Gowns galore: Are the graduation expenses worth the time and money?

As the academic year comes to a close, Warwick’s finalists are preparing for the event of the year: graduation. Excitement builds as dresses and suits are purchased, tickets are booked, and preparations ensue. However, one duty remains a controversial topic for graduates across the country: gown hire and photograph orders. This crucial element to the preparations is the centrepiece of the entire ceremony. Turning up without a gown may give rise to strange looks and judgement. Many graduates have been waiting in anticipation of receiving an email from graduation@warwick.ac.uk, which finally arrived in our inbox on 29 May this year. After clicking the link to register for graduation, getting tickets for family and booking your parking space, the moment of truth arrived… ordering gown hire and photos. However, upon arriving on Ede and Ravenscroft’s website, a large selection of options appears on the screen, with the option to choose from a plethora of photo packages and measurements for your gown and hat. Who knew the process would be so extensive? 

However, this is not the central issue of this article. Once we have sailed through the process of measuring, selecting, and confirming, just before placing your order a shocking number appears on the screen… £45 for a graduation gown, to wear for a maximum of 4 hours. And that’s just for undergrads. The cost can reach £58 for higher degree levels.  Just when you notice this, the photograph costs appear, with the cheapest option costing £30. This means, in total, the minimum amount spent on the Ede and Ravenscroft website is £75. Adding a £10 delivery fee on top of that, a minimum of £85 must be spent towards graduation expenses. This is before even factoring in travel and accommodation costs for some, which could be extremely steep.  

The cost of gown hire and photographs is nothing less than extortionate. These expenses are extremely inaccessible and could significantly disadvantage those with financial struggles

You may be utterly shocked, or not that surprised by this number. To put it into perspective, let’s compare the cost of graduation expenses at Warwick to other universities across the country.  Some students will not have to pay any money whatsoever to attend graduation, whereas on the other end of the spectrum, others (like us!) will have to spend nearly £100. While Warwick has no fee for actual attendance, we must pay for the gown hire, which students at Newcastle University do not have to pay for. We don’t have it as bad as Queen’s University Belfast students, where students must pay £47 to attend their graduation, £10 for guest tickets, and a minimum of £33 for professional photos and an extra £10 for a photo of students walking across the stage.  

Although we can be thankful that we graduates are not charged to attend, the cost of gown hire and photographs is nothing less than extortionate. These expenses are extremely inaccessible and could significantly disadvantage those with financial struggles. While some universities, such as Queen Margaret University, consider assisting ‘those in financial hardship’ to cover the cost of graduation expenses, Warwick has not been public about such affordances. It hardly seems realistic to expect all students to fork out this amount of money for a few hours of ceremony celebrations.  

It is, of course, an important aspect for the gown fitters to make graduates feel special on their big day, which may be a contribution towards the high price of the gowns themselves

To gain a perspective from previous graduates, I spoke to Ellie Randall, a 2024 graduate, about her experience with the graduation gown hire and photograph purchasing system. In her experience, the process of taking gown and hat measurements and pre-paying for professional photographs was quite a good idea. She said, “Pre-paying for everything made me feel calmer going into it because I knew everything was sorted. I knew I already had my photos, and I knew I had my gown. It eased me to know everything was sorted ahead of time.” It must be a comfort to many graduates that once they order their gown and photos months in advance of the ceremony, they can relax knowing they are organised for the big day.  

However, when I asked Ellie about her opinion on the cost of such expenses, her positive attitude changed. She argued that the price is “extortionate”, particularly for the gown which she wore for a maximum of three hours. In the case of the photos, she said, “I understand the price of the photos because they retouch and edit them. They mount them and everything.” Yet, when asked about whether the cost was worth it, Ellie said that “the gown itself isn’t worth it because it’s a bit of cloth at the end of the day”, but “in my experience, the dressers make you feel really special in there. The experience was worth it because they make you feel really nice”. 

Perhaps, then, despite the outrageous price of the gown hire and photographs, the entire process will all be worth it in the end. It is, of course, an important aspect for the gown fitters to make graduates feel special on their big day, which may be a contribution towards the high price of the gowns themselves. In addition, I see no issue with being organised ahead of time, measuring yourself to make sure the gown fits (even though I had to buy a tape measure for it). It should be stressed, however, that Warwick needs to account for those with financial struggles, as the high price simply isn’t accessible to many people at the university.  

To all graduates, I hope the money and the faff is worth it. Happy graduating!