Under normal circumstances, Thursday 25 June would have been our annual General Admission ceremony, the biggest and busiest graduation ceremony of the year. Unfortunately this year is not to be and we are thinking of all the students for whom this would have been a day to celebrate with family and friends.

Although Congregations to confer degrees in person will not take place until further notice, affecting the rest of this academic year and potentially well beyond, the University and Colleges have put in place exceptional measures, so that students who successfully meet the requirements of their course may continue to graduate in absence. For students who graduate in absence because of the COVID-19 crisis, the University and Colleges’ Congregations Working Group has adopted the key principle of seeking to offer a ceremony in the Senate House that will be as close as possible to the usual in-person graduation. The aim is to make it possible for College cohorts to reunite in their College, and to process together in academic dress to the Senate-House, where those still to graduate will have their degrees conferred, while those who have graduated in absence will have their degrees celebrated in a similar way. The University and Colleges are working hard to make this happen, and it is hoped that the ceremonies will take place sometime in 2021, depending on when social distancing rules have eased, and large gatherings are again possible. 

For now, however, we are sending our Caius graduands heartfelt congratulations and well wishes on what would have been your graduation day in Cambridge. If you can't come to Caius, we are determined to come to you to celebrate this wonderful achievement, mark the start of a new chapter and tell you that 'Once a Caian, Always a Caian'. We are looking forward to keeping in touch, helping you along the way, and of course welcoming you back to College when it is safe to do so.

Praelector, Dr John Latimer, explains the graduation ceremony and goes through his usual rehearsal

Dr Pippa Rogerson, Master of Gonville & Caius College, addresses our 2020 graduands

Head Porter, Russell Holmes, dressed in his ceremonial attire, wishes graduands well

Well wishes from Dr Sarah Houghton-Walker, Admissions Tutor and Director of Studies in English

Well wishes from Caius Historians Dr Melissa Calaresu, Professor Sujit Sivasundaram and Professor Peter Mandler

Well wishes from Dr Melissa Calaresu, Undergraduate Tutor and Director of Studies in History

Well wishes from Dr Victoria Bateman, Director of Studies in Economics

Well wishes from Dr James Fraser, Graduate Tutor and Director of Studies in Medicine

Well wishes from Dr Michelle Ellefson, Undergraduate Tutor and Director of Studies in Education

Well wishes from Anita Bunyan, Undergraduate Tutor and Director of Studies in Modern and Medieval Languages

Well wishes from Professor John Mollon, Director of Studies in Psychological and Behavioural Sciences

Development Director, Dr Maša Amatt, welcomes Caians to the alumni community and explains the functions of the Development Office

The Choir performs Brahms Geistliches Leid