Graduation

As students are invited to graduation when they are provisionally eligible, should it be established that you are not eligible, we will contact you to advise this.

If you have already purchased tickets and hired robes you will need to cancel the order with William Northam and payment will be refunded in full. Please see the Refunds section of the Eligibility and Terms & Conditions tab for further information.

If you are unsure if you will be eligible to attend graduation, please book your ticket, we will notify you if you are not, however if you do not book your ticket and you are eligible you will not be invited to any future event.

It is not compulsory to attend your graduation ceremony, if you choose not to attend your ceremony this is called graduating in absentia.

Please note that your name will not be read out during the ceremony and you will not be eligible to attend other or future ceremonies.

You can still choose to have your name in the graduation programme, please email your full name, student number and consent to graduation@chi.ac.uk.

Please contact William Northam directly using their contact form as your order for tickets and/or robes and photography may not have gone through. If your order has not gone through it may not be possible for you to graduate at this or any other future ceremony.

We do not permit animals in the Cathedral during our graduation events. If you have a registered assistance dog, please contact graduation@chi.ac.uk.

No, we do not permit students to change ceremonies.

Most partner institutions are not eligible to attend our ceremonies, those eligible to attend will receive an invitation.

A certificate will be issued as proof of your award. It will show your full name, course title, level of award, classification and date of the award. Please take care of it as charges will apply for duplicate certificates issued.

The assessment team will contact all final-year students to ask them to confirm the delivery address for their certificate.

Please note – certificates are NOT handed out at graduation, they will be posted to you.

If you have any questions relating to certificates, please email your name, student number and question to examinations@chi.ac.uk.

Please see the Eligibility and Terms and Conditions tab.

Only students who provided their consent by the deadline will have their name in the programme, this doesn’t affect your name being read out on stage.

You can cancel your ticket/robe order on the William Northam website through your account. As long as this is done before the final deadline, you will receive a refund (may be subject to a cancellation fee). After the deadline, no ticket refunds will be issued.

To book your own ticket and purchase guest tickets, you will need to create an account with William Northam (the robing company with which we partner for graduation).

We will include a link to the website in your invitation and the process will only take a few minutes, please ensure you answer all of the questions. The website will not be live until invitations have been sent out.

Please note, the name you enter when setting up the account with William Northam, will be the name used in the graduation programme, on the graduation merchandise and will be the name read out as you cross the stage. Please ensure that your name is entered how you wish it to appear, and that the spelling is correct, if you wish middle names to be included, please include these with your first name.

See our PDF guide on booking tickets for more information.

System Issues

Should you experience issues when trying to book tickets, hire robes or purchase photography, please contact William Northam directly via their contact form.

There is no charge for student tickets. Guest tickets are £25 each and will be limited to two tickets per student due to the venue capacity of Chichester Cathedral.

We will livestream the ceremonies in the South Transept in the Cathedral. Tickets for this can be collected on the day from the information desk. Please be aware that there will be a limited number of livestream tickets available for each ceremony.

The link to the livestream for people to watch from elsewhere will be available on this page on the day.

Yes, please book your free student ticket by the guaranteed tickets deadline. If you miss the deadline or do not book your ticket, you may not be able to graduate at this ceremony or any other future ceremony.

Each student is guaranteed 2 guest tickets (£25 each and only if booked by the guaranteed booking deadline).

If, after this deadline, there are still tickets remaining, we will notify you by email, and these will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis on the William Northam website. Tickets will be on a staggered release, e.g. if your ceremony is on a Monday, tickets will be released the Monday of that week and so on.

Please note that extra tickets are not guaranteed; some ceremonies may not have any extra tickets to release.

If, after the final deadline, there are still remaining tickets, then these can be purchased on the day from the information desk at the Cathedral (see the How to Find Us tab).

We will not reserve additional tickets.

You are able to transfer guest tickets you have purchased to another student for their guests.

For this to be validated, please ensure both parties email graduation@chi.ac.uk with names, student numbers of both parties and the number of tickets being transferred. This must be done before the final deadline, please see the Important Dates and Information tab for further information.

You cannot transfer your student ticket, or transfer a guest ticket for a student ticket.

Children aged 3 and over require a guest ticket
Children aged 2 and under do not require a ticket and will need to sit on an adult’s lap.

Should a young child become upset or restless, we kindly ask that they be taken outside the Cathedral until they have settled.

Please note that children must not be left unattended and must be accompanied by a responsible adult at all times. University of Chichester or Cathedral staff will not be able to care for children.

You will collect your tickets on the day of your ceremony, these will be given to you when you register.

You will need to show the tickets to gain entry to both the Cathedral and the reception afterwards.

Guests without a valid ticket will not be permitted entry.

Please ensure you book your place before the guaranteed booking deadline (see the Important Dates and Information tab). If you miss the date it may not be possible to graduate at this ceremony or any other future ceremony. In case of extenuating circumstances please contact graduation@chi.ac.uk

If you do not book your guaranteed 2 guest tickets by the guaranteed booking deadline, then these tickets are no longer guaranteed and you will only be able to purchase guest tickets if there is availability.

We are able to provide a registered carer (paid or unpaid) with a free ticket.

To request a carer’s ticket, please email graduation@chi.ac.uk with your name, student number, name of the person requiring the carer’s ticket, a copy of their Access Card and the name of the person who will be accompanying them.

The Access Card may be requested when the ticket is collected on the day.

