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 the Online Student Information System (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, or wait 24 hours as it can take some time for confirmations to be sent.

You can buy two guest tickets initially.

• Extra guest tickets: If there are any extra tickets available to purchase, we will contact graduates about this as the number available will vary per ceremony.
• Extra guest tickets on the day: if there are any extra guest tickets remaining, they may be purchased on the day of your ceremony, they will be £27 (card only) and sold at the Rose Theatre, 90 minutes before the ceremony start time, on a first-come, first-served basis.

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, and would not have their own seat. 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.

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.

If you are applying to the Graduation Support Fund you must first log in to OSIS and book your own ceremony place before you submit your application, do not book guest tickets (put zero in the box on OSIS) or your gown until you know the outcome of your application (guest tickets purchased by applicants will not be refunded, there is plenty of time after the fund closes to be able to buy tickets and hire your gown if your application is unsuccessful).

We will not consider your Graduation Support Fund application if you don't first book your graduate ticket on OSIS.

To be eligible to apply you must meet all of the below criteria:

• You must be eligible to graduate in July 2026 and have booked to attend your ceremony on OSIS.
• You are a home fee status undergraduate or home fee status postgraduate student in receipt of a loan from Student Finance.
• A. For home fee status undergraduates - your household income is under £25,000 (as assessed by Student Finance) for the most recent academic year of your studies.
  or
  B. For home fee status postgraduates - you have been awarded hardship funding from the Student Support Fund during your studies.
• You have cleared any tuition fees, accommodation invoices or other charges with Kingston University.

Please make sure you meet the above criteria, and if you do, please email [email protected] to request the application form.

Applications open on Wednesday 6 May 2026, and the deadline to apply is Wednesday 27 May 2026. Applications may close earlier if all funds are allocated.

If you are not eligible for the Graduation Support Fund and find yourself in financial difficulty, you may wish to consider applying to the Student Support Fund. For more information about this fund and other financial support available, please visit the Money pages on My Kingston.

Please note: KU Cares supported students need not apply for the Graduation Support Fund. You will be emailed by the KU Cares team separately about support offered for your graduation ceremony.

• £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)
• £20 – 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:

Undergraduate Certificate and Diploma gowns

Foundation gowns

Bachelors gowns

Integrated masters gowns

Postgraduate gowns

Masters gowns

Doctoral gowns

Graduation Attire 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. 

Gown booking opens on Wednesday 6 May 2026 and the deadline for hiring your gown in advance is Wednesday 8 July 2026. If the deadline has passed, you can still hire your gown via the booking portal, or on the day at the Main Building at Penrhyn Road campus, but there will be a late fee of £5 applied.

There are FAQs on the Graduation Attire website. If you need any further assistance, you can call Graduation Attire on +44 (0)1234 988 880 or email [email protected].

The first thing you need to do on your ceremony day is collect your gown in the Main Building at Penrhyn Road campus. 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

Please not: You must leave enough time to walk from Penrhyn Road campus to the Rose Theatre to be in time for your ceremony so please plan accordingly. We would recommend collecting your gown at least 30 minutes before your ceremony start time.

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

Email: [email protected].

Before your ceremony starts, Tempest will be ready to take a picture of you in your hat and gown in their studios located in the Main Building at Penrhyn Road campus. 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. The largest group that can be photographed at one time is seven people, including the graduate. If you have more than six guests with you, please talk to staff on the day.

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).

Visit H Tempest’s website to view and purchase stage photography.

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 H Tempest website or call Tempest on +44 (0)1736 752411.

We have partnered with MyGraduationClip to offer you the opportunity to purchase a 30-second clip of your graduation moment. It can be shared straight after the ceremony to social media and sent to family and friends.

This is a wonderful keepsake to remember your achievement. To purchase, go to the MyGraduationClip store.

You can pre-order personalised ‘Class of 2026' hoodies and t-shirts, so you can wear your graduating year with pride, wherever you go.

If you order in advance, you can collect your hoodie and/or t-shirt from the merchandise stall on the day of your graduation ceremony. Merchandise can also be delivered to your home address.

To view the range and purchase merchandise, please visit the Kingston Students Union website.

We do not currently offer this item to graduates. There are companies who offer graduation yearbooks. However, none of these are appointed by the University, so there is no guarantee of quality or that the yearbook will be provided. We strongly recommend you do not pay for any yearbook service. If you do, it is at your own risk.

There are three venues that we use on graduation days:

• Main Building, Penrhyn Road campus – for gowning and photography (Kingston University, Penrhyn Road, Kingston upon Thames KT1 2EE)
• 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 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 or postgraduate course, your award must be agreed on OSIS by the award cut-off date (which is Thursday 25 June 2026). If you have a query about your results, you need to contact your faculty directly
• If you are on a research course, your award must be agreed on OSIS by the award cut-off date (which is Wednesday 10 June 2026). 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.

Can I get a visa support letter? I am in the UK on a valid student visa and I would like to invite guests from my home country

Yes, if you are in the UK on a valid student visa, please download our letter template (Word doc) and complete it if you are inviting your guests to attend your ceremony.

Please note: it may be useful to provide your booking confirmation email as further evidence of your graduation date and time for your guests to obtain a visitor visa. Relatives and friends coming to the UK for up to six months will need to apply for a standard visitor visa.

Visitors from countries which are not classed as visa national countries can apply for a visa either before travelling or on arrival in the UK.

For updates to the status of Visa Application Centres (VACs) in your country check with:

• TLS contact if you're in Europe, Africa and parts of the Middle East
• VFS global for all other countries

For full information on eligibility and how to apply, please see the Home Office website – the how to apply section also explains the process in your country, including visa fees and waiting times.

Kingston University cannot accept responsibility for any decisions made by the Home Office.

Important: anyone coming or returning on a standard visitor visa please take out health insurance as you will not be covered by the NHS in the UK.

Can I get a visa support letter? I have returned to my home country, and would like to attend the ceremony with/without guests

Yes, if you have returned to your home country and would like to attend the ceremony with or without guests, Kingston University can provide a Visa support letter.

If you are travelling from outside the EU to attend a graduation ceremony you will need a visa to enter the UK:

If you are travelling from a visa national country to attend a graduation ceremony you will need a visa to enter the UK. If your student visa has expired and you have left the UK, you will need to apply for a standard visitor visa.

If your student visa is still valid but you have left the UK, we recommend that you apply for a standard visitor visa, too.

If you are travelling from a non-visa national country, and do not have a valid visa, or EU Settlement, you should carry details of your graduation with you when you are entering the UK. If you enter via an eGate you will not receive a stamp in your passport, but you will have entered as a standard visitor. You should retain your boarding pass as proof of the date you entered the UK to ensure you do not overstay the maximum time of 6 months that is permitted on a standard visitor visa.

To request a visa support letter, you can do this through the My Graduation menu in OSIS. You will need to confirm your attendance via the booking process. Once you have booked to attend the ceremony, there will be an option to 'request a visa support letter' which generates the letter which is sent straight to your email address.

Visitors from countries which are classed as visa national countries will need to apply for a visa in their home country before travelling.

Full information about applying for standard visitor visas is provided by the Home Office.

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.

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. If you do not wish to give your consent, please contact the Graduations Team or speak to a member of Kingston University staff on the day. 

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 [email protected], 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.