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.

Yes. To attend the Graduation you must apply before the deadline date.

If you do not pass all elements of your course a refund will be given or you will be given the option to have your booking transferred to the next set of ceremonies.

No. Any student who has to undertake a re-sit examination or assignment to successfully complete their studies at the time of the ceremony will automatically be invited to attend the next formal graduation ceremony to which they are eligible.

If you are not eligible to attend the upcoming ceremony should receive an email with further details on what happens next once the final boards have sat.

If you have paid for tickets we will carry this payment forward but you will need to rebook to confirm details again. Alternatively you can apply for a refund.

If you are excluded at the time of your faculty's examination board and the University's Scheme Board, you will be unable to attend the ceremony. Once your exclusion has been lifted you will be invited to the next appropriate ceremony.

If you have a question regarding your final result, you should contact your faculty office. If you do not know who is most appropriate to contact please reach out to sid@beds.ac.uk and a member of the team will be happy to support.

If you haven't received a graduation invitation please email graduation@beds.ac.uk as soon as possible requesting an invitation to be emailed to your contact address.

Invitations to graduations will be sent out to students no later than 12 weeks before each ceremony period.

The University runs 2 ceremony periods per year, these are:

• Summer Ceremonies - July
• Winter Ceremonies- January

Details on the next round of graduations can be found under dates and locations

Your email invitation to graduation will tell you the date and location of your graduation.

The time of your ceremony will depend on your course of study and will be confirmed in an email after the booking deadline.

Ceremonies will usually be scheduled to take place at 10.30am, 1.30pm and 4.30pm.

It is not possible to change your ceremony date. Students must graduate at the relevant Faculty ceremony. If you are not able to attend you are advised to confirm you wish to defer - by emailing graduation@beds.ac.uk or we will assume you do not wish to attend and we will automatically graduate you in absentia (without attendance).

In order to best prepare for your graduation, please visit our guide to graduation

Here you will find all of the details of what to do before your due to attend a ceremony.

We also recommend reading our Graduation terms and conditions [PDF] fully, you will need to confirm you agree to these as part of the booking process in eVision.

Yes. If you don't complete the online booking process by the deadline date, we will assume you do not wish to attend the ceremony.

This will mean that you will be automatically graduated in absentia (without attendance) for more information please visit our guide to graduation

Once you have completed the online booking process you will receive confirmation of your booking by email.

If you do not receive this email, please check your junk/ spam boxes on your personal/UoB email addresses.

If you still do not have the confirmation email please contact graduation@beds.ac.uk and a member of our team will look into this for you.

There is no charge for the graduating student.

Guest tickets cost £15.00 per person (maximum of two per graduand) if booked by the booking deadline, and payment cleared by the payment deadline.

Extra tickets where available will be offered to all graduates who have booked to attend. The cost for these tickets will be £15.00 per person and restrictions may apply on the number available to each graduand and this will be specific to each ceremony.

Tickets are not sent out; they are collected when you register on the day. Tickets are not transferable.

More details can be found in our guide to graduation

Up to two guest tickets can be reserved at the time of booking. These guest seats are guaranteed as long as they are paid for before the booking deadline.

All persons needing a seat (including children 3 years and older) must have a pre-purchased ticket, otherwise they cannot be allowed entry. A responsible adult must accompany any child under 16 years at all times. University staff are not permitted to take this responsibility.

Only ticket holding guests will be permitted into the ceremony venue. We advise you read our Terms and Conditions carefully when planning guest attendance.

Guests should be seated no later than 30 minutes before the start of a ceremony. Please make sure your guests are seated in plenty of time prior to the start of the ceremony. Guests without tickets will not get access to the ceremony.

Please note your ceremony will start at the time indicated in the correspondence you will have received.

Graduations are a formal ceremony and so late comers cannot be admitted. Seating is allocated, and any extra tickets that are available will be sold on a first come first served basis.

Full details on this can be found in our graduation terms and conditions [PDF]

Children are permitted to attend graduation as guests of the graduating student however they must be accompanied by a responsible adult and those 3 and over will be required to have a valid guest ticket.

For very young children 2 and under they will not require a ticket but must be sat with a responsible guest (please note no children will be permitted to seat with their graduate during the ceremony).

To avoid disturbing the enjoyment of others we request that the responsible adult sits with children/babies near an exit so as to make entry/exit from the ceremony venue easier.

The University reserves the right to ask your guests to take any child/baby out of the ceremony venue for a short time so that the event can continue without disruption.

When booking your guest tickets please fill in the disability notes section.

Should you or one of your guests become temporarily incapacitated after you have completed the process please log in again and update your booking or contact graduation@beds.ac.uk We use this information to allocate appropriate seating.

The graduation team will be in touch to confirm arrangements where they have been notified.

Approximately 60 minutes, depending on the size of the ceremony.