In order for us to review evidence and allocate a free carer’s ticket before your ceremony, please submit the above information to graduation@chi.ac.uk by the date listed on the ‘Important Dates and Information’ tab.

Please note that a carer’s ticket may have a restricted view or no view of the stage, but carers will always be seated with the specified guest.

All tickets must be purchased by the student through their William Northam account. Guests are not able to purchase tickets without the student’s knowledge.

Yes, please do not wait until you know your results to book tickets. If graduates can’t attend a graduation ceremony due to academic reasons, a refund from the university and its external providers will be issued. The university will notify you if you are not eligible to attend graduation. If you do not book your ticket by the guaranteed deadline, you may not be able to graduate at this ceremony or any other future ceremony

All students provisionally eligible to attend graduation will receive an invitation. However, this is subject to change at any point.

If you are unsure if you are/will be eligible, we recommend booking your tickets. We will notify you if you are not eligible to attend.

Eligibility

You are eligible to attend if (criteria includes, but is not limited to):

• You have been invited to the ceremony
• You have paid outstanding tuition fees
• Your course goes to a Board of Examiners on or before 16 July 2026, and your award is conferred
• You have achieved 300 credits with 60 from level 6 for an Ordinary Degree (if applicable for your course)
• You have booked your graduation ticket
• You have hired the correct academic dress from William Northam*

You are not eligible to attend if (criteria includes, but is not limited to):

• You have not been invited to the ceremony
• Your course goes to a Board of Examiners after 16 July 2026
• Your Award is not conferred at a Board of Examiners on 16 July 2026. For example, because of:
  • Delayed/late submissions
  • Mitigating circumstances
  • You are retaking exams
  • You are resubmitting work
  • You are an apprenticeship student who did not complete your End Point Assessment
• You have not received the minimum number of credits for your course for an ordinary degree (if applicable for your course)
• You have not paid any outstanding tuition fees (please contact studentmoney@chi.ac.uk if you have any queries)
• Your course is not eligible to attend graduation, for example, you are a student from a partner institution where the institution does not attend graduation
• You have agreed to take an exit award

Full details of the academic regulations and eligibility requirements can be found here.

*William Northam is our only authorised partner for robing. The University of Chichester will receive a share of sales (a commission payment) from William Northam, which will be reinvested into your graduation ceremonies in its entirety.

If you are not eligible to attend in September 2026, subject to becoming eligible at a later date, you may be invited to a later graduation event.

There will be no exceptions made to this.

In the event that the University of Chichester graduation ceremonies have to be postponed, cancelled or delayed due to circumstances beyond our control; including (but not limited to) fire; lightning; explosion; aircraft impact; act of God, natural disasters; acts or threat of act of terrorism; epidemics; pandemics; death of monarch; industrial action, the University will not be liable for losses direct or indirect to graduands or guests.

In this unlikely event, we will attempt to contact all graduands as soon as possible via email and/or text, as well as updating the website and social media pages.

You will not be permitted to defer your graduation due to the limited capacity at Chichester Cathedral.

We will consider requests for exceptional circumstances on a case-by-case basis for up to one academic year,

Exceptional circumstances include (but are not limited to);

• Bereavement
• Deployment
• Jury Service

Requests are to be made to graduation@chi.ac.uk along with evidence to support your deferral request before the end of the academic year that you complete your course.

To those already in receipt of financial assistance, please contact graduation@chi.ac.uk to discuss whether there are funds available to help with graduation tickets and academic dress.

We can only give a refund due to academic reasons or in exceptional circumstances.

Academic Reasons

As students are invited to graduation when they are provisionally eligible, should it be established that they are not eligible, we will contact them to advise this, and they will be entitled to a full refund of tickets and robe hire.

Exceptional Circumstances

Exceptional circumstances that could be approved for a refund include (but are not limited to);

• Bereavement
• Deployment
• Jury Service

Refund requests will be considered individually, and should be made to graduation@chi.ac.uk no later than 2 weeks from the last graduation ceremony. Please send your supporting documentation with your request.

If approved, you may obtain a refund in the following ways:

Up until 2 weeks from the last graduation ceremony, we will email a form for you to complete so we can arrange a bank transfer. Please note that we can only arrange refunds to a UK bank account in your name.

Before the final ticket closing deadline, you may cancel your order directly with William Northam

Please click here to read details of data protection relating to graduation.

Graduands and guests will be allowed entry to the Cathedral 30 minutes before the start of the ceremony and must be seated 10 minutes before. Those who arrive after this may be refused entry to the ceremony and may not be included in any other ceremony.

Guests will not be allowed entry without a valid entry ticket.

We reserve the right to ask any person to leave who is being disruptive during the ceremony.

The University of Chichester also reserves the right to refuse entry to any person whose behaviour is deemed unacceptable or they are deemed to be intoxicated through alcohol and/or drugs.

We do not allow anything other than academic dress to be worn/carried across the stage. No items of clothing, or accessories, that are deemed to be related to political statements or seen as offensive or inappropriate are permitted. You will be refused entry to the Cathedral or stopped from walking across the stage until the item has been removed.

If you see anything suspicious or have cause for concern, please notify a member of the Graduation Team.

In the event of an emergency, please follow instructions from the Graduation Team or the emergency services.

All visitors to Edes House and Chichester Cathedral must behave in a responsible manner and be aware of their surroundings.

In the event of an emergency, please follow instructions from the Graduation Team or the emergency services.

First aiders will be present for the ceremonies, if you require assistance please advise one of the graduation team who will arrange this.