A university in Belgium has been forced to apologise after a message was issued to its female students asking them to wear low-cut outfits to their graduation ceremony.

Medical students at the Free University of Brussels (ULB) were told in an email: “From an aesthetic point of view, it is better for young women to wear a dress or skirt, and a nice revealing neckline.”

“Of course, ladies, this advice is not obligatory,” the message added, after advising men to simply wear a suit for the event, which takes place next month.

The message came to light after it was posted on an open Facebook page with the comment: “a little scandal”.

Hundreds of web users responded with anger and frustration, accusing the university of outright sexism.

“Is this a joke? They are graduates of medicine and we’re asking them to show their chest?” one viewer said.

Another wrote: “The dress I can understand but the ‘nice cleavage’… you got a PHD, but who cares, shows your nipples.”

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ULB issued an apology statement on Facebook and Twitter after the matter was picked up by international media.

A translation read: “The Faculty of Medicine, through its dean, presents its sincerest apologies to all the students who have received the email mentioned below."

The email was sent to future graduates to give “practical instructions” for the day of the ceremony, it said.

“It goes without saying that the instructions linked to the dress of young female graduates are as far removed from as they are contrary to the values defended daily by ULB and its faculty.”

The email was most likely sent by a woman as the secretariat did not include any men, the dean of the medicine faculty, Marco Schetgen, told Belgian news outlet RTL.