Graduation booking
Celebrate the culmination of your studies with family and friends at your graduation ceremony.
Booking your place
Whether you are a Graduand (a student who is graduating at the end of your final year) or a Historic Graduand (you left College some years ago but have not yet had a graduation ceremony) you can find the information below. Academic degrees date from the second half of the twelfth century. The present ceremony retains all the essential features of its ancient predecessors, with the proceedings still conducted in Latin.
Graduands
You will be invited to book onto a degree ceremony at the end of your degree course. Undergraduates and most taught Postgraduates will receive the invitation via email in the November/December of their final year. Research students and 12-month Masters students will receive the invitation shortly after they have completed their degree course. If you would like to graduate in absentia (without being present at the ceremony), please email admin@wadham.ox.ac.uk. DPhil students will receive an invitation after notification of being granted leave to supplicate.
If the date you would like to graduate on is full, you may ask to be placed on a waiting list for that date via the 'Historic Graduand' route please contact the College Academic Office admin@wadham.ox.ac.uk. Please note: you may not hold a firm booking for one date and be on a waiting list for another date.
Important: Please note that the University will not accept cancellations within 60 days of a degree ceremony (unless there are mitigating circumstances). If you are allocated a space to attend from a waiting list 60-30 days prior to a ceremony, you will not be able to withdraw from the ceremony, and your degree will therefore go through in absence, without the opportunity to take the degree in person at a later date.
On receiving your invitation, you will be asked to choose your graduation date. Each graduand is permitted a maximum of two ceremony guest tickets.
Please ensure that you have all of the details you will need to complete the booking at the time you are responding to the invitation, as it will be difficult to make amendments later.
Please provide up to date contact details including an email address which will remain current. Around 70 days before the date of your degree ceremony, the College will contact you with a webform to complete to confirm your booking and hospitality arrangements, along with Terms & Conditions and a Degree Ceremony form to sign and return. Payment instructions for your lunch guests (plus MA fee if applicable) will follow around 10 days prior to your degree day when a final email will be sent confirming your guest numbers.
It is only possible for one degree to be conferred in person at a ceremony. Any prior or lower degree(s) will be conferred in absentia at the same ceremony. Please contact the Academic Office admin@wadham.ox.ac.uk for further information.
Historic Graduands
If you completed your degree some years ago and have not yet been through a ceremony, you were unable to enrol for a graduation ceremony at the end of your course, or if you wish to take an MA degree, you will be regarded as a ‘historic graduand’.
Historic graduands must contact the Academic Office and ask to be placed on a waiting list for their preferred date however historic graduands are able to graduate in absentia at the next degree ceremony, irrespective of availability.
If your preferred date is full, you will need to contact college to be placed on a waiting list for that specific date - please note that your chosen degree date is not guaranteed.
The University will not accept cancellations within 60 days of a degree ceremony (unless there are mitigating circumstances) and those who are unable to attend will get their degree in absentia without the opportunity to take your degree in person at a later date. Contact the Academic Office on admin@wadham.ox.ac.uk to ask to be removed from the waiting list at least 60 days ahead of the ceremony if you need to cancel or be transferred onto another waiting list.
MA by entitlement, Religion and ceremony
Candidates for the MA (Master of Arts) must hold a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Oxford. For more information, please see:
Candidates should normally have entered upon the 21st term from their matriculation with the exception of candidates who have taken their BA and who:
- Matriculated as Senior Status students, who become eligible in their 18th term.
- Have taken either a BM or BCL, who become eligible in their 19th term.
- Have taken a D.Phil. who are eligible at any time.
Fees
For the degree of Master of Arts, a fee of £40 is payable to the University and this fee can be paid via the University's Online Shop. A separate MA fee of £10 is payable to the College.
Further information about graduation
Under certain circumstances, College may withhold graduation where tuition fees remain outstanding.
It is very important that you please keep us up-to-date with your most recent personal email address (not your Wadham email). If you have changed your personal email address since booking on eVision, please let us know your new email address, otherwise important details will not reach you.
