Encaenia

Encaenia is a Greek word for a festival of renewal; in St John's gospel it is traditionally translated as 'festival of dedication'. The word corresponds to the term 'commencement', from the Latin, used in many North American universities for the chief ceremony of the academic year.

The Oxford Encaenia is the surviving part of a more extensive ceremony called 'The Act'. This used to include ambitious musical works, often composed for the occasion, and traditional features such as a satirical speech, often scurrilous and sometimes scandalous, by an anonymous speaker known as Terrae Filius, 'Son of the Earth'. The Act was originally held in the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, a setting many people thought unsuitable. Such feeling prompted its move in 1670 to the Sheldonian Theatre.

By 1760 the ceremony had assumed a form much like today. It was largely reshaped by the will of Nathaniel, Lord Crewe (1633-1721), successively Rector of Lincoln College, Bishop of Oxford and Bishop of Durham, who left money to the University for this and other purposes.

Honorary degrees appear to have arisen out of the practice of granting dispensations from certain particular academic requirements, a practice which is as old as the University itself.

The earliest honorary degree (in the sense which we would understand it today) appears to have been offered to Lionel Woodville in 1478 or 1479. Woodville, Dean of Exeter and the brother-in-law of Edward IV, appears to have already held the degree of Bachelor of Canon Law; the University offered to confer the degree of Doctor of Canon Law on him without the usual academic exercises. It was thus an offer to dispense with the usual requirements, but was apparently unsolicited and clearly an attempt to honour and obtain the favour of a man with great influence. Woodville was shortly afterwards elected Chancellor of the University, a post he held until the death of Edward IV in 1483.

Other early recipients of honorary degrees include John Boxhall, Dean of Windsor and Secretary of State to Queen Mary (1558), and Thomas Young, Archbishop of York (1564). These were not conferred at ceremonies in Oxford, but by representatives of the University who visited the recipient, usually in London.

The first honorary degrees to be awarded at a ceremony in Oxford appear to be those conferred on the Earl of Oxford and eleven others who received the MA on 6 September 1566 on the occasion of the visit of Queen Elizabeth to Oxford; it is probably not a coincidence that the office of Public Orator was first permanently established in 1564. Eight MAs were awarded at the incorporation of the Earl of Essex in 1588, and royal visits in 1592 and 1605 were also occasions for the honouring of members of the visitor's court.

The award of degrees to prelates, magnates and nobles honoris causa is provided for in the Laudian Statutes of 1634, but the earliest use of the expression honoris causa does not occur in the records of degrees conferred until 1651 (OUA NEP/supra/Reg T, p150).

When Charles I moved his court to Oxford in 1642 the University was prevailed upon by the King to award about 350 honorary degrees (in all faculties, including doctorates where applicable) between November of that year and the following February. The University responded by presenting the King with a petition arguing that the practice of conferring large numbers of honorary degrees was damaging to the University: not just to its reputation as a seat of learning, but also financially. It asked the King not to present any scholar for a degree unless he was 'capable by our Statutes, & give Caution to performe his Exercises, and pay all usual fees' (OUA NEP/supra/Reg Sb, pp21-2). The King agreed to the request.

This information is taken from the Oxford University Archives.

• Encaenia and honorary degrees 2025
   
• Encaenia and honorary degrees 2024
   
• Encaenia and honorary degrees 2023
   
• Encaenia and honorary degrees 2022
   
• Encaenia and Honorary degrees 2021

On the morning of the ceremony, the heads of colleges, university dignitaries, holders of the Oxford degrees of Doctor of Divinity, Civil Law, Medicine (those awarded before 2014/15), Letters, Science, and Music, and the honorands assemble, in full academic dress, in one of the colleges, where they enjoy Lord Crewe's Benefaction. They then walk in procession to the Sheldonian Theatre on Broad Street.

The University dignitaries enter the theatre in procession; those who are to receive honorary degrees wait in the Divinity School where they sign their names in the Honorary Degrees Book. They are then escorted into the theatre by the Bedels.

