Graduation

A few days before graduation, graduates will be sent an email detailing the time that they should arrive at Symphony Hall to register with the University team. As a guide, students are normally asked to arrive 1.5–2 hours before the ceremony to allow enough time for registration and gown collection.

With around 3000 graduates registering during the day, keeping to the registration time on their invitation email will help ease queues and ensure a safer event for everyone. Once registered, graduates will be able to access the robe hire and photography. Please follow the signs to locate the Registration desk, Robing and Photography.

Graduates should be seated 30 minutes before the start of the event. Their guests can arrive a little later, as they will not be permitted to enter the registration or robing areas, although they will need to be in their seats 15 minutes prior to the start of the Congregation. The Congregation will start and end with a procession of Academic staff.

After graduates have crossed the stage, they will not be allowed to leave early, as they will be directed back to their seats. They will not return to the same seat they sat in earlier. For this reason, graduates will not be able to bring a handbag or any other personal items into Symphony Hall with them. These can be left with a member of the family or a friend for the duration of the ceremony. An invitation and further details will be sent to students prior to the ceremony.

Please note if you are bringing children they will need to stay with your guests for the duration of the ceremony, they will not be allowed to cross the stage with you.

Your name will be called out as you cross the stage as this is read from the ticket that you receive upon registration on the day, we will not call out the classification achieved.

If you are wearing a mask, you may wish to remove your mask while you cross the stage. As you cross the stage it is traditional to acknowledge the Vice-Chancellor and Principal or Pro-Vice Chancellor conferring your award with a bow or a nod. 

There will be photo studios set up on the day of the ceremonies, and you can have a photo taken (alone, with fellow students, or with your family). A photograph of you crossing the stage will also be available to purchase via the William Northam website. They offer a range of photography packages, and further information is available directly through their site.

University College Birmingham's marketing department will also be taking photos and videos on the day, which will be used for social media updates and future marketing campaigns. If you don't want a photo or video of you taken, please let a member of the team know. An online gallery of photos will be made available in the next few days after the event. 

Live streaming of the graduation ceremonies will be available on the day. Please subscribe to our YouTube channel to be notified when the event starts.

In addition, we are pleased to let you know that a short video clip of you crossing the stage will be available free of charge. To receive your clip, you will need to pre-register in advance, as it will not be emailed automatically. The Graduation Team has already sent details on how to pre-register, but if you have not received the link, please email the team at graduation@ucb.ac.uk and they will be happy to resend it.

Ceremonies are celebratory occasions where graduands will want to look their best for family, friends and for photographs. All students are required to wear academic dress, also known as a cap and gown, and are advised to wear smart clothing underneath their academic dress. William Northam recommends that graduands wear a button-through top or shirt under the gown to help the neckband of the hood sit better. Members of the William Northam team will be available on the day to assist with academic dress and to answer any questions.

Please note that William Northam is the official supplier of robing for University College Birmingham Awards Congregations. To book your academic gown and photography, visit https://www.williamnortham.com/  

You’ll need to order your Academic Dress by Tuesday, 16 September 2025 at 5pm.

You will be collecting your gown at Symphony Hall on the day of your graduation, after registration, by simply showing the confirmation email you received when you booked your gown online.

If, for any reason, you were not able to hire your gown before the deadline, don’t worry, you’ll still be able to hire one on the day at Symphony Hall. Please note, though, that there will be an extra charge for last-minute hire.

The cap and gown must be returned to the robing hall no later than 9.30 pm on the day of the Congregations. Late returns may be charged for the cost of another day’s hire.

If you are not planning on attending graduation, your certificate will be posted to your “Permanent Address” as recorded on the Student Dashboard after the ceremony. Therefore, it is important that this address is correct. Alternatively, you can arrange to collect your certificate from the Academic Registry at UCB from Monday, 29 September 2025. Contact registry@ucb.ac.uk to arrange collection. Certificates will not be available to collect before this date.

If you are being awarded by UCB or UoB, then you will be able to access the digital version of your certificate through Verify (Student Document Verification Service). UoW will contact you directly regarding your digital certificate.

Certificates for resit students and students awarded after the July exam boards will not be available at graduation and will be posted to you by the end of October 2025. Alternatively, you can also arrange to collect them in person in October by contacting registry@ucb.ac.uk.

If you are due to complete in the summer of 2025 and are asked to re-submit or re-sit during the July/August examination period, you will only be able to attend the Awards Congregations subject to successfully completing the qualification and satisfying the requirements of the Boards of Examiners.

Please note that, due to printing deadlines, it will not be possible to include re-sit students in the hard copy of the graduation ceremony booklet, and your award certificate may not be ready for the event.

If you attend the ceremony, your name will still be called out as you cross the stage, as this is read from the ticket that you receive upon registration on the day, we will not call out the classification achieved.

If you are not planning on attending graduation or will not be completing your qualification in time for graduation this year, please register on the Portal saying that you will not be attending, this way you will receive no further reminders.

Please note that registration to attend this event will close on Monday, 15 September 2025. You must also register your intention to attend the Congregation at the earliest opportunity.

University College Birmingham - Academic Registry (for Graduation information):

Canvas page: Visit here
Email: graduation@ucb.ac.uk
Tel: 0121 232 4199 or 0121 232 4087
Address: Registry, The Link, University College Birmingham, 65-77 Summer Row, Birmingham B3 1JJ.

Symphony Hall

Website: www.bmusic.co.uk
Email: boxoffice@bmusic.co.uk  
Ticket telephone line: 0121 780 3333, Mon-Sat, 10am-2pm
To arrange disabled parking: 0121 780 4949

Gown Hire Company-William Northam

Website: www.williamnortham.com
Email: customerservices@williamsnortham.com
Order hotline: 0370 240 1852

Photographers William Northam

Website: www.williamnortham.com
Email: customerservices@williamsnortham.com
Order hotline: 0370 240 1852