Academic dress of the University of Kent

In common with most British universities a graduand begins the ceremony wearing the dress of the degree to which they are being admitted.

Graduation ceremonies were originally held on campus, first in Eliot and, then in Rutherford dining halls; but as numbers grew were transferred to Canterbury Cathedral.

The academical costume was believed for some time to have been designed by the Queen's dressmaker Sir Edwin Hardy Amies[1] but further research has disproved this hypothesis.

[9] Because of the rareness of the hood design it has its own code [a3] in the Groves Classification of Academic Dress used by the Burgon Society.

Non-degree awards use a different shaped hood of the Aberdeen style ([a1] in the Groves Classification[10]) made up of one or two colours: All Foundation degree holders, Bachelors and Masters wear a plain black mortarboard.