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Academic Dress

Dress Code

A Graduation Ceremony is a formal University event and in accordance with our Regulations all graduands must be dressed smartly and will wear full academic dress.

  • Hood colours vary according to the degree to be awarded;
  • Jeans, t-shirts, casual shirts without ties and trainers/sneakers are not permitted; suitable attire is a lounge suit with a shirt and tie, a formal dress or a skirt/trousers and blouse
  • Members of the armed forces may wear the appropriate uniform;
  • Members of religious orders may wear their normal mode of dress;
  • Graduands from overseas countries may wear their national dress.

Please note that Graduands who are not wearing academic dress, or who do not meet the dress code will not be permitted to take part in a ceremony.

Ordering Academic Dress

Graduands must either hire or purchase their academic dress from the University's robemakers, Ede and Ravenscroft. This order must be made in advance of the ceremony using this order formLink opens in a new window. A discount is offered for ordering the academic dress from the Ede and Ravenscroft's website in advance of the ceremony. The online discounted robe hire prices for the July 2024 ceremonies were as below:

Award Level

Price

Foundation

£45

Bachelors

£45

Masters (PGT)

£51

Doctorate/PhD

£58

We strongly recommend that you order robes at least 21 days before your Graduation Ceremony in order to guarantee availability.

Ede and Ravenscroft's online robe bookings form will close 10 working days prior to the start of the University's Graduation week. If bookings have closed, you can enquire at robing on the day of your ceremony about hiring robes.

We strongly recommend that you order robes at least 21 days before your Graduation Ceremony in order to guarantee availability.

Ede and Ravenscroft's online robe bookings form will close 10 working days prior to the start of the University's Graduation week. If bookings have closed, you can enquire at robing on the day of your ceremony about hiring robes.

On the Day

Robes can only be collected on the day of your ceremony. The ticketing and robing area will open for graduands from 8.30am for the morning ceremony, and 11:30am for the afternoon ceremony. You will be able to collect your graduand and guest tickets before collecting robes.

Unless you have pre-arranged with Ede and Ravenscroft to hire your robe for an additional week (additional hire fees apply), any graduate failing to return their robe by 7pm on the day of their ceremony, will be charged the full purchase price by the University's robemakers.