In this article:
- When do graduation ceremonies take place?
- What about King's Digital students?
- I’m studying on a 4-year master's programme but decided to graduate with a bachelor’s qualification after my third year
- What about Postgraduate Research students?
- What about MD students?
- What if I owe a debt to the university?
- Can I attend a later graduation ceremony?
- Can I graduate without attending a ceremony?
Graduation ceremonies at King’s take place twice a year – in July, our summer ceremonies, and January, our winter ceremonies.
If you are due to complete your course and be awarded between 1 August and 1 January you are eligible to attend the winter graduation ceremonies in January.
If you are due to complete your course and be awarded between 2 January and 31 July you are eligible to attend the summer graduation ceremonies in July.
Important to know:
- If you expect to receive your result before the next ceremonies take place but will not receive it until shortly after the booking deadline, please don’t wait to find out your result before booking.
- If you don’t complete your course successfully, we will refund you the full cost of any tickets purchased. However, if you wait for your result and miss the booking deadline, we might not be able to fit you in to a ceremony.
- We would advise not to book flights/hotels or commit to non-refundable costs unless you are certain that you will be eligible to attend a graduation ceremony.
If you are a student studying on a King’s Digital programme your eligibility to attend a ceremony will be determined by your date of award:
- If you are/were awarded between 2 May and the 1 November, you will be invited to attend a ceremony in January.
- If you are/were awarded between 2 November and the 1 May, you will be invited to attend a ceremony in July.
Important to know: Only awarded students will be sent invites to a ceremony and you should not attempt to book if you are not awarded.
If you have taken the decision to exit a 4-year course after your third year of study, you will need to first speak to your department confirm your decision.
Important to know:
- You should speak to your department and confirm your decision as early as possible to ensure you are invited to a graduation ceremony.
- Whether you are invited to the July or January graduation ceremony, will depend on the date by which your department are made aware of your intention to graduate with a Bachelors.
If you're studying on a Postgraduate Research course your eligibility to attend a ceremony will be determined by your date of award:
- If you're awarded between December and June, you will be invited to attend a ceremony in July.
- If you're awarded between July and November, you will be invited to attend a ceremony in January.
Important to know: Only awarded students will be sent an invite to a ceremony and so invitations will only arrive after your award is conferred. Therefore, students whose award conferral dates are 1 June or 1 December will receive their invitation close to the closing date of the booking period. We advise Postgraduate Research students to find out when your award is likely to be conferred and to get in touch with us through our contact form if you believe an invitation has not been sent as scheduled.
If you are undertaking your MD as a registered King's student you are welcome to attend the Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine graduation ceremonies in the winter or the summer.
Important things to know:
- In order to attend the winter graduation ceremonies, you must be awarded your final degree by 1 December.
- In order to attend the summer graduation ceremonies, you must be awarded your final degree by 1 June.
University of London MD graduates
If you are an MD graduate from the University of London with links to King’s you are welcome to attend the School of Medicine winter graduation ceremonies at the Royal Festival Hall.
Important to know:
- There will be an administration fee of £10 when you book your place.
- As space is limited at Southwark Cathedral priority for these places is given to students registered at the university. The Southwark ceremonies are not therefore available to external MD students.
Certain types of debt mean that your results will not be seen at the relevant examination board and you will not receive an award. If you have an outstanding debt to the university this could therefore mean that you may not be able to attend the ceremonies.
If you wish to attend one of the ceremonies, our advice is that you clear any debt you have to the university no later than 10 days before your Examination Board. If you don’t clear your debt on time, we unfortunately cannot guarantee that you will be permitted to attend a ceremony, and your place may be cancelled.
If you’re unable to attend the first ceremony you are invited to then you are welcome to defer your place through Student Records and come to the following session of ceremonies.
Important to know: You are only permitted to defer once after which point, in fairness to future graduates, it will not be possible to include you in a ceremony.
If you don’t defer your invitation to book but later decide that you wish to attend the next session of ceremonies, it is your responsibility to make yourself aware of the deadline and to book your place. You will not be sent an invitation to book your place because invitations are only sent to students who have previously selected to defer their place or are being invited for the first time. In this situation, please contact us through our bespoke Ceremonies & Events contact form.
From October 2023, students whose graduation was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic are no longer eligible to attend a graduation ceremony. This is to ensure there is sufficient space for current graduating students.
If you don’t want to attend your graduation ceremony then you may opt to graduate ‘in absentia’.
Selecting to graduate in absentia means that your name will be not be read out at the ceremony (only the names of those attending are read out) and it will not be included in the graduation ceremony programme.
Important to know: If you select this option then you will not be able to attend a future ceremony.
You can choose to graduate in absentia via the booking system on Student Records. Your degree certificate will still be available to you – you don’t need to attend a ceremony to receive it. For more information please see our article Your Degree Certificate.