Once the proceedings have been opened by the Chancellor, each honorand is introduced by the Public Orator with a speech in Latin and admitted to his or her new degree by the Chancellor. The Orator then delivers the Creweian Oration on the events of the past year and in commemoration of the University's benefactors. In alternate years the Professor of Poetry delivers the second part of this speech.

For over 100 years All Souls College has hosted a lunch after the ceremony for the honorands, their guests, and other senior members of the collegiate University and the local community.

To conclude the day’s celebrations the Vice-Chancellor hosts a garden party for the honorands, their guests, and members of Congregation. Please see the FAQ below, 'How do I get tickets?' for further details on invitations.

Please see our Encaenia dress code page.

Encaenia is held annually on the Wednesday of ninth week during Trinity Term. Please see the ‘Forthcoming Encaenia dates’ box above.

The Encaenia day consists of four elements:
10:30 - Lord Crewe’s Benefaction
11:30 - Encaenia Ceremony
13:30 - Encaenia Lunch
16:15 - Encaenia Garden Party

How do I register for the Ceremony? 

Registration opens at the beginning of May. A registration link will be added to this page (requires SSO).

The following groups may register:

• Members of Congregation (see Congregation Membership section for further details)
• Staff
• Students
• Academic Visitors
• Members of Convocation (alumni and retired members of Congregation)

Please email [email protected] if you have any problems registering.

Members of the public are not able to register.

How do I register for the Garden Party? 

Invitations to the garden party will be emailed to all current members of Congregation by the middle of May (please see Congregation Membership section). If you do not receive your invitation, or become a member of Congregation after this date, please email [email protected].

Actively serving retired members of faculty and staff within Congregation, emeritus professors and those former members of Congregation over 75 who take a deep and active interest in Oxford’s work and success are welcome to attend, please email [email protected].

Ceremony ticket:

Once you have registered successfully you will receive confirmation via email. If you do not receive the confirmation email, please check your registration or email [email protected]. 

Your Ceremony ticket will be emailed to you a few days before the event. Your named ticket is required for entry.

Congregation Membership:

You need to have been granted Congregation membership prior to registering for the Ceremony and/or Garden Party as a member of Congregation. Further information regarding Congregation membership can be found on the criteria for congregation membership page.

Can I attend Lord Crewe’s Benefaction? 

Attendance is restricted to the following members of the University:

• Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor
• Pro-Vice-Chancellors
• Heads of Houses
• Heads of Division
• The Proctors and the Assessor
• The Public Orator
• The Professor of Poetry
• The Registrar
• Outgoing President of the Oxford University Student Union
• Presidents of the JCR & MCR of the colleges of the Proctors and the Assessor
• Holders of the Oxford Higher Degrees of: Doctor of Divinity, Civil Law, Medicine (those awarded before 2014/15), Letters, Science, and Music

Holders of the Oxford Higher Degrees are invited to contact [email protected] to register. All other eligible guests are invited directly.

Some guest tickets are available for the Ceremony; please check the registration page to see who is eligible to apply for a guest ticket. Members of Congregation can bring a guest to the Garden Party. 

Guest tickets are not available for Lord Crewe’s Benefaction.

We would like this event to be accessible to all, including those with caring responsibilities, but please note that the ceremonial nature of the event is not suitable for children under the age of 11. The Sheldonian Theatre is not ideally suited to young children or babies, as most seating is narrow and steep. There are no baby-changing facilities and due to space limitations we are unable to accommodate the storage of prams or other equipment. If you are considering attending with children, we recommend you contact us before registering to discuss the options. Any children (under 18s) attending would be classified as your guest, and need to be with an adult at all times.

You are welcome to bring children to the Garden Party but please be aware that this is a large event and supervision is required at all times. We regret there will be no entertainment provided for children.

Your ticket will tell you which section of the Sheldonian Theatre you will be sitting in and where you should enter the building.

Only those members of the collegiate University eligible to attend Lord Crewe’s Benefaction may process into the ceremony.

The procession leaves from a college near the Sheldonian Theatre and walks through Radcliffe Square into the Bodleian Old Quad, through the Divinity School and into the Sheldonian Theatre.

The area will be closed to the general public for the procession but there are points around Radcliffe Square where you will be able to see the route.