Winter graduation day guide
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
Prepare for the day
What you’re wearing
You might have had your outfit planned out weeks ago, but it’s always worth having a final check to ensure you’re ready to go. Graduation ceremonies are a formal occasion, so dress appropriately (shoes included!). We advise graduates to wear a buttoned shirt or blouse to secure your graduation hood. If your clothes don’t have any buttons to secure the hood, make sure you bring pins with you as they will not be provided.
Think about the material you’re wearing and how your hood will be secured so it can’t move. We recommend bringing safety pins to secure your hood, so make sure the material you are wearing is strong enough that a safety pin won’t tear it.
Anyone considering wearing heels, you have to walk up a set of stairs, across the stage and down another set of stairs – we recommend choosing heels that don’t bring a huge risk of falling over in front of our audience.
How to get to your ceremony
You need to arrive at least two hours before your ceremony begins, so make sure you plan your journey in advance and leave plenty of time for any travel disruptions.
Step 1: Check-in
Time: approximately 2 hours before your ceremony
Location: check-in desk, Lady Hale Building
The first thing you need to do when you arrive at Peel Park campus is check-in. Head to the check-in desk in our Lady Hale Building for this. If you don’t check-in as your first step, you can’t pick up any gown you have hired and your name will not be called during your ceremony, which means you won’t cross the stage.
Only graduates are allowed in the check-in area so we can reduce the amount of people queuing. Your guests can wait for you outside the building or inside our New Adelphi Building, which is directly across from the Lady Hale Building.
The check-in desk closes 30 minutes before your ceremony starts. Once it’s closed you will not be able to attend your ceremony.
Step 2: Collect your guest tickets
Time: approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes before your ceremony starts
Location: ticket desk in the Lady Hale Building
Following check-in, you will be directed to the ticket desk where you can collect your guest tickets. We have your tickets ready to collect - just show us a form of photo 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 3: Collect your gown
Time: approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes before your ceremony starts
Location: Gilbert Rooms, behind Maxwell Hall
Once you’ve checked-in and collected your tickets you can make your way to the Gilbert Rooms (behind Maxwell Hall). This is where you collect the gown you have hired. You’ll need to show a member of staff the ticket given to you at the Check-in Desk and the reference number you received from Graduation Attire when you ordered your gown.
Please don’t bring your guests with you for this step (unless they are children and you are the only responsible adult). Guests aren’t allowed into the Robing area and you leave the area by a different route.
Haven’t ordered your gown in advance? You need to register as early as possible so you can avoid a big queue at robing. Graduation Attire spend most of their time serving graduates who have pre-booked their gown and have a very limited amount of time to serve graduates who need to pay on the day. If there are lots of graduates who haven’t booked then you risk missing the start of your ceremony.
Step 4: Get your photos taken
Time: approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes before your ceremony starts
Location: photography studio, lower Maxwell Hall
After picking up your gown, you can get some photos to capture the day. Peel Park campus has some great spaces to take some photos with your loved ones as well as our official portraits run by Graduation Attire. Spend any extra time you have before being called into the ceremony taking photos, having some food or drinks and generally celebrating your achievement. We also recommend you take some time to head to the toilet before your ceremony starts.
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 lower Maxwell Hall. No booking is required. We highly recommend you do this before your ceremony to avoid the busiest period, which is just after your ceremony. For more details about professional photography, visit our photography page.
Step 5: Visit our stalls
Time: approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes before your ceremony starts
Location: Maxwell Building and Maxwell Hall
Purchase on-stage photography and Graduation Merchandise. You can get branded flips flops as well as Graduation hoodies, bear, mugs and tote bags!
View our Merchandise page to learn more.
Step 6: Head to the theatre for your ceremony
Time: 45 minutes before your ceremony starts
Location: Maxwell Hall
You will be called to take your seat in Maxwell Hall 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 in the Peel Building (the red brick building across from Maxwell Hall). This is free of charge and no booking is required. Alternatively, guests can watch on our YouTube channel.
Top tip: Don’t go too far from Maxwell Hall as the time of your ceremony approaches. You’ll need to listen for an announcement to make your way into the hall.
Step 7: Your graduation ceremony
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 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 the side of the stage
- University staff will check you are in the correct order for the presentation of awards
- You will now be guided towards the stage 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.
Step 8: after your ceremony
Once the ceremony is finished, you’ll be in the official procession and guided out of the Maxwell Hall. 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 merch shops and stands, celebrating with your loved ones.
Step 9: Return your gown
Return your gown once you’re done with photos. You can return your gown to the Gilbert Rooms – the same place you went to pick it up. Make sure to return it before the end of the day.