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 must not be left unaccompanied at any point whilst on the London Road or Whiteknights campuses.

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 from early early January 2025 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. Updating your address elsewhere on RISIS will not update the address we hold for the posting of your degree certificate

If you register to defer your graduation then your certificate will not be produced until our next set of ceremonies in July 2025. 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 Sunday 3 November 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 January, 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. Deferring your graduation also means deferring receipt of your degree certificate until that time.

If you want to attend your Graduation then you need complete the registration process via the Portal by Sunday 3 November 2024.

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 Sunday 3 November 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.

For family and friends unable to travel to Reading on the day, the ceremonies will be livestreamed via this webpage.

Students

The graduation ceremony is accessible, and the ramp to the stage will be in place, however if you have any disability or mobility issues, or any other concerns about your ceremony, we do need to know this so that we can make the necessary arrangements. 

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 so we can offer options for your ceremony and put plans in place. 

Please contact graduation@reading.ac.uk to make arrangements as soon as possible, or you can contact the Disability Advisory Service 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 Great Hall and 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 Sunday 3 November to make arrangements. We may not be able to accommodate requests for guests received after this date.

Guest tickets are only collected on the day of your ceremony itself and will take the form of wristbands. Wristband Collection Point desks will be open from 2 hours prior to the start of each ceremony and will remain open until approximately 45 minutes prior to the start of the last ceremony on each day. Guests can collect their wristbands without the graduand present, as long as the graduand has already completed the formal registration process and confirmed that they will be attending. Wristbands cannot be given out to graduands to give to guests who are not present.

These are rarely available. If we are able to release any, they will be made available at the Wristband Collection Points from 2 hours before your ceremony ONLY - none will be allocated in advance. There will be a maximum of 2 extra Great Hall wristbands per student, depending on the capacity of your ceremony (this can only be determined on the day itself).

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 January to the address you confirmed.

If you registered to defer your graduation, you will start to receive emails concerning the July 2025 set of ceremonies from late-February 2025.