For more details on what to expect in a graduation ceremony please read our - Order of Proceedings

Graduation ceremonies are a formal occasion and as such we must work to set deadlines. Students and guests must be in their seats no later than 30 minutes before the published start time of the ceremony.

After this time the venue doors will close and no further admittances will be permitted.

If you do arrive late please speak to a member of event staff/ an usher and they will inform you of your next steps.

More information can be found in our guide to graduation

All graduands and guests attending the ceremony are invited to take refreshments after the ceremony. Please keep your entrance ticket in order to gain access.

The cafes on campus will be open for service most of the day.

More information can be found in our guide to graduation

Graduands receive one complimentary copy of the commemorative programme and will be able to access a clip of them crossing the stage, this will be sent to the graduate via email to the address provided during the graduation booking process after the ceremonies are concluded.

Graduands can book photography in advance from Ede & Ravenscroft. The team also offers on the day photography packages. 

Other branded memorabilia will be available to buy on the day.

Details on memorabilia available and links to our online alumni store can be found under 'After your ceremony' in our guide to graduation

There are no parking facilities at our University Square Campus or Putteridge Bury Campus, Luton.

There are a number of public car parks around the Luton town centre campus. Parking is available at the The Mall multi-storey car parks.

For ceremonies running at Putteridge Bury a free shuttle bus will run return trips from the Luton campus.

You will have also received an email detailing the instructions for transport to and from your ceremony venue.

Additional information can be found under our Graduation Dates and Locations

On the day

Certificates are no longer issued at graduation ceremonies as outlined in our certificate issuance process

However, to commemorate the event graduates will be presented with a small memento and congratulatory letter during the ceremony.

Your Name

Your name will appear in capital letters in full. When we invite you to a graduation ceremony we also show you how your name will be displayed. If it is not as you expect, please contact the Student Information Desk (SID) by emailing sid@beds.ac.uk for further information.

We suggest that you arrive about two hours before your ceremony start time.

Once you have registered with us, collect your gown and if there is time get your photographs taken.

You should be in your seat in the ceremony venue 30 minutes before the start of the ceremony.

If you have spare time there are cafes on site at all venues.

For full details about the day please visit our guide to graduation and our standard order of proceedings

Please check with the graduation team if you are unsure how, or how much to pay.

Payment can be made online via online store

You are advised not to pay for more than two tickets. Children cannot attend without an adult. Only two tickets per student are guaranteed if booked and paid for by the deadline. If you purchase more that the maximum (2 tickets) per graduating student, the additional funds will be refunded to your account and will not secure any additional tickets.

Tickets are collected in person by the student on the day at the ticket collection time notified. Uncollected tickets will not be reallocated.

Dishonoured payments will invalidate any tickets purchased and any bank or other costs incurred may be charged to the student.

Refunds of payments for guest tickets where tickets have been purchased in advance and within the published deadlines, will be made under the following conditions:

1. A graduating student cancels their attendance no less than 14 days before the ceremony, in order to graduate virtually (subject to demand) or in absentia. Under such circumstances, all purchased tickets will be refunded.
   
   
2. A graduating student cancels the attendance of a guest with a purchased ticket no less than 14 days before the graduation ceremony. Under such circumstances, the ticket purchased for the non-attending guest will be refunded.

Approved refunds are made to the person and the payment card used for the purchase.

Full details on transferring payments/ refunds can be found here on our Graduation terms and conditions [PDF]

Graduating students must all be attired in the University of Bedfordshire academic dress appropriate to their award.

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

Please note students who are not in suitable gowns may be refused entry into the graduation ceremony as outlined in our Graduation Terms and Conditions [PDF]

Guests are asked to note this is a formal event celebrating the significant academic achievements of the graduating students and are invited to dress appropriately.

Details on our gowning supplier and additional gowning information can be found in our guide to graduation

These are celebrations of academic success and the University is keen that graduating students and their guests thoroughly enjoy the occasion.

If you or a guest has an issue they think the University might help to resolve they should ask a staff member on duty. They may not be able to deal with it themselves but should be able to pass it on to someone appropriate who will take responsibility.

If for some reason it is not possible to resolve the issue there and then, we will endeavour to do so later. Guests are asked to note that abusive or threatening behaviour towards staff or other guests is not permitted.

Our graduation venues are private premises and in extreme circumstances management reserve the right to ask any individual to leave the site to preserve the enjoyment of others at the event.

During the course of the graduation ceremonies a free shuttle bus service will run from outside Fitzroy Court, Vicarage Street LU1 3FA to Putteridge Bury throughout the day and then a return service back.

We ask that all ticket holders, this includes both graduates and their guests make use of this service to access the graduation venue.

Please remember to have your student ID with you as a member of University security will be on hand checking ID's and supporting graduates and their guests to use the service.

Please take some time to look at the shuttle bus timetable [PDF] in advance to help you plan your journey. Details on what to do on the day can be found in our Guide to Graduations

You can also find further information about the venue including a site map under Graduation locations on the Graduation dates and locations page.