This article is currently up to date for the January 2025 graduation ceremonies. Any changes for the July 2025 ceremonies will be made in semester 2 of the 2024-5 academic year.
In this article:
You are encouraged to book your graduation ticket as soon as you receive your invitation. Capacity at our ceremonies is limited and tickets will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. You must book your place before the booking deadline on Thursday 5 December 2024 at 17.00.
Important to know: graduation tickets and guest tickets are not transferable to another ceremony or another student.
You’ll be able to book up to 3 guest tickets for ceremonies taking place at the Royal Festival Hall in the main booking period.
We won’t be able to consider requests for additional tickets when booking first opens. However, you’ll be informed after the booking deadline by email if additional guest tickets will be available for your ceremony.
You’ll receive your guest tickets via email up to 48 hours before your ceremony.
If you haven’t received your guest ticket email, you should report to the ticket desk manager on the day of your ceremony to collect your guest tickets.
Requests for changes to allocated guest seats will not be considered.
I need to cancel my ticket or a guest ticket
If you need to cancel your place or any of your guest ticket(s), you should notify the graduation team via the Ceremonies & Events contact form.
Students agree that, if for reasons beyond the control of the Students & Education Directorate their award has not been ratified by the appropriate deadline, their place will be cancelled and all graduation guest tickets purchased will be refunded in full (please see the Force Majeure statement).
Should you need to cancel your place at your ceremony, you’ll need to re-enter the booking task and select the ‘cancel your place’ option.
- At this stage, you can either cancel your place and choose not to attend a future ceremony, or cancel your place and defer attendance to the next set of ceremonies.
- If you have purchased guest tickets, these will also be cancelled when you cancel your place.
- If you need to cancel any tickets after the booking deadline, you'll need to contact the Graduation team.
Important to know: refunds will not be issued for tickets cancelled after the appropriate refund deadline.
Refunds will be issued for tickets cancelled until:
- Royal Festival Hall ceremonies: Wednesday 1 January 2025 at 17.00
To request a refund, please contact the Graduation team.
All refunds will be issued directly back to the card used in the initial booking payment after Monday 27 January 2025.
Important to know: all refunds will be subject to a £5 administration fee per transaction.
Academic dress and smart dress are compulsory.
You must hire your academic dress before the deadline of three weeks before your ceremony.
We reserve the right to refuse admission to those students who do not comply with these requirements.
For more information, please refer to What is the academic dress for ceremonies, and how can I book it?
If you need to cancel your gown and you intend to come to a future ceremony, you’ll need to notify Ede & Ravenscroft to ensure your booking and payment are retained and transferred to a future ceremony. You’ll also need to let them know the date of your rearranged ceremony as soon as possible.
If you ordered your gown online you may cancel the order via the Ede & Ravenscroft gown hire website. This must be done no later than 7 days before your ceremony.
If you booked your gown by telephone, you'll need to request your cancellation either by email or by writing to:
Ede & Ravenscroft Ltd, Unit A Denny Industrial Centre, Waterbeach, Cambridge CB5 9QD
Important to know: all refunds will be subject to an administration fee.
To ensure that you and your guests can participate fully in your ceremony, please let us know in advance if there are any special requirements that we need to be aware of. This can be done up to 10 working days before your ceremony.
Important to know: by making an online booking, or submitting a booking form to the office, you and your guests consent to us passing relevant details of an individual’s special requirements to the graduation venue to enable any appropriate adjustments to be made.
What if I owe a debt to King's College London?
You must pay any outstanding debts to the University in full at least 10 working days prior to the relevant Examination Board. If you have any outstanding debts after this time, your award will not be ratified, and you will not be able to graduate.
You must arrive at the venue sufficiently in advance of your ceremony start time, and you must be seated at least 15 minutes before the start of your ceremony.
Collecting your tickets and gown
Tickets must be collected at least 40 minutes in advance of the start of your ceremony.
You’ll need to bring photo identification to the ceremony venue to collect your ceremony and guest tickets, as well as your gown.
Only you as the student can collect your tickets and gown. Your guests cannot collect them on your behalf.
Acceptable photo IDs include:
- Passport
- Driver's licence
- National ID card
- Student ID card
Important to know: ID without a photograph of you will not be accepted.
If you don’t bring the appropriate Photo ID, you may not be able to attend your ceremony.
By attending your ceremony, you consent to the taking of photo and video images for publicity purposes, and to the publication of your name in the ceremony programme.
However, you will have the option to opt out during booking if you do not agree with this statement.
For more information about photography and filming at the ceremonies, please refer to Photography and filming at your graduation ceremony.
What if I'm running late?
There will be no late admittance to any of the ceremonies. Where possible, entry to the next available ceremony may be permitted.
The University reserves the right to ask any person to leave the ceremony and/or ceremony venue if it considers they are disrupting the ceremony or other guests.
Important to know: The university is unable to help with the reimbursement of flights, accommodation, or any costs associated with attending your graduation ceremony.
- It’s your responsibility to ensure your accommodation and travel are refundable, and the University will not be liable for any losses incurred.
- Any travel and accommodation booked for you and/or your guests to attend the graduation ceremony should be refundable, or otherwise exchangeable, and the University will not be liable for any losses incurred in the rare event that a ceremony has been changed or cancelled.
- The University will not be liable for any losses incurred if you're not eligible to attend the ceremony due to your award not being conferred before our deadline. We would recommend that you not book travel and accommodation unless you are certain you are eligible.
Changes to ceremony date or time
In the rare event that a ceremony reaches full capacity, we may move the ceremony to a different date or time to ensure all students can attend that ceremony. You’ll be notified immediately of any changes.
Tickets to our ceremonies will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. We recommend you book your place as soon as you receive an invitation to avoid the possibility of your ceremony reaching capacity.
If your ceremony reaches capacity, your invitation may be transferred to another ceremony for the same faculty or deferred to the next ceremony period.
If another ceremony is made available, you’ll be notified and given the option to either attend the alternative ceremony or defer to a future ceremony.
If there’s no alternative ceremony available, you’ll be deferred to the next set of ceremonies.
If the graduation ceremonies cannot take place or are delayed due to circumstances beyond the control of the University, including (without limitation) fire, explosion, terrorist act (or threat of terrorist act), act of God, pandemic, or as a result of any industrial action or dispute involving the University or the venue at which the ceremonies are due to be held, the University will not be liable for any direct losses, or otherwise, incurred by you or your guests.
We will make alternative arrangements for any graduates affected where possible, but you and your guests should ensure that you have sufficient insurance protection to cover any losses you might incur as a result of a ceremony being cancelled or delayed.
Attending a future ceremony
If you’re unable to attend your graduation ceremony, you can defer to the next set of ceremonies once. This can be done directly in the booking task or by contacting the Graduation team. Once you have exceeded the number of authorised deferrals, your record will be marked as ‘graduating in absentia’.
Important to know: if a ceremony has reached full capacity, you will be invited to the next set of ceremonies.
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.
King’s College London is committed to creating an inclusive and respectful environment for all members of our community. The University expects all those attending graduation, either as a graduate, guest or member of staff, to act in a manner which reflects these values.
- Bullying and any form of harassment will not be tolerated under any circumstance.
- The University reserves the right to refuse admittance to a ceremony.
Data protection statement
You are reminded that King’s College London graduation ceremonies are regarded as public events. Photo and video image recordings of the ceremony may be purchased or used for publicity purposes.
