Eligibility to graduate

To attend the graduation ceremony you must have passed all elements of your study programme and have these agreed by the appropriate Examination Board.

All students eligible to attend are invited to book a place at a ceremony about 12 weeks before the graduations.

You should not wait for your results before you confirm your attendance or intention to defer. If you do not complete the invitation task on Evision before the booking deadline stated on your invite email you will not be able to attend the ceremony and will be automatically graduated in absentia.

Invitation to Graduation

Your invitation to graduation will be sent to your University email account and your personal email address that we have on record for you.

Your invite will tell you the date and location of your graduation and include direct links to the online booking system (through eVision) where you can confirm if you wish to attend, defer your invite or graduate in absentia (without attendance).

A second email will be sent to you once you have completed your online booking with a direct link to the UoB online store where you can purchase guest tickets.

You should complete the online booking process by the deadline date stated in the invitation. If you have not received an invitation please contact the graduation team by emailing graduation@beds.ac.uk

There is no charge for students to attend their own graduation ceremony.

Paying for guests through the online store without completing the booking process does not confirm your attendance.

Important

If you do not inform us whether you are attending or not by the deadline date, we will assume you do not wish to attend and you will automatically graduated in absentia.

Please take note of our Graduation terms and conditions [PDF]

Guest tickets

All students attending their ceremonies may purchase up to two tickets for guests when attending a face-to-face event. They must be booked and paid for by the deadline date in your invitation email. The price before the deadline is £15 each.

While we cannot guarantee their availability, If extra tickets are available, all students who are booked to attend will be notified by email. They are offered on a first come, first served basis and cannot be reserved in advance. The price of these tickets will be £15 each.

Extra tickets will not be sold on the day of the ceremonies.

Photography

The University has partnered with Ede & Ravenscroft as our official photographers. If you would like to book a photography package for you and your attending guests this can be done via the Ede & Ravenscroft website.

Details on prices can be found on their website.

Please note that all official photography is restricted to graduates and their ticket holding guests.

Gown ordering

All graduating students must wear official academic dress to attend the face-to-face ceremonies as outlined in our Graduation Terms and Conditions [PDF]. This means a gown with hood or sash indicating the type of award you have obtained (Bachelors, Masters, PG Diploma etc.).

• Official UoB Gown Style Guide [PDF]

 It is essential that academic dress is ordered in advance of the ceremony. The University has partnered with Ede & Ravenscroft as our official gowning supplier to ensure that students have access to high quality gowns in official University of Bedfordshire colours for all awards.

Gowns for all awards from our supplier will be £45 when reserved in advance.

On the day hire incurs a £5 additional fee, making gowns £50 for those who do not book in advance.

Please note on the day hire is subject to availability and therefore we strongly advise hiring in advance.

When you order, by selecting the award type, the right gown and hood combination is reserved. You will collect your gown on the day unless you make other arrangements.

We advise you place your order 21 days before the date of your ceremony.

Before ordering make sure you know your head circumference, chest and height measurements. (If you do not know your hat size, measure your head circumference one inch above the eyebrow.)

Arrival

Students and their guests are generally advised to arrive 2 hours before their ceremony is scheduled to start. This allows sufficient time for registration and gowning prior to the ceremony.

If you are travelling from further away please do factor this into travel plans to avoid disappointment.

Registration

The registration desk will open 2 hours before the official start time or each ceremony. Registration will close 45 minutes before each ceremony is scheduled to begin.

This allows 1 hour 15 minutes for graduates to register and gown. A further 15 minutes is built in to allow graduates and their guests to make their way to the ceremony venue.

The Ceremony

Students and their guests should be in the ceremony venue and seated 30 minutes prior to the start of the ceremony. After this time the doors to the ceremony will close.

Please note students that are not registered, gowned and at the ceremony venue before doors are closed will not be permitted entry.

If you arrive late please speak to a member of staff who will advise you of your options.

Find out what to expect in a ceremony

After ceremony refreshments

After the ceremony graduates will be led out of the ceremony venue behind the academic procession behind the Vice Chancellor and Ceremony President. You are then free to go.

Refreshments will be served at a nominated location. The location will be marked on maps and signs around the site.

In the refreshments location you will be able to buy items, such as University memorabilia and the Alumni and Careers teams will also be on hand.

You can now also get your official photos if you didn't have time to have them taken earlier.

Graduate Outcomes

Graduate Outcomes is a national survey which gathers information about the activities and viewpoints of graduates 15 months after they’ve finished their studies.

As a University of Bedfordshire graduate, your response to this survey is very important as it will:

• Provide future students with insight into their potential career destinations
• Enable our Careers and Employability Service to offer tailored careers advice which you can continue to access for life as a University of Bedfordshire graduate
• Provide higher education institutions, policy makers, researchers and others with data, to understand current trends within the graduate jobs market
• Contribute to the University’s positioning in league tables

Graduate Support Package

As a new graduate, the University has a range of information, advice, guidance, and opportunities which is available within your Graduate Support Package. We encourage you to explore the range of support and continued professional development available to you.

The Careers and Employability Service offers all graduates a lifetime guarantee regardless of where you are in your career journey, whether it’s deciding what to do, planning your next steps or needing help with final preparations. The Careers Team are here to support you to Succeed@Beds.

