By registering to attend a graduation ceremony, you, the graduating student, are accepting the terms and conditions set out below in relation to your graduation at Sheffield Hallam University (the University).  Therefore, you must read and understand these terms and conditions prior to completing the graduation registration process.  If you have any questions or concerns about these, please contact the Graduation Office on 0114 225 5353 or email graduation@shu.ac.uk.

Attendance at a graduation ceremony is not mandatory and is not required for you to receive your certificate.  Regardless of whether you attend or not, your certificate will be posted to the address stated in My Student Record.  It is your responsibility to check your personal details and award information to ensure they are correct:  log in to My Student Record, select ‘My Certificate and Graduation’ and follow the link to ‘My Certificate’. If you have any questions or concerns about your certificate, please contact the Certificate Office by email certificates@shu.ac.uk. 

Eligibility

Your place at the graduation ceremony is dependent on your degree being conferred by your department’s award board. Confirmation of your award will be available on My Student Record. 

Your award may not be confirmed before bookings for the graduation ceremony open, however once you become eligible for graduation you will be notified by email.

Eligibility for graduation is held in accordance with the Academic Award Framework.

Data protection and GDPR

Please refer to the Privacy Notice for Graduation. 

Date and time

Any listed dates and times of a graduation ceremony are provisional until official confirmation is posted on My Student Record and the Graduation website.

Registration and tickets

Tickets must be booked via My Student Record. Every graduating student is guaranteed two guest tickets up to the booking deadline. Any tickets unsold after the booking deadline will be made available to purchase on a first come first served basis.  

Graduating students and guests are responsible for making their own travel arrangements and ensuring that they arrive for the relevant graduation ceremony in good time. 

 Graduating students need to book a graduate ticket to attend their graduation ceremony regardless of whether they are attending with a guest or not. 

Graduating students wishing to purchase additional tickets on the day of their graduation ceremony or collecting pre-purchased tickets will need to have photo ID available.

Graduate tickets are not transferrable.

Graduating students needing a ticket for a carer

In accordance with most other venues, you will be asked to submit evidence to support the registered carer attending. This can be any of the following: 

• Entitlement to Disability Living Allowance for children under 16 or DLA/Personal Independent Payments (PIP) for those aged 16-64, in the form of a letter stating that the benefit has been awarded. 
• Attendance Allowance or Carer's Allowance letter of award. 
• Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) letter notifying the recipient that the benefit has been awarded Incapacity Benefit. 
  A valid Blue Badge. 
• In the case of visual impairment, a registration card known as the BD8 or a Certificate of Visual Impairment (CVI). 
• A recognised Assistance Dog ID Card. 
• Credibility’s Access Card. 

Graduates or guests needing a ticket for a carer should email graduation@shu.ac.uk.

Cancellations and refunds

It is possible for graduating students to cancel their registration and graduate ticket and/or their guest tickets and receive a full refund if they inform us in writing at graduation@shu.ac.uk before the published booking deadline. 

After the booking deadline, cancellations are accepted but we are unable to refund tickets except in extenuating circumstances. 

Children

Children under the age of two do not need a ticket to attend graduation but will not be allocated a seat, they must sit on a guest’s lap. Children over the age of two will need a ticket and will be allocated a seat. Children must be accompanied by an adult (not the graduate) at all times. Children and babies are not permitted to on stage.

We value your graduation ceremony as a family occasion, and we welcome families to attend. However, the graduation ceremony can seem quite long, so we request children that become unsettled are taken into the foyer where the ceremony can be viewed on screens. 

There is a room for breastfeeding mothers. Staff at the information desk will be able to direct attendees to it.  

Access requirements

It is your responsibility to inform the Graduation Office if you or any of your guests have any access requirements. Please give us details during the booking process, we will ensure that these are taken into consideration when allocating tickets.  If you would like to discuss your requirements and arrangements that can be made, please contact the Graduation Office.

If you notify us of any access requirements after the booking deadline, we cannot guarantee that appropriate arrangements will be possible on the day. 

