Graduation terms and conditions

Please contact the graduation team if either you or one of your guests has an access requirement. If you fail to do so before the deadline we cannot guarantee that the appropriate arrangements can be put in place in time for your graduation.

You must book your place for your ceremony before the deadline following the step-by-step instructions (PDF) to guarantee your place at the ceremony. If you fail to book before the deadline (or within a week of your publication date if you have accepted Excused Credit) you will not be able to attend your ceremony or do the following:

• graduate at the upcoming ceremony series
• attend a graduation ceremony with your cohort
• sit with your cohort within the graduation ceremony
• sit on stage with other students within the graduation ceremony
• book or buy guest tickets – you may not be able to bring anyone with you on the day
• book robes
• book photography.

Tickets are available on a first come, first served basis and could sell out before the booking deadline. If there are no places left you will be guaranteed an invite to the next available ceremony series, as long as you contact the graduation team in advanced to ask to be deferred.

By booking your place you are confirming you will be coming to a ceremony between 09:00 and 20:00 on the day your ceremony will be held on. Please note you will need to register on the day of your ceremony two hours prior to your ceremony time.

If you miss the deadline due to an extenuating personal circumstance, please contact the graduation team as soon as possible and detail the reason why you were unable to book. We cannot guarantee that requests to book will be granted as we will review on a case by case basis, but will come back to you as soon as we can once a decision has been reached.

When booking your place to attend graduation, it is your responsibility to check that all details relating to yourself, or your award are correct throughout the booking process. If the incorrect award is stated this will be reflected in the ceremony programme and the award read out within the ceremony. It could also affect the robe you have booked for your ceremony. Please contact the graduation team as soon as possible if anything is incorrect. After the booking deadline it may not be possible for any amends to be reflected in the ceremony programme.

If you are a student supported by UWE cares and need support around attending your graduation, please contact the UWE Cares team on UWECares@uwe.ac.uk.

If you have accessed hardship funding in your final year of study you will be entitled to free robe hire for your graduation.

It is possible for you to cancel your booking and request a refund for any items purchased up to seven days before the ceremony series starts.

If you request a refund for additional guest tickets with less than seven days before the ceremony series starts, we are unable to refund you except in exceptional circumstances or if you have not completed your award. Any refunds are subject to review and are offered at the university's discretion. Refund requests received more than seven days after the ceremony series finishes will not be granted. Please contact the graduation team or review our refund information.

Refunds for robe hire and photography which are requested less than seven days before the ceremony series starts are subject to review and are offered at Ede & Ravenscroft's discretion. Please contact Ede & Ravenscroft directly to request a refund or review our refund page for more information.

We recommend not booking travel or accommodation until you know you have completed your award. We recognise that this is not always possible in the case of international travel but the University does not accept liability for any costs or expenses incurred by those due to attend the ceremony.

UWE Bristol reserves the right to cancel any event and is not liable for any cost, whether incurred directly or indirectly, caused as a result of any cancellation or change of venue or date. Should circumstances arise that result in the postponement of graduation, please note that graduate bookings and guest tickets are non-transferable. You will need to re-book and purchase new guest tickets for your new ceremony by the appropriate deadlines.

In the event of a cancellation, change of venue or date, the University will endeavour to notify attendees wherever possible through the contact details given at the time of booking. Cancellations due to unforeseen circumstances may occur at any time. Attendees are responsible for checking the University website for the most up-to-date information about an event.

The University is following government guidelines regarding COVID-19. In the event of a change in guidance, the University does not accept liability for any costs or expenses incurred by those due to attend the ceremony.

All guests, and therefore any children in attendance, will be sat separately to graduates during the ceremony.

Any children in attendance that are under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult over the age of 18 at all times. This means that any accompanying adults will need to have guest tickets. It is the responsibility of the graduate to ensure any children under the age of 16 are always accompanied by a suitable adult.

Guest tickets will be required for any child aged four and above. Children aged three or under can attend the ceremony free of charge, providing that they sit on a guest's lap or in a pushchair. If the child will be coming in a pram or pushchair, please contact the graduation team to let us know. We cannot guarantee appropriate seating if you fail to email us before the deadline.

All children must be supervised by an adult at all times before, during and after the ceremony.

All eligible and provisionally eligible students will have their names, dates of birth, email address, student numbers and awards of study added to the UWE Bristol graduation database. We store this information in order to administrate graduation and prizes under the legal basis of fulfilment of contract.

