December Degree Congregations

Your graduand ticket and two guest tickets will be available to collect from the ticket desk on the ground floor of the Bramall Music Building on the day of your ceremony. The ticket desk will open at 8.00am and close when the last ceremony has started each day. You need to check in at the ticket desk and collect your paper tickets before proceeding upstairs to collect your robes. To ensure that you have plenty of time to do this ahead of your ceremony, please arrive at the ticket desk two hours before your ceremony is due to start. Don't forget that the doors to the Great Hall close 15 minutes before the ceremony start time, so you need to already be in your seat before then. To help reduce waiting times and make the queues more manageable, we ask that only graduands join the queue for tickets in the Bramall Music Building where possible please.

You must collect your ticket in order to gain access to the Great Hall. Graduands with blue tickets should enter the Great Hall through the left-hand doors. Graduands with red tickets should enter through the doors on the right. Guests enter through the middle doors. You will be asked to show your ticket to the staff on the doors. Guests should then proceed to the front of the Hall to find an available seat - guest seating is not numbered. Graduands will need to check in at the desk inside the Great Hall before taking their numbered seat. This is crucial as otherwise you will not be presented for your degree in the correct order and you risk your name being crossed out of the list!

In the interests of safety, we will need to limit the number of guests who can join you in the Great Hall to two. Please note that this number includes children of any age as it relates to the capacity limit of the building and not to the availability of seats. No extra tickets will be available for the Degree Congregations (unless for a carer) but we may operate a queue outside the Great Hall prior to the ceremony, subject to capacity. Please see the section 'will any extra tickets be available' for further information.

You are welcome to bring as many additional guests with you to campus as you like. Any guests that we can't accommodate in the Great Hall can watch the ceremony from our viewing room in Lecture Theatre WG12, in the Aston Webb Building. No tickets are needed for the viewing room, for which seats are not reserved in advance. The ceremony will also be webcast so that anyone unable to join you on campus can watch online. The recordings will then continue to be available on the University's YouTube channel, should anyone miss them live.

Extra guest tickets for the Great Hall are not available in advance of the Degree Congregations, unless needed for a registered carer. Subject to guest numbers, a limited number of spare seats may become available in the Great Hall on the day. Where this is the case, we will operate a queue outside of the Great Hall and allocate seats on a first-come, first-served basis before the ceremony starts.

Any guests that we can't accommodate in the Great Hall can watch the ceremony from our viewing room in Lecture Theatre WG12, located in the Aston Webb Building. No tickets are needed for the viewing room, for which seats aren't reserved in advance. The ceremony will also be webcast so that anyone unable to join you on campus can watch online. The recordings will then continue to be available on the University's YouTube channel, should anyone miss them live.

Yes, the Degree Congregations will be webcast live so that anyone unable to join you on campus can watch online. The recordings will then continue to be available on the University's YouTube channel, should anyone miss them live.

You should hire your academic dress with Ede & Ravenscroft. You will need to place your order with Ede & Ravenscroft the online order form is now open. The deadline to order (after which the form will close) is Friday 20 November 2026. If you experience any problems with your order, please contact them at customer_services@academic-services.co.uk or 01223 734759. If you missed the deadline, please speak to Ede & Ravenscroft on the day of your ceremony to see if you can place an order on the day.

You will be able to collect the robes you have ordered in the Bramall Music Building on the day of your ceremony. Robe collection will be based on the first floor of the building and will open at 08:00. You will need to return your robes by the end of the day. We will email you a week before your ceremony with all the information on where to return your robes.

Degree Congregations are formal events and graduands and their guests are encouraged to dress for such an occasion. Please be aware that when being presented for your degree you will climb a set of steps up to the Great Hall stage, so please bear this in mind when choosing your footwear.

Ede and Ravenscroft offer a range of photography packages, which can be booked online at the same time as hiring academic dress. The deadline to order (after which the form will close) is Friday 20 November 2026. Portrait photography will take place in the Nuffield Building. The studios will be open from 08:00 until 20:00 on days with 4 ceremonies (last ceremony 5.30pm), and 08:00 to 19:00 hours on days with 3 ceremonies (last ceremony 3pm).

Certificate information

Your Degree Congregation, or graduation ceremony, will take place on our Edgbaston Campus in the Great Hall (Aston Webb Building). It is really important that you and your two guests arrive in plenty of time for the start of the ceremony. The doors will close 15 minutes before the ceremony start time, after which point you will not be able to join the event. The doors will open 45 minutes to an hour before the ceremony starts. Graduating students have an allocated seat at the back of the Great Hall. Guest seating is at the front of the Great Hall and is unallocated.

Graduands with blue tickets should enter the Great Hall through the left-hand doors. Graduands with red tickets should enter through the doors on the right. Guests enter through the middle doors. You will be asked to show your ticket to the staff on the doors. Guests should then proceed to the front of the Hall to find an available seat. Graduands will need to check in at the desk inside the Great Hall before taking their numbered seat. This is crucial as otherwise you will not be presented for your degree in the correct order and you risk your name being crossed out of the list!

We have a dedicated Accessibility & Support at Graduations webpage that contains additional information about the day. If you are a graduand and have any access requirements that you would like to discuss with a member of the team, particularly with regard to your being presented for your degree in the Great Hall, please email gradhelp@contacts.bham.ac.uk and we will be happy to talk you through the options available to you. Please also get in touch with us if you require a ticket for a registered carer.

If you are driving to the celebrations, parking for blue badge holders is available on campus and is identifiable via the campus mobility map. Some disabled parking may require you to enter restricted campus areas. If this is the case, please press the buzzer to speak to security, who will be able to open the appropriate gate for you. Please ensure that you display your blue badge clearly.

The campus mobility map also shows level access routes to the Great Hall. You should enter via the Bramall Building (reference R12 on the campus mobility map).

Animals can't be brought into the Great Hall unless they are a registered assistance animal. If you are a graduand and have an assistance animal that you plan to bring with you to the Degree Congregations, please email graduation@contacts.bham.ac.uk so that we can discuss your requirements.

Ede and Ravenscroft offer a range of photography packages, which can be booked online using the same form as for hiring academic dress. Portrait photography will take place in the Nuffield Building.

A cloakroom will be available in the Aston Webb Building. Space is limited so please do not bring bulky items with you.

A limited number of parking spaces are available in the North East Car Park (B15 2SA). Parking for blue badge holders is available on campus and is identifiable via the campus mobility map. Some disabled parking may require you to enter restricted campus areas. If this is the case, please press the buzzer to speak to security, who will be able to open the appropriate gate for you. Please ensure that you display your blue badge clearly.

Celebrate your graduation day without the stress of pricey accommodation. Located a 5-minute walk from the Great Hall, the University’s award-winning Edgbaston Park Hotel is offering a special hotel rate for graduates staying between 6 - 20 December 2026 so you and your families can enjoy:

• 15% off their flexible bed and breakfast rate*
• 24-hour cancellation policy
• Pay on arrival
*Subject to availability

You can also save 15% with the Graduation Week – Dinner, Bed & Breakfast package, where you can enjoy a 3-course meal and a drink in our bar and restaurant during Graduation.

This booking link will automatically apply the 15% discount at checkout, or use the discount code GRAD26

Those guests looking for more info should contact the hotel directly on +44(0)121 414 8888 or visit the website.