Name cards

You will be given a name card.  Your full official name, as held on our records, will be on the name card along with any prizes you have been awarded during your studies. If your name is incorrect or your prize doesn’t appear, please raise this with a member of staff at the earliest convenience before the start of the graduation ceremony to ensure it is investigated and corrected prior to you crossing the stage.  

If your name card is missing, you should let a member of staff know as soon as possible. In such case, please be prepared to confirm your name and whether you have won a prize. 

Crossing the stage

During the graduation ceremony, you will be directed to the stage. At the foot of the stage, you will hand your name card to a staff member. The name reader will read out your name and you will be asked to cross the stage.
 
The University will endeavour to ensure that you cross the stage in alphabetical order with your cohort but cannot guarantee this and accepts no liability for disappointment or distress if you are not presented alphabetically or with your cohort.
 
Name readers will read the name as it is written on the card and endeavour to pronounce your name correctly on stage, but the University cannot guarantee that names will be pronounced correctly and accepts no liability for disappointment or distress if pronunciation is not correct.  

To help the name reader, we request that you use the ’Phonetic pronunciation’ option on My Student Record to indicate your preferred way of your name being read out.

You will not be permitted to cross the stage with parents, partners, children, or babies.  If you are unable to walk without support, you should inform the Graduation Office in advance using the ‘Special Requirements’ option during the booking process or as soon as you arrive at the Venue. We will then make appropriate arrangements with you to cross the stage.

You cannot take pictures or selfies on stage.

Ceremony Conduct

The graduation ceremony is a formal event and you and your guests are expected to behave in a manner fitting for the occasion. Any person who becomes disruptive or is deemed to be causing obstruction or nuisance will be asked to leave the ceremony.

The University does not tolerate aggressive, threatening, or disrespectful behaviour by or to our students, graduating students, guests, or anyone in the employment of the University or the Venue.

You cannot use on stage a mobile phone or another electronic device. 
Mobile phones must be switched off or kept on silent during the graduation ceremony. 

Guests are welcome to take photographs during the graduation ceremony as long as this does not obstruct anyone else’s view or interfere with the enjoyment of others.  Anyone obstructing or interfering with others will be asked to return to their seat, repeat offenders will be asked to leave the ceremony.

You and your guests should not move from your allocated seats unless directed or stand during the ceremony so as not to disturb other attendees or affect the overall running of the graduation ceremony.

You should note that the Venue operates a no standing policy in the graduation hall.

You and your guests are requested to stay for the duration of the graduation ceremony until its conclusion to ensure minimal disruption and the enjoyment for everyone.

Dress and gowning

Ede & Ravenscroft are the official suppliers for gowns, so we do recommend that your use them for your graduation services to ensure you receive the correct gown.

Wearing a gown is advisable but not compulsory. 

If you choose to wear a gown, please ensure you have put the gown on in good time before being called on the stage.

Filming and photography

You and your guests are prohibited to make video recording within the graduation hall. 

Ede & Ravenscroft is the appointed official photographer at the graduation ceremony. Ede and Ravenscroft will take a photograph of each graduating participant as he or she crosses the stage. These photographs are available to purchase after the graduation ceremony.  The University is not responsible for the quality of photographs but by using our official photographer, we are able to support you with any liaison with the photographer, should it be needed.

Please note queues can be quite long for posed photography.  Ede & Ravenscroft, working with the university, will decide when to close the queue (for example, if a ceremony is about to start to ensure graduating students do not miss their ceremony).  They will ask you to come back after the graduation ceremony.

The University also uses the official photographer to take general photographs of the graduation ceremonies.  These images may be used by the University for media publications including online postings and advertising.  By electing to take part in the ceremony proceedings, you are giving permission for your image to be photographed and used. Please see the privacy notice.

Debt

If you are in debt to the University for tuition fees for the course you are graduating from, you will not be awarded your certificate, issued with a letter of confirmation of award, or be allowed to attend your graduation ceremony until you have paid all your tuition fee debts as stated in the student contract. 

Deferrals 

If you are unable to attend your graduation ceremony, you are permitted to defer your graduation for one year. Please notify us in writing to graduation@shu.ac.uk that you wish to defer by the booking deadline of the current ceremony season, and we will confirm your deferral. 

