Do you have to wear a gown at your graduation ceremony?

Yes: at City St George's, academic dress is compulsory. The set for each award, the rule for other suppliers, the hire deadline, and what happens if you'd rather not attend.

Yes. At City St George's, academic dress isn't a tradition you can opt out of: "All Graduands attending a ceremony are required to wear academic dress and gowns must be hired in advance." The university can refuse entry to anyone who doesn't comply. The rule is simple; the details are where people slip, from which hood goes with which award to how close to the day you can still book. Here's what the regulations ask for, how to get the right set, and what happens if you'd rather not walk at all.

Part one

What the rules require

Academic dress comes in three pieces: gown, hood and cap. City St George's regulations set them out award by award, and for Clerkenwell and Moorgate degrees the colours never change with the subject: every hood is maroon and gold. What changes is how far you've studied, which decides the hood's shape and the gown's cut.

The set for each award
  • Bachelor'sBlack gown; a simple-shape hood in maroon cloth, lined with gold, with a gold neckband.
  • Taught master'sBlack gown with an inverted T-shaped slit in each sleeve; a full-shape maroon silk hood, edged in gold.
  • Postgraduate diploma or certificateBlack gown; a full-shape maroon silk hood with a gold neckband, no lining or edging.
  • DoctorateIn full dress, a maroon gown trimmed with gold, a maroon hood lined half maroon, half gold, and a round black hat with a maroon cord.
  • Undergraduate diploma or foundation degreeA black gown, with no hood at all.

The cap for everyone except doctors in full dress is a black mortarboard or a black soft cap. MSci and MEng graduates wear the bachelor's set: the university treats them as enhanced first degrees, and that's how Ede and Ravenscroft's ticketing site lists them. Tooting's academic dress isn't set out on the same page; if that's your campus, the ticketing site selects the correct set for your award when you log in.

The firm line

No academic dress, no seat in the hall.

The terms of attending call academic dress compulsory, and the university reserves the right to refuse admission to anyone who doesn't follow them. If you don't want to wear it, the alternative isn't a smart suit; it's graduating in absentia.

The rules in four numbers
3pieces to wear
2colours, whatever you studied
10working days: the hire deadline
7days before: last official gown refunds
Part two

Getting the right set

Ede and Ravenscroft is the university's preferred supplier, and its ticketing site is where you register and buy guest tickets as well. When you log in, the correct gown, hood and cap are selected for you, under general names such as "Bachelors/1st Degrees" or "Masters Taught". Ordering online gets you a discount that phone orders don't.

You're also allowed to use another provider. The condition is strict: it's your responsibility to make sure the set you wear is identical to Ede and Ravenscroft's, "otherwise admission to the graduation ceremony may be refused". Whoever you hire from, check the description against the set for your award above.

What you'll be asked for
  • Your awardIts level sets the gown and the hood.
  • Your heightIt decides the gown's length.
  • Your head and chest measurementsEde and Ravenscroft ask for both.
  • Your ceremony dateSo the set is ready when you need it.

Timing matters more than people expect. The university's terms ask for academic dress to be hired before a deadline of ten working days ahead of the ceremony. Ede and Ravenscroft do keep a stall at the Barbican on the day, but hiring there costs a little more, and the size and type you need may have gone.

With us, you collect the evening before your ceremony or that morning, check the fit in your own time, then walk into the Barbican already dressed. You return it in person at the end of the day.

Book before the ten-day mark. It's the university's own deadline for hiring academic dress, and booking early is also the surest way to get your size.

Part three

If you'd rather not walk

The dress rule only covers the ceremony. Your degree doesn't depend on attending: if you don't go, you graduate in absentia. Clerkenwell and Moorgate graduates request their certificate through the form linked in the invitation email, and without that request it isn't printed. Tooting certificates are posted by the University of London or Registry, up to three months after the ceremony.

Can't make the date? Be careful. Missing your ceremony, or not replying to the invitation, doesn't move you to a later one automatically. Clerkenwell and Moorgate graduates facing exceptional circumstances can ask to defer, using the form in the invitation email before its deadline, and the Graduation Team decides case by case. Tooting graduates email their graduation team.

"Academic dress is compulsory and smart dress under academic robes is requested."

— City St George's, University of London

Changed your mind after booking? Official gown hire can be cancelled for a refund up to seven days before your ceremony, and tickets until the refund cut-off the university publishes for each round.

Part four

Under the gown

Your outfit stays on show, because the gown is open at the front. The university's standard is business wear or formal dress, and the national dress of your home country is welcome. Jeans, shorts and t-shirts aren't suitable.

Two small things help with the academic dress itself. A buttoned shirt or a firm neckline stops the hood sliding about. And a couple of hair grips keep a mortarboard level from the portrait to the drinks in the foyer.

Where this comes from

Everything here is from City St George's own pages: the academic dress regulations, the graduation FAQs and the terms of attending. Check the current round's details before you book.

Book the gown for your ceremony

Keep reading

More from the Journal

City St George's Graduation Guide
How a City St George's graduation works, from the Ede and Ravenscroft booking to the Barbican stage: deadlines, guest tickets, academic dress, and what happens if you can't be there.