Slogan ideas for year groups, classes and teachers
A good graduation slogan is funny, personal and won't feel dated in two years. Here are ten classics you can adapt in the configurator:
- "Class of 2026 — We Made It" — the timeless classic with a year.
- "Graduation 2026 — Goodbye School" — straightforward and clear.
- "Done and Dusted — 2026" — relaxed wordplay.
- "Apocalypse Class 2026" — modern, slightly dark, great on black shirts.
- "Class of 2026 — Survivors" — self-deprecating, college-style.
- "13 Years Down — Class of 2026" — the honest classic.
- "School's Out Forever" — the rocky variant.
- "Goodbye Means We'll Meet Again" — sentimental, popular on hoodies.
- "Year Group XY — Class of 2026" with school logo or city.
- "Teacher Survivor" for teacher shirts (see below).
For the back, it's standard to print all year-group or class names. Rule of thumb: with 100+ names this only works in small type — check a printed sample as a PDF first.
Year-group shirts vs. class shirts vs. teacher shirts
Three typical configurations from the school year:
- Year-group shirts — the entire graduating year group in one unified design. Typical 80 to 200 pieces. Front with year-group motif, back with all names or nicknames. Hoodies (in spring) or T-shirts (summer) are popular.
- Class shirts — a single class or tutor group. 25 to 35 pieces. More room for inside jokes on the back.
- Teacher shirts — small set for selected teachers (5 to 15 pieces) as a graduation gift. Popular: "Favourite Teacher 2026" or an inside quote from class.
If your school orders multiple year groups or classes simultaneously, it's worth a coordinated bulk order with one central contact — we bundle this in our advisory. More under Schools.
Volume discount — from what quantity does it get cheap?
For graduation shirts, quantity is the biggest price lever. Rules of thumb from real orders:
- 25-50 pieces: Standard volume discount, digital print still makes sense.
- 50-100 pieces: Screen print becomes considerably cheaper per piece. The one-off screen setup pays off here.
- 100-200 pieces: Best terms. One screen per print colour — most economical with a 1- to 3-colour motif.
- More than 200 pieces: individual quote — we coordinate delivery dates and shipping logistics directly with the year-group committee.
More detail in our school hoodies ordering guide.
Print recommendation — screen print from 50 pieces
Which print fits your graduation shirt depends almost only on quantity:
- Screen print — clear recommendation from 50 pieces. Vibrant colours, very durable, lowest unit price on larger runs. Works best with 1 to 4 colours.
- Digital print (DTG) — sensible for smaller class orders or teacher shirts. Photo quality, from 1 piece.
- DTF print — middle ground: vibrant and durable, sensible even at smaller quantities. Popular for the "name back" because complex layouts with many fonts work well.
Important for screen print: logo and text must be supplied as vector files (SVG, AI, PDF), otherwise outlines come out fuzzy. The configurator runs an automatic check.
When to order?
Graduation balls usually take place between May and July. To make sure your year group has shirts on time:
- Order 6 weeks before the ball — optimal for year groups with 100+ pieces. Plenty of time for size collection, corrections and printing.
- 4 weeks before — usually still relaxed.
- 2-3 weeks before — getting tight, plan express production.
- Peak season May/June: print machines are full at this time — ordering early really pays off.
Practical tip: collect sizes by early March, then the year group has time to organise ordering and payment. There are almost always 1-2 people who don't know their size.
Are you organising it as an official school event?
If your school coordinates the order centrally (e.g. via parent committee or school management), our B2B school advisory handles it. You'll get volume discounts, bulk orders and invoices directly to the school.
Are you planning it as a school event? → /en/schools/
Ready for your year group?
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Material specification table — the key graduation models
| Model | Brand / Article | Fabric weight | Fibre content | Cut | Colours | Graduation use-case |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creator | Stanley/Stella STTU755 | 180 g/m² | 100 % organic cotton (GOTS) | Modern | 40+ | Year-group tee premium |
| Cruiser Hoodie | Stanley/Stella STSU822 | 350 g/m² | 85 % organic cotton / 15 % rPET | Classic | 30+ | Graduation hoodie premium |
| Inspire T (organic) | B&C TM042 | 155 g/m² | 100 % organic cotton | Modern | 18 | Year-group tee mid-range |
| Open Hood Hoodie | B&C WUI24 | 280 g/m² | 80 % cotton / 20 % polyester | Classic (drawcord-free) | 14 | School-compliant hoodie |
| Valueweight T | FOTL 61-036-0 | 160 g/m² | 100 % cotton | Classic | 40+ | Year-group tee budget |
| Premium T | FOTL 61-002-0 | 170 g/m² | 100 % cotton | Classic | 30+ | Teacher shirt mass-market |
| Premium Hooded Sweat | FOTL 62-152-0 | 280 g/m² | 70 % cotton / 30 % polyester | Classic | 30+ | Graduation hoodie mid-range |
Print method recommendations per graduation occasion
| Occasion | Recommendation | Method | Unit price (approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year-group tee 80–150 pcs, uniform | Screen print with plate-fee waiver next year | Premium T + screen print | €7.90 |
| Year-group hoodie 80–150 pcs | DTF or screen print | Premium Hooded Sweat + DTF two-sided | €21.40 |
| Class shirts 25–35 pcs with inside slogan | DTF one-sided | Inspire T + DTF | €11.40 |
| Teacher shirts 8–15 pcs (gift) | DTG for photo motif with teacher caricature | Creator + DTG | €16.90 |
| Tutor shirts 12–20 pcs | DTF two-sided | ST2000 + DTF | €10.90 |
| Year-group trip hoodies drawcord-free | Embroidery + flex-print names | Open Hood + embroidery + flex | €31.90 |
Configurator workflow — graduation shirt order in 5 steps
- Clarify occasion and quantity. Year-group shirt (80–150 pcs), class shirt (25–35 pcs), teacher shirt gift (8–15 pcs), tutor shirt (12–20 pcs).