Once your information is no longer needed for the administration of graduation or prizes your personal details will be removed from the UWE Bristol graduation database.

Ede & Ravenscroft host our graduation registration system and are also our official robing and photography provider. All eligible and provisionally eligible students will have their full names, dates of birth, email address, student numbers and awards of study uploaded to the Ede & Ravenscroft database. This is so you can book your ceremony and order robes. This is carried out under the legal basis of fulfilment of contract.

All eligible students will have their full names and awards sent to our Printing and Stationary Service via encrypted email. Our Printing and Stationary Service will publish these in the ceremony programme – a printed booklet which lists all graduate names and outlines the ceremony schedule. This will be carried out under the legal basis of fulfilment of contract. If you do not want your name to be printed, you must contact the graduation team before the deadline.

All eligible students will have their names and awards sent to Campus Clothing via encrypted email. Campus Clothing will print the names of eligible students on apparel sold on the day of the ceremony. This is carried out under the legal basis of fulfilment of contract. If you would like us not to send your name and award, please contact the graduation team before the deadline.

All eligible students will have their full names, emails and awards sent to StageClip via encrypted email. StageClip will create personalised downloadable video clips for each graduate. Clips are then stored for up to a year after your ceremony, and this will be carried out under the legal basis of legitimate interest. If you do not want your clip to be created, please contact the graduation team before the deadline.

Please note that footage of the ceremony will be available to purchase following the ceremony, and may also be used by UWE Bristol for media publications and advertising. Ceremony films will be archived for future reference.

All graduates and guests should be aware that they may feature in this footage. By booking to take part in your graduation ceremony and by booking guest tickets, you are giving permission for your image to be recorded.

The Events Team will not discuss your student record or any details relating to your graduation with a third party, including family, friends or caregivers. If you would like us to discuss your details with a third party you will need to complete a consent form (InfoHub login required).

If you have an outstanding tuition fee debt with UWE Bristol that is not cleared before the deadline, you will not be able to graduate or feature in the ceremony programme. Please contact the income office to discuss a payment plan. You will not be able to graduate until your debt is cleared.

Graduates are unable to move between ceremonies in a given ceremony series, however if you are unable to attend you could defer your attendance to a later ceremony series by contacting the graduation team to request this. Graduates can defer their attendance twice from the original ceremony series they are invited to, after which they will not be invited to further ceremonies. If you have purchased any guest tickets, robes or ordered photography, please view cancellations and refunds for more information on what this means for you if you defer.

Graduate bookings and guest tickets are non-transferable. You will need to re-book and purchase new guest tickets for your new ceremony by the appropriate deadlines.

Eligible and provisionally eligible students will be sent the graduation invite via email. This will be sent to your UWE Bristol email account and your personal email address (where available on your My UWE account).

Pending students will receive regular chaser emails. Students who haven't booked or confirmed they won't attend will be resent the graduation invite twice.

For all students who have booked, we will send an email to confirm the availability of additional guest tickets and a diary date reminder after the deadline has passed.

After the deadline we will send an email to all students who have booked but have not completed their awards to confirm that they will not be able to attend graduation and to explain our refund policy.

We will send a registration email to all students who have booked approximately one week before their ceremony which details a summary of their tickets and details of the day, including a QR code which is used to register on the day.

We will also send eligible students a feedback survey following the graduation ceremonies.

It is possible to unsubscribe from these emails by using the unsubscribe link at the bottom of one of the emails. If you have unsubscribed to previous emails from the university you may not receive your graduation invitation or associated information when this is sent to you. Please do not unsubscribe unless you are planning not to attend this ceremony series, or one in the future.

If a student has not received the invite email for any reason, it is the responsibility of the student to contact the graduation team. Once the deadline has passed, we will not be able to register students who claim they have not received the invite email.

It is the student's responsibility to check that all details relating to them, or their award is correct throughout the booking process. If the incorrect award is stated this will be reflected in the ceremony programme and the award read out within the ceremony. It could also affect the robe you have booked for your ceremony. Please contact the graduation team as soon as possible if anything is incorrect. After the booking deadline it may not be possible for any amends to be reflected in the ceremony programme.

