British Graduation Songs

[writersaurusrex]

What song (if any) is traditionally played at graduations? (For example, in the US, it's Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 in D", aka "Land of Hope and Glory".) Or do they play the school song, or does it vary wildly from school to school.

If it matters, it's for the equivalent of secondary school (specifically, Hogwarts

Comments

[lothy]

As with everyone else, there was no graduation in my school (Church of England all-girls school, for context). I've yet to hear of a school that has one even now (though the US tradition of 'prom' seems to be slowly making its way into UK schools

[thekumquat]

What everyone else said - no graduation until university, though photographers keep trying to convince my childrens nursery to hire gowns and do a graduation for their 3 and 4 year olds.
My school (boarding school like a non-magic all-girl Hogwarts) had Speech Day just before half-term of the Michaelmas (Autumn) Term, so many ex-pupils returned for that and pick up A-level and GCSE prizes. There was incidental music but nothing memorable.

[novindalf]

Echoing others with the 'we don't have school graduations', but also at a private (primary) school I went to we had a Speech Day at the end of the Summer Term before the summer holidays where the classes got to sing something, the headmaster gave a speech, and awards were given out to the departing students for achievement in certain areas (e.g. a specific subject, exam results, sports). At a state (secondary/6th Form) school I went to we had an Awards Evening along a similar line but in December before the Christmas holidays - awards given out (although only for GGCSE/A-Level achievements), a round-up of the year was given by the Head Boy and Head Girl and also by the headmaster, and there was usually a guest speaker (e.g. an ex-student who became a Paralympian athlete once came) and maybe a performance from the school choir and/or band.

I'm not sure if Hogwarts is a state or private school but for reasons discussed here I'd imagine it's state (MoM) funded. Your best bet might be an end-of year assembly - maybe an extra one only for

[bookwormsarah]

My school (ordinary state secondary school, left in 1997) didn't have a speech day, but there was an evening in the December after we'd left where they gave out prizes and we could all catch up. We had a leavers party which I think was after the exams but may have been before, but no formal ceremony - graduation for anything but university doesn't really happen here.

The big tradition was the pranks played on the last day. I don't remember if my year did anything, but the year before put a live sheep in the (Welsh) head of sixth form's office, set an iodine reaction to explode in the chem lab, and wove a message into the chain link fence of the netball/tennis courts with toilet paper... A previous year hired a kissogram for the very staid physics teacher!

[franztastisch]

My school (secondary grammar/6th form, left 2008) also had no graduation. No British school (or Irish for that matter) that I know of has one. We did, however, have what was known as a non-uniform day (most British schools have a unifom) when we could come in in our own clothes. It was also a half day - finishing around half 12, with most people going to pubs in town afterwards - the barmen being kind and ignoring the fact that some of us were too young to drink (drinking age in the UK 18 remember). Only thing is that it all takes place before your exams, so you see all your friends, teachers and the school again in only a few weeks time. After exams you have prom, which isn't half as big a deal as it is in the US. I didn't go to mine because hahaha why the fuck would I want to hang out with half those people anyway

[elfbert]

We had the 'signing shirts' thing, when we left before taking our GCSEs. Lots of the messages were very rude, even from the teachers! They were so offensive that by the time I left, you had to bring a blank t-shirt or something to wear home, and put your shirt in your bag, in case you offended the general public! Of course, as it was our last day, their threats of what might happen if you did wear it outside school grounds were rather empty...

Definitely no song, no graduation, no ceremony, no nothing at mine! We did have a 'leaver's trip' - which for my year was to Euro Disney, some weeks before we actually left. Some people took drugs with them, got caught, arrested, we got stopped at customs and a bunch of teachers had to stay behind with the arrested kids who missed their Geography GCSE exam as they were still in French custody. Fun times... it even made the front page of The Sun newspaper 'School Trip Gone To Pot' hahaha

[franztastisch]

Woah! We didn't have anything that ended up in the Sun. :P Nor did we have leavers trips. I feel cheated.

[franztastisch]

In Irish schools, we tend to have a "Graduation Mass", which basically means there is a Mass some evening for all the 6th year (equivalent to year 13, I think) students and their parents, with speeches at the end, by the principal and maybe the year head or something. Afterwards, all the kids go out to the pub and in some schools, the teachers go with them. Like with ye, the pubs generally turn a blind eye to the fact half the students are still 17