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Summer Graduation Day Guide

Graduates wearing caps and gowns celebrate outdoors, they smile at the camera and throw their caps into the air above a crowd of people. Trees surround the area and the sky is partly cloudy.

Congratulations - your graduation day is finally here! Your graduation should be exciting, not stressful. We’ve created a step-by-step guide to your graduation day so you can celebrate your achievements with no worries (you deserve it after all your hard work).

What you need to bring

You’ll need to bring the following with you on the day:

  • Confirmation/reminder email of your registration to Graduation
  • Your student ID card or another form of photo ID
  • Your Graduation Attire reference number sent to you via  email from Graduation Attire
  • Pins to secure your hood
What do I need to do before Graduation Day?
How can I travel to the venue?
Video image

Step 1: Check in

Staff member at a check-in desk hands a ticket that reads 'Graduation,' to a visitor across the counter. Brochures are stacked on the desk and a red display screen visible in the background.

Time: approximately 2 hours before your ceremony 
Location: University of Salford building, MediaCity, M50 2EQ

Upon arrival, head to the Check-in Desk in our University of Salford MediaCity campus building, here you will be given your Graduate ticket. You will need to show staff your photo ID and your registration confirmation email. You must check-in, so that we know you have arrived, you will not be able to collect your gown or cross the stage if you skip this step.

Only graduates are allowed in the check-in area. Your guests can wait for you outside the building or make their way to the Lowry where they’ll be able to relax before the ceremony.  

Note: the Check-in Desk closes 30 minutes before your ceremony starts. Once it’s closed you will not be able to graduate.

What will the day look like for my guests?

Step 2: Ready to gown

A staff member at a counter assists a visitor holding a card and a graduation gown. The staff member is using a touchscreen device, while people gather around in a brightly lit indoor venue with pink and purple lighting.

Time: approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes before your ceremony starts 
Location: Quays Theatre, Lowry 

After check-in, you will need to walk across the street to the Lowry from the University Building. If you’ve hired a gown, you’ll need to collect it from the Quays Theatre. To collect your gown, you will need to show the staff the ticket you got from check-in and your confirmation email from Graduation Attire.

Please be aware guests aren’t allowed into the Gowning area.

Haven’t ordered your gown in advance? You will need to check in as early as possible so you can avoid delays at Gowning. 

How do I order my gown?

Step 3: Collect your Guest Tickets

Graduation staff member hands documents to a student in cap and gown inside a brightly lit, modern venue with pink and blue walls.

Time: approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes before your ceremony starts 
Location: ticket desk in the Quays Bar, Lowry 

Following gowning you will be directed into the Quays Theatre bar area where you can collect your guest tickets. We have your tickets ready to collect at the Ticket Desk - just show us a form of ID (like your Student ID card) when you arrive.  

If you need more tickets, you can enquire whether any additional guest tickets are available for purchase when you’re at the Ticket Desk. These are sold on a first come, first served basis but only if there is space in the ceremony.  

Tickets can only be collected by graduates so make sure you make plans to meet your guests pre-ceremony to give them their tickets.

Step 4: Visit our stalls and the photography studios

Two people pose together at an outdoor graduation event; one is wearing a cap, gown, and hood, and the other is dressed in a sleeveless black outfit. Trees, graduates, and guests are visible in the background.

Time: Approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes before your ceremony starts
Location: Lowry

After picking up your tickets you will make your way back down to the main foyer to meet up with your guests. On your way back to the foyer, you will find some information desks with our Alumni and Careers team. Pick up a flyer, have a chat to our teams and learn about all the benefits you have as a University of Salford graduate.

You can then meet your guests in the Lowry foyer area to handover their tickets you collected. 

Have your official portrait taken in the studio. If you want professional pictures to capture your day, you can visit the Graduation Attire Photography Studio in Studio 1 on Level 2 of the Lowry. You can visit the studios before or after your ceremony, but highly recommend going before to avoid long queues.

Discover Photography options

Step 5: Take your seat

Graduate in a black gown with a red‑trimmed hood sits in a purple auditorium seat, holding a rolled certificate and smiling. Other graduates in academic dress are seated nearby.

Time: 45 minutes before your ceremony starts
Location: Lyric Theatre, Lowry

You will be called to take your seat in the Lyric Theatre 45 minutes before your ceremony starts. Please have your ticket with your seat number (the one given to you at the Check-in Desk) ready to present to the usher who will show you to your seat. You need to be seated at this time to ensure your ceremony runs correctly and on time. 

Guests who are watching in the theatre will be called separately after you have been seated. Any additional guests can watch the live stream of the ceremony in the Digital Media and Performance Lab, which is in the University of Salford campus building (where the Check-in Desk is). This is free of charge and no booking is required. Alternatively, guests can watch on our YouTube channel.

Top tip: Announcements made by the theatre cannot be heard outside of the Lowry building or in the Quays Bar area, so make sure you’re close to the theatre an hour before your ceremony starts.

University of Salford YouTube channel

Step 6: cross the stage

Graduate wearing a gown and red‑trimmed hood walks across a stage with hands raised, while seated officials applaud. Floral arrangements line the front of the stage.

Time: scheduled ceremony time 
Location: Lyric Theatre, Lowry

Your ceremony will include speeches from university leaders and is a celebration of your achievements. Courses are presented together, starting with doctorates and postgraduate awards before moving on to undergraduate awards. University staff will let you know when it is your turn to cross the stage. Make sure to contact the Graduation Team (email grad-acd@salford.ac.uk) in advance if you have access requirements and can’t use stairs – they will arrange a slightly different route for you.  

  • Your row will be invited to move to a spot outside the theatre
  • University staff will check you are in the correct order for the presentation of awards
  • You will be guided in through the side door ready for your name to be called and for you to cross the stage. Enjoy your moment – you deserve it!
  • You’ll be handed a scroll as you leave the stage. This won’t contain your certificate, as we post those to your permanent home address.
  • Once you’ve crossed the stage, you will be guided back to your seat.
  • Pay respect to your fellow graduates and try not to talk throughout the ceremony as it can be distracting. But please feel free to celebrate your friends and peers as they cross the stage. It’s exciting!
  • At the end of your ceremony, you will join the official procession out of the theatre so guests can applaud you on your achievement and we can get a group photo of your ceremony.
What accessibility and support is available at Graduation?
When will I receive my certificate?

Step 7: Smile for the camera

Large group of graduates in caps and gowns gathered in an outdoor square for a class photo. They are arranged in a wide triangular formation behind a red banner that reads ‘Class of 2025’ with University of Salford Manchester branding. Trees and university buildings surround the area.

Time: approximately 90 minutes after the start of your ceremony 
Location: Lyric Theatre, Lowry

Once the ceremony is finished, you’ll be in the official procession out of the theatre and into the Lowry Plaza area (directly outside the building), where we will get an official photo of everyone in your ceremony together. Your guests will follow shortly, so agree on a meeting spot for this point before the ceremony starts as it will get quite busy! You can then take more photographs and explore the merchandise stands and celebrate with your loved ones.

What merchandise can I buy and where can I celebrate?

Step 8: Return Your Gown

Location: Lowry loading bay

If you have hired your gown for the day, you need to return it to Graduation Attire after your Ceremony, to avoid extra charges. Head back to entrance to the Quays Theatre (where you collected your gown),to meet with gowning staff in the loading bay to return your gown.