- Pick slogan or logo. "Class of 2026 — We Made It", "Apocalypse Class 2026", "Done and Dusted 2026", "Goodbye Means We'll Meet Again", individual class slogans.
- Model and colour. Premium organic (Stanley/Stella) for graduating year-groups with memorabilia character. Mass-market (FOTL Premium T) for price-driven year-group orders. Bio-mid-range (B&C Inspire) for environmentally aware year-groups.
- Finishing and personalisation. Year-group logo via screen print/DTF on chest. Individual nicknames on back via flex print (CSV with name + size per pupil). Collective invoice to year-group treasury.
- Photo proof approval. Before production we send for orders from 50 pieces a photo proof to the year-group rep by email. Corrections possible up to 24 hours before production start.
Experience cases — three typical graduation orders
Case 1 — Year 12 from Munich, 95 B&C Inspire Bio tees
Munich gymnasium Year 12 ordered 95 B&C Inspire tees (TM042) in black for the graduation year-group trip + graduation ceremony. GOTS certificate required for wholesale compliance. Finishing: two-sided screen print (year-group logo + slogan). Unit price at 95 pieces: €14.40 net. Collective invoice to year-group treasury.
Case 2 — Year 13 from Hamburg, 120 Open Hood hoodies for year-group party
Hamburg Year 13 (support association) ordered 120 B&C Open Hood hoodies (WUI24) in black for the graduating class. DIN EN 14682 compliant (school regulation). Finishing: embroidery left chest (school logo) + flex print back (nickname individually per hoodie). Unit price at 120 pieces: €32.40 net.
Case 3 — Berlin teacher gift, 12 Creator tees with photo caricatures
Year-group rep ordered 12 Stanley/Stella Creator tees (STTU755) as a gift for the homeroom teachers of Year 12. Finishing: one-sided DTG with individual teacher caricatures + name. Unit price at 12 pieces: €16.90 net.
What we do better than competitors
- Plate-fee waiver for follow-up years — year-group orders often recur annually. Screen-print plate fees from the first order are waived on follow-up orders within 12 months.
- Collective invoice to year-group treasury — 80–150 year-group members don't pay individually via PayPal, the year-group treasury pays ONE collective invoice.
- DIN EN 14682 compliance automatically — the configurator filters from Year 11 (younger pupils included) to drawcord-free hoodies, if the year-group wishes.
- Free per-pupil personalisation — nicknames, class names, tutor names layouted free of charge. You send the CSV, we deliver each shirt with the right name.
- GOTS certificate PDF included — organic orders (Stanley/Stella Creator/Cruiser, B&C Inspire) get the current GOTS certificate with delivery. Important for year-groups with wholesale resale.
Graduation slogan competition — 20+ classics and insider tips
Classics. "Class of 2026 — We Made It", "We are the [school] Year 2026", "Class of 2026 — Finally Free", "Graduating Year 2026 — Almost Grown Up", "Year of the Legends".
Wordplays with "Abi". "Apocalypse Class 2026", "Done and Dusted 2026", "Genius Year 2026", "Final Year 2026 — the Last Class", "Abilympics 2026".
Teacher-related. "We Drive the Teachers Crazy — Year 2026", "13 Years with Mr Müller — Year 2026", "Teachers Wanted, Students Did the Opposite", "We Survived — Year 2026".
Sentimental classics. "Goodbye Means We'll Meet Again", "Finally Arrived — Class of 2026", "One Journey Ends, Another Begins — Year 2026", "Never Forget This Summer — Class of 2026".
School-specific wordplays. "We Were the Gymnasium — Class of 2026", "[School Name] Year 2026 — the Real Ones", "We are the Last Class [School Name]", "Year Without Standard — But With Style".
Graduation embroidery vs. print — what costs what for 100 year-group hoodies?
100 Open Hood hoodies with one-sided DTF print (year-group logo + slogan): 100 × €22.90 + 100 × €5.00 = €2,790 gross, less 25 % volume ladder = €2,092.50 → unit price €20.93.
100 Open Hood hoodies with two-sided screen print + plate fees: 100 × €22.90 + 100 × €3.40 + 100 × €0.40 (plate fee per piece) = €2,670 gross, less 25 % volume ladder = €2,002.50 → unit price €20.03.
100 Open Hood hoodies with embroidery left chest + flex print back (individual nicknames): 100 × €22.90 + 100 × €4.00 (embroidery) + 100 × €5.50 (flex name individual) = €3,240 gross, less 25 % volume ladder = €2,430 → unit price €24.30.
Tip: For uniform design, screen print is the cheapest unit price at 100+ pieces. For individual nicknames per person, DTF + flex is the economical choice. Embroidery is the premium variant with the highest long-term durability.