When students are in the depths of their studies at university, sometimes the only thing getting them through is knowing that there is an end in sight. As a result, knowing when they will graduate is extremely important! It also allows them to prepare, so they can get the right clothes (and gown!) and think about who they would like to invite.
Graduation ceremonies usually occur at the end of the academic year. Therefore, they are often presented during the summer months, between June and September. However, some graduation ceremonies can actually occur during the winter months. The exact date of the graduation ceremony depends on each individual university.
If you are a current student waiting for graduation or just someone curious about the dates of graduation, check out the rest of this article!
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When do graduation ceremonies usually happen?
As already stated, graduation ceremonies normally occur in the months between June and September. This is because these months are at the end of the academic year, meaning that students would have fully completed their studies, allowing them to graduate.
However, this depends on each individual university and some even hold graduation ceremonies in the winter! As a result, it is best to research your individual university to discover the specific month of when your graduation will take place.
You can find out more about this and graduation ceremonies in general, if you check out this article from Think Student. Some universities even have a number of different graduation ceremonies throughout the whole year, specific to different degrees.
Do undergraduates and postgraduates have graduation ceremonies at the same time?
Some universities actually don’t conduct the graduation ceremony for undergraduates and postgraduates at the same time. For example, the University of Lancaster has the graduation ceremony for postgraduates in the winter.
The undergraduates and PhD students then have their graduation ceremonies in the summer. You can find out more about this framework if you check out this page from the University of Lancaster’s website.
However, other universities have the undergraduates and postgraduates receive their awards in the same graduation ceremony. This is true for the University College London, where the ceremonies for all of these degrees took place in September in 2023.
You can find out more about this if you check out this page from the University College London website.
What time does a graduation ceremony start?
When you eventually find out the date of your graduation ceremony, hopefully you will also be given a time! This article can’t provide you with an answer of the exact time your graduation will start because there are a number of time slots throughout the day.
You will be given a time slot with other students from your course or department and will receive your award at this time. An example of the different time slots can be found on this article from the University of Sheffield.
However, you need to be aware that you must be free at least an hour before your graduation ceremony actually starts. It’s best to leave the day as free as possible, so that you don’t run late!
If you want to discover how long the graduation ceremony then lasts for, check out this article from Think Student.
When should you start preparing for your graduation ceremony?
There is no specific answer to when you should start preparing for your graduation ceremony. However, you need to make sure that you give yourself enough time to do everything that you need to.
For example, you need to make sure that you have the right clothes to get graduated in. You need to hire a gown of the correct size and search for the perfect clothes to go underneath. As a result, it would be best to not leave thinking about clothes to the day before!
You can find out more information about what you should wear to graduation if you check out this article from Think Student. You also need to make sure that you have all of your travel arrangements sorted and have chosen your guests.
This could potentially be a lengthy process, so make sure that you give yourself enough time. Also, don’t forget to register with the university to let them know that you will be attending graduation! You can discover more about how to prepare if you check out this article from the University of Leicester’s website.
It can also be useful to try and save up a bit of money before your graduation, as you can see in this article from Think Student, graduations can be expensive!