If you have been offered excused credit you will have a week-long period, from the date your offer was made, to contact the graduation team of your intention to graduate if you have not already booked for your ceremony. This is the same week-long period in which you need to decide whether to accept or decline your excused credit offer. If you wish to accept the offer you need to get in touch with the graduation team during that week to inform us if you would like to attend graduation with your cohort. Your two free guest tickets will be guaranteed during that period, even if you have not previously booked and secured them. If you have already booked, your graduation place will be kept for you during this period. If you decline your offer your booking will be cancelled and you will graduate at the next appropriate ceremony series. However, if you have not booked and you do not contact us regarding your graduation during that period, we will not be able to include you and you will be invited to graduate and a future date.

If a graduation ceremony cannot take place, is delayed or the ceremony time needs to change due to circumstances beyond the control of UWE Bristol, including (without limitation) fire, explosion, terrorist act (or threat of terrorist act), act of God, pandemic, national mourning (any member of the royal family), student bookings do not meet or exceed our minimum/maximum capacity, as a result of any industrial action or dispute involving UWE Bristol, or the venue at which the ceremony is due to be held, UWE Bristol will not be liable for any losses direct or otherwise incurred by the graduates or their guests.

Once booking for graduation opens, you will be able to book a maximum of two free guest tickets before the deadline. Tickets must be booked via Ede & Ravenscroft. Once the deadline has passed, your two free guest tickets will no longer be guaranteed.

We cannot guarantee that there will be additional tickets available for your ceremony. If there are additional guest tickets, they will be sold for £15 each via Ede & Ravenscroft. After the deadline we will contact eligible students who have booked to confirm availability of additional tickets.

If you purchase additional tickets they are non-refundable, except in exceptional circumstances. We retain the discretion to set the maximum amount of additional tickets you will be able to purchase.

It is not possible for you to use your guest tickets at any graduation ceremony other than one you have been invited to.

All guests will need to be seated 15 minutes before the ceremony starts. If your guests arrive late, we cannot guarantee their original seats and may have to seat them at the back to avoid disturbing the ceremony.

Tickets are not transferable. We try and make the process of booking and purchasing tickets as fair as possible. We do not permit the transfer of tickets between students or permit any request to the graduation office to transfer tickets. All guest tickets are required to be collected with photo ID, so if you transfer tickets there is a risk you will not be able to collect them on the day of your ceremony. We reserve the right to withdraw tickets we know have been transferred.

If you are claiming an interim award you will be invited to the next appropriate set of graduation ceremonies. If you accept an interim after the booking deadline for the next ceremonies, you will be unable to attend and will be invited at a later date.

You must arrive two hours in advance of your ceremony and bring your student card or another form of photo ID to register, collect guest tickets and your academic robe. Only the graduate can collect guest tickets and robes.

All guests will need to be seated 15 minutes before the ceremony starts. If your guests arrive late, we cannot guarantee their original seats and may have to seat them at the back to avoid disturbing the ceremony.

Access to the reception in the marquee will only be granted to guests with tickets. Any guests who do not have tickets will not be able to attend the reception. All tickets are non-transferable.

We reserve the right to refuse entry or remove any graduate or guest 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 graduates, guests or staff.

Wearing academic robes for graduation is not compulsory, however if you wish to wear robes for your ceremony they must be hired or purchased, by the deadline, through the University's official robe suppliers, Ede & Ravenscroft.

It is your responsibility to check that all details relating to your award are correct throughout the booking process. If the incorrect award is stated this could affect the robe you have booked for your ceremony. Please contact the graduation team as soon as possible if anything is incorrect.

Security measures will be in place during the ceremonies, so we ask all graduates and guests to be compliant with the event safety team. Please do not bring large items or luggage to the ceremonies as there will not be anywhere to store it. We advise you to be extra vigilant when attending a ceremony as the Cathedral is open to the public between ceremonies. While security measures will be in place, UWE Bristol does not accept liability for any costs or expenses as a result of missing or stolen property.

We recognise that not all of your friends and family can attend in person, so our graduation ceremonies are professionally filmed and broadcast live on our graduation live stream.

The footage of the ceremonies will be available to download for three months after the ceremonies series finishing. You can also purchase a DVD of the ceremony, so you, friends and family can re-watch them. You will also receive a free StageClip of you crossing the stage that will be emailed to you after the ceremony.

Please note that footage may also be used by UWE Bristol for media publications and advertising. Ceremony films will be archived for future reference.

All graduates and guests should be aware that they may feature in this footage. By booking your graduation ceremony and by booking guest tickets, you are giving permission for your image to be recorded.