Key information about your graduation ceremony

• If you have completed your studies or you’re expecting to complete your studies between January and July, you will be eligible for the July ceremonies.
• If you have completed between August and December you are eligible for the January ceremonies.

When will I receive my invitation?

• Invitations will be sent in mid-April for July ceremonies.
• Invitations will be sent in mid-November for January ceremonies.

If you have not received anything from us in the relevant period for your ceremony, please get in touch with us through our contact form.

Ceremonies held at Southwark Cathedral.

Ceremonies held at the Royal Festival Hall.

All students will have the opportunity to defer to a ceremony in the following session.

The university is unable to help with the reimbursement of flights, accommodation, or any costs associated with attending your graduation ceremony.

Please speak to your travel/accommodation provider in the first instance. We would advise all attendees to ensure cancellation is available on any bookings.

Bookings for graduation are made via Student Records. Students will be sent an invitation in mid-November for January ceremonies or in mid-May for July ceremonies with a link to book. We understand that occasionally students encounter issues in getting access to Student Records after finishing their studies. Access can be restored; please refer to details on keeping up to date.
 
Important to know:

• If you wish to book a place at your ceremony, we would encourage you to ensure you can access Student Records as soon as possible, rather than wait until bookings open.
• Unfortunately, our booking closing deadline cannot be extended, so if you encounter issues with accessing Student Records and miss the deadline, we will not be able to accept a late booking request.

For full details on ceremony tickets, please refer to How do I book tickets for my graduation ceremony?

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.

• 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.

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 all 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 however, we will provide more information towards the end of the booking period.

We understand that some students will need to apply for another visa in order to attend their ceremony.

As part of the online booking process, you will be able to request a Visa Assistance Letter to assist the visa application process for yourself or your guests. This will be shared with you in your graduation ceremony invitation email.

Important to know: Visa Assistance letters produced by the Events team cannot be used to support a visa extension application. For support with this, please check Visa assistance for your graduation ceremony.

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 detail on booking a ceremony gown, please refer to What is the academic dress for ceremonies, and how can I book it?

Please ensure that you have updated your Student Record with a personal email address, as this will be how we contact you regarding future updates.

If you experience any difficulties in accessing Student Records, please refer to our troubleshooting guidance in I need help accessing my student record.

The email address listed on Student Records will be the one at which we contact you going forward, so please ensure this is up to date if you wish to continue receiving communications regarding your re-arranged ceremony.

We know that graduation ceremonies can be just as important to parents and supporters as they are to our students themselves.

We will keep information up to date in this article, so please do check back regularly.

All graduates will receive their certificates by post within 3 months of the date of your award. Please ensure your home address is updated on your student record, as this is where the certificate will be sent.

We hope that your certificate will reach you sooner, but please be aware that this window allows for postal delays, international shipping and other unforeseen issues, including those relating to the ongoing pandemic.

• For updates and more specific information about degree certificates, please see Your Degree Certificate.
• For details on how to access your transcript, please see I need a transcript.
• To prove your degree award, module marks and other details about your course, we recommend using your HEAR.

The quickest and simplest way for you to access documents proving your results, is to do so electronically.

To find out more about the options available, see our article I need to prove I’ve graduated.

Attending a graduation ceremony is not a requirement; you will still graduate and be awarded your degree once all your results have been ratified.

Once this process is complete, you have officially graduated. Attending a ceremony is a celebration event to mark your achievement.

If you’re still looking for more information, please check our related articles to the right, or take a look through our Graduation category for further articles about graduating and broader information about finishing university.

If you’re still not sure or can’t quite find what you’re looking for, don’t hesitate to log an enquiry with us and we will support you.

If you are studying on one of our online programmes, please do reach out to your dedicated Student Success Advisor directly if you have any queries.