There is time set aside for graduands only during the morning for a compulsory session with the Dean of Degrees to sign the register of attendance in advance of the ceremony. Graduands are automatically booked into lunch in advance, for which there is no charge. There is a lunch charge for guests invited. Lunch guest(s) payment is payable from approximately 10 days prior to graduation.
Please ensure you have notified us in good time (no less than three weeks prior to the degree day) if you or your guests have any accessibility and/or mobility difficulties, so that we may make suitable arrangements in College, and inform the Sheldonian Theatre. Special arrangements may be indicated on the online form sent out about 70 days prior to the degree day.
Sub-fusc must be worn, and details are found here: Academic Dress
The Head Porter will automatically hire a gown and hood for you (at current rates). If you fail to notify us prior to graduation that you will be organising your own gown, you will be charged for hire costs. The Head Porter will contact you for gowning details and payment for gown hire. The Head Porter will also attend the degree ceremony to assist in robing (it is customary to offer a gratuity of at least £5 for this service).
Contact the Head Porter on 01865 277900/901 or email on lodge@wadham.ox.ac.uk
Please be aware that ceremonies are not suitable for children under the age of seven. Tickets are available for collection by the graduand on the morning of your ceremony at the College Lodge.
The ceremony takes place at the Sheldonian Theatre, and the guests of graduands should arrive at least half an hour prior to the ceremony. Regrettably seats cannot be reserved and entrance is strictly for those holding a guest ticket.
You will usually be able to collect your degree certificate in College on the day of graduation following the ceremony. On some degree days your degree certificate will be sent to you by the University following the degree ceremony. Please ensure that you keep us up to date with any changes in your postal address.
Important: If you have not received your degree certificate within three months (ie: 30 November for July ceremonies) and you fail to notify the University Degree Conferrals Office/College within that period, you will be charged for a replacement certificate. Replacement certificates can be ordered through the University Online Shop. Further information is available on the Degree Certificates webpage.
Candidates for higher degrees (D.Phil, M.Phil etc.) must ensure that a bound copy of your thesis, where appropriate, is deposited electronically, at least two weeks before the degree ceremony, otherwise you will be unable to take your degree.
To comply with legislation, the University states that ‘Graduands, guests and staff attending a degree ceremony should be aware that graduation ceremonies are regarded as public events. Names, colleges and degrees of graduands are published in the graduation programme. Audio and visual images of the ceremony are publicly available via the sale of personalized videos of the ceremony’. In view of this, it is not possible to request the non-publication of names of graduands who attend a ceremony. However, graduands who take their degree(s) in absentia may request that their names are not included in the programme by contacting the Academic Office.
As a former matriculated student, you will automatically be admitted to Membership of Convocation following the conferment of your degree(s) at a ceremony (either by attending or in absentia) thus making you a life member of the University. It will not be necessary for you to apply for membership of Convocation or to hold an MA degree. As a member of Convocation you may vote for the Professor of Poetry and the Chancellor. You are also accorded special privileges in College, in particular dining rights at High Table (by prior arrangement with the Domestic Bursar), and the Development Office sends out invitations to Gaudies at regular intervals. Being a member of Convocation also entitles you to a ‘gold’ Bodleian Readers card, which allows access to University libraries (though not borrowing rights).
Should you require confirmation of your degree and/or dates of attendance for employers, prospective employers and educational institutions, please contact the Degree Conferrals Office - University of Oxford Degree Verification.
Prospective employers may request verification of qualifications via the University website.
Visa letters - for family members to attend graduation
For non-EEA family members of graduands requiring a visa support letter for travel to the UK to attend a graduation ceremony. Please follow the instructions below, providing the details with relevant scanned documents and email to admin@wadham.ox.ac.uk.
Requests must be made to the Academic Office at least two months prior to your graduation ceremony, taking into account the date of your appointment with the Embassy of the country of residence so as to allow plenty of time for the administration process.