In this article you will find information on booking tickets for yourself and guests for your graduation ceremony, gown hire and information on seating and special requirements.
Booking my tickets
How do I book my place at a ceremony through the graduation booking system?
Bookings for graduation are made via Student Records. Students will be sent an invitation in mid-November for January ceremonies or in mid-April for July ceremonies with a link to book.
To book your place for your graduation ceremony, you'll need to access the graduation booking system. You can access it in two different ways:
If you have access to Student Records:
- Log into your Student Record and click on the Graduation tab in the top menu
If you can't access Student Records, or you no longer have access to your IT account:
- Request a verification link from your graduation ceremony invitation email
- Use your one-time access link to access the booking system
If you receive an error message it may mean that the personal email address we hold on file is not correct. Please try again or raise a ticket to ensure this is updated so you can access the booking system.
Important to know: you can only book your place at graduation once you have received your invitation to the ceremonies.
What happens if the ceremony I have been invited to reaches capacity before I manage to book my ticket?
Tickets to our ceremonies will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. If a ceremony reaches capacity, your invitation may be transferred to another ceremony for the same faculty or deferred to the next ceremony period.
Important to know: It will not be possible to alter the date of your ceremony for any reason, other than the ceremony you were originally invited to having reached capacity.
What can I do if I receive my invitation and my ceremony is not when I expect it to be?
If you are unable to attend the date your ceremony has been scheduled for, or believe you have been invited to a ceremony on the incorrect date, please let us know.
How will I receive my tickets?
Your student ticket will be available for collection on the day of your ceremony, approximately 2 hours before your ceremony starts. You will need to bring photo ID (e.g. Passport, National ID card, Driving Licence, Student ID Card) to collect your tickets.
For more information on what happens on the day of your ceremony and what you should bring, please read the relevant article for your venue:
How you will receive your guest tickets depends on your venue:
Royal Festival Hall: Your guest tickets will be sent to you as e-tickets via the email you submitted when you booked your tickets online, up to two days before your ceremony.
Important to know: In some instances, your King's email may expire between booking the guest tickets and the date of your ceremony. With this in mind, we ask that you use a personal email address that you will check regularly to ensure that you receive your guest tickets.
Southwark Cathedral: Guest tickets will be collected on the day at the same time as your student ticket.
How can I check the details of my booking?
Confirmation of your booking will be shown on the graduation booking system. You'll also be emailed upon the successful completion of your booking at the personal email address you've provided for contact regarding graduation ceremonies.
You'll have the opportunity to amend your booking through the graduation booking system until the booking deadline, including adding special requirements, requesting a visa assistance letter or deferring your place. Once the booking window has closed you will still be able to view your booking details.
I’m having difficulties processing my booking; what do I do?
If you are unable to process a payment or find you have technical issues when redirected to the payment provider screens, please wait until 13:00 the next day (UK time).
Our IT team will identify your issues automatically and be able to reset your booking and you should find this resolves the situation. If you are still unable to process a payment after this time, please contact us through the Ceremonies & Events contact form and we will be able to help.
Booking guest tickets
How can I book guest tickets?
Guest tickets can be purchased during the booking process when you confirm your student place at graduation.
Important to know:
- Guest ticket prices are currently £30 (including VAT) for adults, and children under 12 free of charge (proof of age required).
- Children under 3 who can sit on a guest's lap do not require their own ticket.
- Children are welcome when accompanied by and seated with adults.
- Please bear in mind when wishing to bring babies and young children that ceremonies normally last approximately two hours. Prams and pushchairs are not allowed inside the hall and will need to be parked outside the hall for the duration of the ceremony.
- Children aged 3 years and over need their own seat and tickets and this will be checked on entrance to the hall. This means you will need to be sure to book them a ticket, even though this will be free. You will see the child ticket option when booking, and you shouldn’t be charged.
Initial booking period
At all Graduation venues, you will be able to purchase guest tickets, subject to availability, until the booking deadline.
How you receive your guest tickets depends on your venue:
Royal Festival Hall: Your guest tickets will be sent to you as e-tickets via the email you submitted when you booked your tickets online, up to two days before your ceremony.
Southwark Cathedral: Guest tickets will be collected on the day at the same time as your student ticket.
Important to know:
- Please do not use the 'special requirements' section of the online booking form to request extra tickets because this is for details of students and guests with particular access requirements only. Requests for extra tickets in this section will not be considered.
- If additional guest tickets are available after the initial booking period, then you'll be contacted with the relevant details when bookings reopen.
How many guest tickets can I book?
For ceremonies at the Royal Festival Hall, you will be able to book a maximum of 3 guest tickets for your ceremony.
For ceremonies at Southwark Cathedral, you will be able to book a maximum of 2 guest tickets for your ceremony.
Will I be able to book more guest tickets later?
We may be able to offer additional guest tickets if the venue has capacity, but we won’t be able to confirm this until later in the booking period.
Our priority is to ensure that graduates have the opportunity to attend an in-person ceremony, which is why guest tickets are capped in the first instance.
Important to know: We won’t be able to consider requests for additional tickets when booking first opens. However, we will provide more information towards the end of the booking period to let you know if additional guest tickets will be available for your ceremony.
Seating and special requirements
How are seats allocated for guests?
Seat allocation at Royal Festival Hall
If you have notified us in advance of any special requirements that your guests have, then your seats will have been assigned with these requirements in mind.
All other guest seats are allocated randomly. It is not possible to change your guest seat allocations.
Important to know: Please don’t use the special requirements section of the online booking form to request particular seats; this is for details of students and guests with particular access requirements only. Requests for particular seats in this section will not be considered.
Seat allocation at Southwark Cathedral
Seats are not allocated unless you have notified us in advance of any special requirements your guests have, in which case we will reserve accessible seating. Space at the Cathedral is extremely limited, so we ask guests to please be mindful of other guests and not leave gaps between groups.
How can I notify of any special requirements for myself or my guests?
Please let us know when you book your place for your ceremony of any special requirements that you or your guests might have so that we can make appropriate arrangements for you.
Important to know:
- The special requirements section of the booking form is not for requesting extra tickets.
- If for any reason you didn't provide details of special requirements when you made your booking, you must do so as soon as possible. This can be done by re-entering the booking system up until the booking deadline.
If you need to notify us of a special need for yourself or your guest after the booking deadline, please let us know through our bespoke Ceremonies & Events contact form.
If you would like to find out more about the accessibility arrangements for your ceremony’s venue, please take a look at the relevant article article for your venue:
Gown hire
Information on how to hire your gown will be sent to any student who books a place at a graduation ceremony as part of your booking confirmation; you cannot book your gown until you have booked your ceremony place.
For details on booking a ceremony gown, please refer to What is the academic dress for ceremonies, and how can I book it?