If you change your mind after completing formal registration, you should contact the Graduation Team via graduation@reading.ac.uk.

If you amend your choice from not attending or deferring to attending then we will endeavour to accommodate you and any guest ticket requests that you may have as much as we can, however due to restrictions on numbers allowed in the Great Hall, we may not be able to put you back into in your preferred ceremony.

Whilst Graduation is a celebratory family event we do not consider it particularly child-friendly, especially if guests are seated in the Great Hall  as they require guests to remain seated for up to an hour at a time. This being said children are still welcome to attend. If children do come, those aged 2 and under do not need their own ticket for the Great Hall as they are expected to sit on an adult’s lap and be carried at all times in the Hall. All children aged 3 and over will need their own guest ticket. Children under the age of 18 should not be left unaccompanied at any point whilst on the London Road campus.

We recommend guests with young children watch the ceremony from the Livestream rooms as this will allow them more flexibility to exit quickly for any reason.

If you are coming to graduation you will receive your certificate on the day during the ceremony at which you graduate.

If you register to graduate in absence your certificate will be posted to you in August to the address you provided during graduation registration. If you need to update this address after registration please email us at graduation@reading.ac.uk as soon as possible.

If you register to defer your graduation then your certificate will not be produced until our next set of ceremonies in December 2023. It is University policy that a student cannot receive their degree certificate and diploma supplement documents until they have formally graduated, be that in person or in absence. If in the meantime you have passed your programme and require proof of your qualification (e.g. for entry to a programme of further study at another university) you can contact the Student Services Reception team via studenthelp@reading.ac.uk and request an Academic Transcript document.

If you do not want to attend on the day, then you need to complete the registration process via the Portal by Monday 8 May and choose the option to graduate in absence. You will be asked to confirm how your name should appear on your certificate, and your delivery address. This is the address that we will post your certificate to in August, so please ensure you confirm an address that yourself or a family member will be occupying at that time. We only ever send out degree certificates to addresses that have been confirmed directly with the Graduation team, so if you do not complete registration we will not be able to post your certificate out to you.

Please note that by registering to graduate in absence you will not be able to attend a future set of ceremonies in person. If you want to do this you should instead choose the option to defer your graduation.

If you are not sure at this stage if you want to (or will be able to) attend your ceremony, we strongly recommend that you complete the registration process now as if you will attend, so that we can accommodate you in your ceremony. If you do not register to attend prior to the Monday 8 May deadline then you run the risk of us not being able to accommodate yourself and any guests in your ceremony. If you decide not to come at a later date, you can email us at graduation@reading.ac.uk.

Students

If you are a wheelchair user, please tell us during the Expression of Interest process by by Sunday 12 March as we need to ensure that the ramp we use in the Great Hall is installed, and also update the capacity of the Great Hall for your ceremony with regards to the space taken up by the ramp.

If you have other mobility or other restrictive issues, we have a wealth of experience in working with graduates to ensure you can enjoy the day fully, but we do need to know about your requirements.

Please contact the Disability Office to make arrangements as soon as possible, or you can contact the graduation@reading.ac.uk email if you would prefer.

Guests

We try our hardest to accommodate guests with any concerns but it will always help to reassure them if arrangements are made in advance.

For guests with wheelchairs, the ceremony livestream rooms are accessible but we need to reserve appropriate space  in the seating area to accommodate the wheelchair, and if your guest needs an aisle seat or a seat near doorways for medical reasons, we can reserve appropriate seating.

Please contact graduation@reading.ac.uk by Monday 8 May to make arrangements. We may not be able to accommodate requests for guests received after this date.

After you have completed the formal graduation registration process you will receive a confirmation email. You must ensure that you have received this confirmation, as this proves that you have successfully registered for your graduation ceremony. If you have not received a confirmation email within 24 hours please email use immediately via graduation@reading.ac.uk. The confirmation email will give you further information on things such as gown hire.

If you registered to graduate in absence, your certificate will be posted out in August to the address you confirmed.

If you registered to defer your graduation, you will start to receive emails concerning the December 2023 set of ceremonies from October 2023.