Memorabilia

The University of Bedfordshire works with a range of suppliers to offer access to memorabilia to help you commemorate your achievements.

Stalls will be available on the day where you can browse and purchase these items and by clicking on the link above you can access our alumni shop where you can view our catalogue and purchase items to be sent directly to you.

Join the Alumni Association

As a graduate, you have the opportunity to be part of our worldwide network of proud former students by joining the Alumni Association.

Alumni get access to the discounts we’ve negotiated with some major suppliers – and to special public lectures like those we ran with Professor Sir Jonathan Van Tam MBE or Chris Packham CBE. You also get discounts on our CPD course fees and to postgraduate studies at Masters level and beyond.

You’ll be invited to join our professional networkers group on LinkedIn, and every year we’ll just send you a birthday reminder to let you know we’re still here for you.

Being an alumni is about your career and your working life, so we won’t ask you for donations of money, but we might ask you to come and share some of your time and expertise as your career develops. You can give back to the next generation of University of Bedfordshire students by being an alumni mentor to students, joining our Industry Advisory Boards, shaping our curriculum or shaping graduate programmes in your own company.

If you want to start your own business, or if you already run your own organisation, we can help. Our help, support and assistance for alumni has helped Luton become the most entrepreneurial town in Britain again, and we want to maintain that place. Being an alumni opens that door for you.

Free Library Membership

Just graduated from the University of Bedfordshire? If you are a UK based Alumni, you can apply for library membership, for free! This offer applies to Luton and Bedford campus libraries and allows members access to the print resources and physical library spaces.

Students eligible for a graduation ceremony can opt to:

1. Attend an in-person graduation ceremony (1st invitation)
2. Graduate at a virtual ceremony (subject to demand)
3. Graduate in Absentia (without attendance)
4. Defer to the next in-person graduation ceremony or up to one calendar year

Deferred students invited to the deferred graduation ceremony at the next available opportunity can opt to:

1. Attend their deferred in-person graduation ceremony (2nd invitation)
2. Graduate at a virtual ceremony (subject to demand)
3. Graduate in Absentia (without attendance)
4. Defer to the next in-person graduation ceremony at the next available opportunity

Deferred students invited to the deferred graduation ceremony at the next available opportunity can opt to:

1. Attend their deferred in-person graduation ceremony (3nd invitation, where 2nd invitation was next available opportunity)
2. Graduate at a virtual ceremony (subject to demand)
3. Graduate in Absentia (without attendance)

A visual version of this process can be viewed here in our deferral process chart [PDF] for graduation attendance.

To request a deferral you must email the graduation team at graduation@beds.ac.uk before the booking deadline and advise the team of your intention to defer.

What does this mean?

Graduating in absentia (without attendance) means you will receive your award but not attend a ceremony. If you choose to graduate in absentia you will not be able to attend a ceremony at a later date.

How you request it?

If you do not wish to attend your graduation ceremony, you can confirm that you will not be attending through the graduation invite task in eVision

When does it happen automatically?

When you don't respond to your invite to attend your graduation, we will assume that you do not wish to attend graduation and will automatically graduate in absentia (without attendance).

If you cannot attend the ceremony you have been invited to but you wish to attend a later ceremony you must email graduation@beds.ac.uk before the booking deadline to request a deferral.

Students who graduate in absentia will not be able to attend a ceremony at a later date.

Delivering virtual ceremonies

Virtual ceremonies are subject to Graduation Terms and Conditions [PDF].

Virtual ceremonies will only run if there is sufficient student engagement, where we are unable to run a virtual ceremony due to low student numbers, you will be contacted and informed of this after the close of the invite window and offered the opportunity to defer to the next available opportunity or graduate in absentia.

How a virtual ceremony works

Virtual ceremonies are delivered using Zoom. Please make sure you have Zoom installed on the device you'll be using on the day. Alternatively if accessing via an internet browser, Google Chrome will give you the best experience.

Events will follow the same format as a traditional ceremony, but with the live/pre-recorded elements.

A chief usher will act as master of ceremonies for each ceremony.

A week before the event all participants will be sent instructions and the link to the zoom rooms and instructions for the ceremony.

You will be expected to join the zoom room about 30 minutes prior to the ceremony start time. You will be allocated to a zoom room in presentation order. Only graduands will be admitted to the zoom room using the email address supplied to the University.

We suggest using your proper name as the display names this will allow the zoom coordinator to allocate you to the appropriate room.

Make sure you are able to join the call with camera and audio (unless you have a lot of background noise) so we can see and hear you celebrate. Ensure that your microphone is only switched on during the announcement of graduates and not before and after, so everyone is able to hear the announcements and speeches throughout without hearing you.

This is a celebration, so please celebrate with us and be sure to congratulate everyone after their names are read out by clapping and cheering if possible.

There is no formal dress code for these ceremonies, but if you would like to wear academic dress this can be ordered via our official gowning company.

They will post your gown to you home address (UK addresses only).

Unlimited family and friends will be able to attend at no cost by viewing the webcast on the day so you don’t need to book ‘tickets’ for them.

The webcast takes place at Graduations live
It will go live 5 minutes before the ceremony start time.