Once you have finally finished all of your studies at university and are ready to graduate, you may really want your degree classification to be read out to your peers. This would be especially true if you know that you have done really well! However, some students may really want to keep their degree classifications secret and this is also completely valid!
The truth is that whether your degree classification is read out or not depends on each individual university. There may be a few universities that do read out each student’s degree classifications when they receive their award, however most university websites explicitly say that degree classifications are not read out during graduation ceremonies.
If you want to find out more about whether degree classifications are read out and supplementary information about this aspect of the graduation ceremony, check out the rest of this article!
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Do all universities announce your degree classification at graduation?
As already stated, some universities do announce your degree classification at university. This article from the Graduate Coach explains how announcing each student’s degree classification is a normal occurrence at graduation ceremonies.
However, many universities do not read out each student’s degree classification. For example, this page from the University of Greenwich’s website and this article from De Montfort University states that they don’t. Similarly, graduates at the University of Warwick also don’t have their degree classifications announced.
You can find out more about this aspect of graduation from this article from the University of Warwick’s website with some more helpful FAQ’s. Thinking about it, if every student’s degree classification was read out during the ceremony, this could definitely take a while!
Graduation ceremonies are already quite long and can be repetitive. You can check out how long they actually are if you read this article from Think Student.
How do you find out your degree classification?
If you go to a university which doesn’t read out your degree classification during the graduation ceremony, you may be wondering how you find out what your degree classification actually is!
During the graduation ceremony, you will be given your degree certificate when you walk up onto the stage. Your degree certificate will display your degree classification. You can find out more about this and degree certificates in general if you check out this article from Think Student.
You could try and calculate what your degree classification is by working out how many credits each module is worth and combining your different grades. However, this could get complicated! If you really want to try, you can discover how to do the calculations properly at the end of each year if you check out this blog page from the University of Brighton.
What are the different degree classifications?
After finding out what your degree classification is, you may be struggling to realise what it actually means! However, don’t stress! It is quite easy to understand what you have been awarded when using degree classifications.
The best degree classification you can achieve is known as a first-class honours degree, also known as a first. The second best is known as a second-class honours degree, which is also known as a 2:1.
The next is a lower second-class honours degree, known as a 2:2 and the last one is a third-class honours degree, known as a 3rd.
If you get lower than a third-class honours degree but still have a high enough grade to not be a fail, you could achieve a pass. You can find out more about how to read and understand degree classifications if you check out this article from Think Student.
What other announcements are made at graduation ceremonies?
Most universities don’t actually read out student’s degree classifications during the ceremony. However, when it is time for you to receive your award, your name will be called out and the name of your degree will most likely be called out too.
Before the procession of awards take place, your lecturers will often make announcements and give speeches about your specific year. Therefore, even if your degree classification isn’t specifically announced, you will still receive the credit that you deserve through the speeches which may be directed towards you and your classmates.
When you do receive all of the praise during your graduation ceremony, you probably want to be looking your best! If you are struggling to decide what you should wear to your graduation ceremony, check out this article from Think Student.
Also remember to hire your graduation gown! You can discover how to do this properly if you check out this article from Think Student. You can discover more information about what happens at a graduation ceremony if you check out this article from the Unifresher website.
What else happens at a graduation ceremony?
As already mentioned in this article, whether your degree classification is read out or not during the graduation ceremony depends on the university. However, after researching many different university websites, it seems that many universities don’t.
Regardless of whether your university reads out your degree classification or not, most universities do follow the same procedure when conducting the graduation ceremony.
Every graduation ceremony from every UK university is seen as a very important event. Graduation is taken very seriously, thus there is normally a traditional structure used to organise every event.
Graduates will of course have to wear the well-known cap and gown to signify their accomplishments. There will most likely be a couple of speeches at the start of the ceremony which everyone will have to listen to.
Then all of the graduates’ names are called up in alphabetical order, allowing the graduates to walk up onto the stage and receive their certificate. You can discover more detail about what happens at a graduation ceremony if you check out this article from Think Student.