Optoversity Challenge raised £8,389 for Vision Care for Homeless People (VCHP) at 100% Optical.
Overall, 71 UK optometry students, from 13 universities, competed in three heats plus OSCE stations around the show in the Out of the Box Optics (OOTBO) event, up from 63 students in 2022, and the University of the West of England (UWE) won for the second year in a row.
Overall winner Isa Sheikh, a third-year optometry student, gave his UWE team the advantage alongside teammate Isabelle Horrocks, while second place went to the students at Aston University, and Bradford University took third place.
Karmelo Modina, co-founder of OOTBO, said: ‘No other event brings students together for such an inspired challenge, where they can test their knowledge and clinical skills, via OSCEs, amongst their peers in a fun way. We moved online for the event during Covid and this encouraged us to create even better ways to engage with the optometrists of tomorrow, and in turn this has led to more businesses donating valuable prizes.’
OOTBO organiser Gajan Singh added: ‘The event gets students to really challenge themselves but is only possible thanks to our wonderful sponsors and supporters within the optical community.’
The annual event has reached its seventh year supporting VCHP and a total of £33,000 has been raised for the charity. This year, Aston University student Maaria Azad achieved the highest individual fundraising amount at a total of £405.