Graduation ceremonies

• Graduate tickets – free of charge, but you need to book so that we know you are attending your ceremony
• Guest tickets – £27 per person (including VAT)

There may be some tickets available on the day that can be purchased on a first-come, first-served basis, 90 minutes before your ceremony at the Rose Theatre.
 

You will receive an invitation email from the Graduations Team 2-3 months before your ceremony is due to take place, confirming the date and time of your graduation ceremony, and that booking is open. When you have received this, you will be able to log in to OSIS to book your place and up to two guest tickets.

When ordering your tickets via OSIS, you'll be asked for your:

• Student ID number
• OSIS password (if you have forgotten your password, you can reset it)

You must provide the details of any access requirements for you and/or your guests when you are booking. If we don't know your requirements in advance, we cannot guarantee that we'll be able to accommodate them on the day.

Please note, by booking tickets to your graduation ceremony, you agree to adhere to the University's graduation ceremony terms and conditions (you can find these lower down on this page).

When you book your tickets, you should receive two emails:

• Payment confirmation
• Booking confirmation with further information about your graduation ceremony

If you don't receive a confirmation email, it might be that the booking process wasn't completed. Please log back into OSIS to check your booking.

You can bring children to the ceremony, but it can last for up to an hour and a quarter, so it's not advisable to bring very young children.

Children must be accompanied at all times and never left unattended at any venue.
They cannot sit with graduates; they must sit with guests. If they disrupt the ceremony, we ask that they're taken out of the auditorium.

Children older than three years will need a guest ticket, as they need to have their own seat. Children younger than three years can have a free ticket. This will be available from the ticket collection desk on the day of the ceremony.

There is no space in the Rose Theatre auditorium for buggies and pushchairs, so we ask that they are left at home or in the theatre's foyer during the ceremony. On the day, please ask a member of staff where they can be left.

Students who are facing financial hardship, and who meet specific criteria, have the opportunity to submit an application to receive up to two guest tickets and gown hire, free of charge, from the Graduation Support Fund. 

There are a limited number of Graduation Support Funds available and these will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis, if all application criteria are met. This fund is for UK undergraduates or postgraduates only.

If you are not eligible or apply and are unsuccessful, you may wish to consider applying to the Student Support Fund. For details about this fund, and other financial support available, please visit the ‘money’ pages on MyKingston for more information.

We can only offer a refund if you do not achieve your award in time for your ceremony. Guest tickets are non-refundable, so please do not purchase any guest tickets you may not require, as we cannot offer a refund in any other circumstances.

The University cannot be held liable for any costs incurred for travel or accommodation, for graduates or guests, under any circumstances.

• £45 – if you hire your robe in advance (this price includes your gown, hood and hat hire for the day)
• £50 – if you hire your gown after the order deadline or on the day at the ceremony venue (this price includes your gown, hood and hat hire for the day)
• £10 – if you want to keep your hat as a memento (you can buy the hat on the day of your ceremony)

There are a variety of graduation gowns, depending on the award you receive. These include:

• Sub-degree gowns
• Foundation gowns
• Bachelors gowns
• Integrated masters gowns
• Postgraduate gowns
• Masters gowns
• Doctoral gowns
   

The Graduate Gowning Company (GGC) supplies all Kingston University's academic dress. 

You can order your gown by visiting the Kingston University dedicated ordering site. Enter your student ID/reference (without the letter K) and follow the on-screen instructions. 

The deadline for hiring your gown in advance is TBC. If the deadline has passed, you can hire your gown on the day at the Guildhall.

There are FAQs on the GGC website. If you need any further assistance, you can call the GGC on +44 (0)1736 751855 or email info@graduategowning.co.uk.

The first thing you need to do on your ceremony day is collect your gown at the Guildhall (opposite the Rose Theatre). Only graduates are allowed in the gowning area; there is a waiting area for guests nearby. You must collect your gown at least one hour before your ceremony start time.

The time to collect your gown will depend on the start time of your ceremony. For a:

• 10.30am ceremony, collect your gown from 8.00am
• 2.00pm ceremony, collect gown from 11.30am
• 5.30pm ceremony, collect gown from 3.00pm

If you find that, having ordered your gown, you can no longer attend your ceremony, please contact the Graduate Gowning Company and they will assist in arranging a refund.

Email: info@graduategowning.co.uk

Before your ceremony starts, Tempest will be ready to take a picture of you in your hat and gown. There's no need to book or pay in advance, just join the photo queue around two hours before your ceremony to ensure you have enough time.

You can view packs and prices on Tempest's website – choose Kingston University from the drop-down menu, choose the date of your ceremony and click enter. 

As you walk across the stage to receive your award, your picture will be taken. You can view and purchase all your images from Tempest's website after your ceremony (it may take a few days due to the number of graduates and ceremonies we are running).