If you purchase guest tickets then request to defer, we can only refund you the price of the purchased tickets if we have received your email before the booking deadline or in exceptional circumstances.

It is not possible for you to carry over your registration with a graduate ticket or guest tickets to the year you are deferring to. Instead, you will need to register and purchase tickets for your new graduation ceremony, conforming with the appropriate deadlines.

Force majeure 

In the event that it is necessary for the University to cancel, reschedule or postpone any graduation ceremony due to circumstances beyond the University’s control, the University will accept no liability for any costs or inconvenience incurred by you and/or your guests. Circumstances which may lead to cancellation, rescheduling or postponement include but are not limited to weather conditions, fire, explosion, terrorist act, threat of a terrorist act, act of God, pandemic, industrial action, or dispute involving either the University, or the Venue at which the ceremonies are due to be held. 

In such circumstances, the University will seek to make alternative arrangements as far as is practically possible, for anyone affected. However, it is advisable that you and your guests have appropriate insurance in place to cover any potential losses resulting from a graduation ceremony being cancelled or rescheduled. 

The University also recommends all international guests follow the travel advice from their home country before travelling.

If a graduation ceremony or ceremonies must be cancelled, re-scheduled or postponed, the University will make every effort to contact you in a timely manner and via a range of appropriate communication channels. 

Late arrivals 

You and your guests should arrive at the graduation hall in good time.  Doors will open 30 minutes prior to the start of the graduation ceremony. You should take your seats no later than 10 minutes prior to the published start time. 
Graduates arriving late for their ceremony will be granted entry at any point during the ceremony (up to the last graduate) but you may not be seated with your cohort or cross the stage with them. 

Guests arriving late will not be permitted into the graduation hall if graduates once graduates start to cross the stage, usually 10 minutes into the ceremony. Late arrivals cause significant disruption to the ceremony and spoil the experience of other graduates and guests that have arrived on time. If speeches are still taking place guests will be seated but they may not be seated in the seats originally allocated to avoid disruption to other guests.

Guests not admitted to the graduation hall will be shown to a public space within the venue where the ceremony will be shown on a screen. 

Cloakroom

Neither Ponds Forge nor the University has a cloakroom or storage facility, and we must ask that attendees do not bring along large items and keep their belongings with them for the duration of the graduation ceremony.  

There is limited space for wheelchairs/mobility scooters/pushchairs/prams to be left outside the graduation hall.  However, Ponds Forge and the University take no responsibility for personal property being lost, stolen or damaged at the graduation ceremonies.

Tickets and the right to refuse entry 

You and your quests can attend a graduation ceremony and enter the graduation hall only after producing the correct ticket(s) to relevant staff. The University reserves the right to refuse entry without a ticket and to those arriving late for the ceremony. 

Tickets are available to download on My Student Record one week before the graduation ceremony.

If you are unable to download your tickets, we can download them for you at the Venue but please allow extra time on arrival to report to the information desk in the foyer area at Venue.

We reserve the right to refuse entry or remove you or a guest from the Venue, where it appears to us in our sole discretion to be necessary for the good conduct of proceedings and/or the safety, health, and wellbeing of graduating students, guests, or staff.

This includes removal of attendees who appear to be under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs and causing disruption.

Venue

The graduation ceremony will take place in a public venue in Sheffield (the Venue). The location of the Venue will be notified to you at the time ceremony dates are published. 

In the event of an evacuation, follow instructions from staff at the Venue.

If you require first aid, or notice someone that requires first aid, please let a member of staff know who will radio through for qualified first aiders.

Smoking, or vaping, is not permitted within the Venue.

Pets are not allowed in the Venue unless they are support animals. Please ensure that you inform in good time the Graduation Office of your requirements to bring along a support animal, so that appropriate seating can be arranged.

Visas

Visa support letters for yourself and/or your guests to attend a graduation ceremony can be requested via My Student Record.

For advice on applying for your visa, please talk to the International Experience Team via Hallam Help 

Last updated 29 August 2024