<  Foundation Degrees, Diplomas, PG Diplomas, Certificates

Our dress for Foundation Degrees, Diplomas, PG Diplomas and Certificates is a dark blue gown of the Bachelor's pattern (see below), with open, pointed sleeves.  The hat is a blue mortar-board, the international symbol of Education.

Bachelors  >

Our Bachelor’s gown is black with open, pointed, wing-shaped sleeves. The hood is in our University colours, bright cardinal red outside, with a purple lining which folds outwards.  This shape is known as the 'Aberdeen' style.  The mortar-board and its tassel are black.

<  Masters

The Master’s gown, slightly longer than the Bachelor's, is of traditional Master's shape, featuring long glove-ended appendages from behind the elbow and reaching almost to the hem of the gown.  The hood is a modified Oxford Doctor’s shape;  the outside is purple and the lining, which can be folded outwards, is cardinal red. The hat is the black mortar-board, as for Bachelors.

Master of Philosophy  >

The MPhil wears the Master's gown, of plain black, as above. The hood is of similar pattern to other Masters' but the two colours are separated by a narrow white stripe along the edge of the cowl section, which is the part of the hood which historically covered the wearer's head. The hood lining is of unembossed cardinal red, distinguishing it from the Doctors' hoods.

<  Doctor in Clinical Psychology

Doctors in Clinical Psychology wear a bright robe, all in the Christ Church colours of cardinal red and purple, the colours separated by a narrow white stripe.  The style is similar to the Oxford Doctor's, having short bell-shaped sleeves.  The hood is similar to the Christ Church Master's in shape and colours, but with a white stripe along the cowl separating the two; moreover, the red material in the DClinPsych hood is embossed with our University coat-of-arms.
The hat is a typical Doctor's bonnet - a soft, round Tudor cap of purple, with a wide brim and white cord with tassels.

Doctor of Philosophy  >

Our PhD wears a brightly-coloured robe that follows the pattern established first by our DClinPsych, being similar to an Oxford Doctor's robe of medium length with bell-shaped sleeves. The colours are our University purple and cardinal red, a narrow white stripe separating the two. The hood colours are separated by a narrow white stripe along both parts of the hood, cape and cowl and the cardinal red is embossed with our University coat-of-arms.

Honorary Graduands

There are two categories of Honorary Graduand of Canterbury Christ Church University: Honorary Fellow and Honorary Doctor.

Honorary Fellow

Our Honorary Fellow's robe is of heavy black material, an open-fronted gown with long sleeve-hangings from behind the elbow, similar to the Masters' style but with the arm-hole being an inverted T-shape instead of a plain slit, through which the wearer's arm passes. The inverted 'T' is decorated with gold braid, known to robe makers as 'lace', along the outer edges. The back of the robe features a flap collar, unlike our other graduands' gowns, which have a collar of yoke-and-gathers at the back. The red and gold colouring of the Fellow's flap collar extends over the shoulders and follows the front facings down to the lower hem of the garment. The robe also has a slit at the back, similar to that of the gown of a Queen's Counsel. No hood is worn with the Honorary Fellow's robe but a soft Doctoral hat of the Tudor pattern in black velvet is worn, trimmed with a gold cord and tassel.

Honorary Doctor

Our University Honorary Doctor wears the Fellow's robe and hat without variation but with the addition of a stole or 'scarf' worn from behind the neck and hanging at the front over the facings. The design is similar to the scarf worn over the Anglican priest's surplice but has pointed ends and is of shorter length. The body of the scarf is in our University purple, edged in white, with our corporate 'three Cs' logo in gold, near each of the two pointed ends.

 
Academic Dress Descriptions by Michael HL Brewer
Lecturer, Department of English & Language Studies, Faculty of Arts & Humanities