This year, for the first time, Southampton students will be attending graduation ceremonies in December as well as July.
The number of students choosing to attend graduation has been increasing over recent years and, together with the overall increase in the numbers of students, this has led to a significant expansion of the July graduation.
Now, students who are awarded their degree in the autumn will be able to attend a graduation ceremony in December, rather than wait until July to graduate.
The first four Schools to be chosen for the new winter ceremonies are those with the largest number of students awarded their degrees between July and November – Health Sciences, Art, Psychology and Electronics and Computer Science.
In another ‘first’, mortarboards are to be introduced as part of the graduands’ academic dress, adding to the element of tradition in the ceremonies. This follows a successful petition from the Students’ Union. Wippells, the University’s robe makers, are currently making 2000 mortarboards in preparation for December.