You may have seen that the annual Macadam Cup competition is around the corner. Unlike Varsity, where we compete against longstanding rivals UCL, at the Macadam Cup King’s College London students battle against each other. 

The two sides of the competition are GKT and KCL. KCL is self-explanatory as ‘King’s College London’ and is open to all students at the university. GKT stands for Guy’s, King’s College and St Thomas and includes all health and medical-related courses such as medicine, midwifery or dentistry (but is technically open to all). 

GKT represents our medical schools, faculties and hospitals that make up the current Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine. It has a long and fascinating (albeit complicated) history of mergers and de-mergers with trusts and other institutions. The GKT teams themselves also have a rich history – with international players including Lennard Stokes who represented England 1875-1881 and studied Medicine at Guy’s. He was also the President of the Rugby Football Union.  

Although both KCL and GKT clubs are now open to any student, the distinction between GKT and KCL clubs means that the historicity of the development of such clubs is preserved and provides distinct means of engagement on different campuses.  

We’re very proud of the distinct history of our clubs and their shared heritage. Best of luck to all our teams in the upcoming Varsity and Macadam fixtures! 

Thea Turton 

VP Activities & Development