Ceremony audiences should note that ceremonies will be filmed and photographs of each graduate crossing the stage will be produced.

University staff and official photographers will also be taking photographs and video clips for the University's social media channels, website and printed materials during the ceremonies. If you do not want to be featured, please contact the Graduations Team (details below).

Otherwise, all graduates and guests who attend Kingston University graduation ceremonies give their consent to the recording and transmission of their images (still and moving) for Kingston University publicity purposes.

For FAQs about photography, please visit the Tempest website or contact Tempest on +44 (0)1736 752411.

Graduates and guests should be aware that the graduation ceremonies are regarded as public events. Name and qualifications, but not degree classifications, will be published in the graduation programme. The names and awards printed in the programme are as accurate as possible at the time of going to print.

We are unable to discuss the details of an individual's graduation ceremony with anyone else (relative, friend etc) unless given written permission by the student concerned.

Your contact details will be used by the Kingston University Alumni Association to keep you informed about events, further study and other university-related activities. They will not be passed on to a third party. If you do not wish your data to be used for this purpose please email alumni@kingston.ac.uk, including your student ID and ‘unsubscribe' in the subject line.

In the event of Kingston University graduation ceremonies being cancelled, delayed or postponed due to circumstances beyond the control of the University, including (without limitation): fire; explosion; terrorist act (or threat of terrorist act); act of God; pandemic; industrial action or dispute involving the University or the venue/s at which the ceremonies and other graduation services are due to be held, the University will not be liable for any losses direct or otherwise incurred by graduates or their guests.

If graduates are still receiving their awards on stage, the Graduations Team will do its utmost to allow a graduate arriving late to be presented. However, if the presentation of awards has been completed by the time a graduate arrives, it will not be possible for them to receive their award on stage.

Late-arriving guests will be seated in the auditorium. However, this may be in a different place to where the tickets state, or where other guests are located, to minimise disruption to the ceremony.

Abusive and aggressive behaviour prior to or on the day of your ceremony will not be tolerated by the Graduations Team. Anybody who threatens staff from the University, or staff from our venues and suppliers, with verbal or physical aggression will not be allowed to attend their graduation ceremony and may be evicted from the building.

There are three venues that we use on graduation days:

• The Guildhall – for gowning and photography (Guildhall, High Street, Kingston upon Thames KT1 1EU)
• The Rose Theatre – for ticket collection and your ceremony (Rose Theatre, 24–26 High Street, Kingston upon Thames KT11HL)
• Town House, Penrhyn Road campus – for your ceremony reception (Kingston University, Penrhyn Road, Kingston upon Thames KT1 2EE)

All these venues are located in Kingston town centre and are within walking distance from each other. Please note, none of our venues have parking.

In order for you to be eligible to attend your ceremony, the following needs to apply:

• If you are on an undergraduate, postgraduate or research course, your award must be agreed on OSIS by the award cut-off date. If you have a query about your results, you need to contact your faculty directly
• You must have paid all fees or charges owing to the University
• You must have booked your tickets by the deadline given in your invitation. You cannot purchase tickets to your ceremony while you have any fees or charges owing to the University in relation to your studies. This does not include any non-academic debts

It is not usually possible to attend a different graduation ceremony other than the one you have been allocated.

If you would like to provide us with some more details as to why you are unable to attend, please contact the Graduations Team (details below) and we will take your request into consideration. It is at the discretion of the Graduations Team as to whether your deferral is accepted. The Team's decision is final.

Where a deferral is approved, this does not, in any circumstances, guarantee or secure tickets for the guests to the deferred ceremony if not booked by the deadline.

A graduate must request a deferral before or immediately after (up to and including 25 working days) the original graduation ceremony date they were invited to.

The period between the publication of results and the ceremonies for some graduates is very short. Consequently, it is not possible for an appeal to be resolved in time for a change to an award to be made for the ceremony, in the case of a successful appeal.

You may therefore opt either to:

1. Attend the graduation ceremony immediately following the publication of your results, with the award achieved at the time of results. If the award is subsequently changed on appeal, University records will be amended, and your original certificate will need to be returned before a revised certificate can be issued.
2. Defer graduation to the following set of ceremonies appropriate for your course, by which time the appeal will normally be resolved. If the appeal is successful and a change to the award is made, then you can attend graduation with the revised award and the University's records will be amended.

If deferral is not requested, option 1 will be actioned automatically. If you wish to take option 2, you must inform the Graduations Team (details below).

The level of award only (e.g., BA (Hons), MA) not the classification (e.g., first or second class) is published in the printed graduation brochure available on the day. The award level and classification are not announced during the ceremony, only the graduate's name.