Officers and academic colleagues in our Platform Parties.

“It means so much to our graduates to be able to celebrate their accomplishments with their lecturers and supervisors as well as their family and friends. The day is also a celebration of their hard work and support of our students.”

To see graduation highlights online please check out our Instagram reel and second Instagra reel, TikToks, and photo albums across Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. 

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