Graduation
Who is eligible to graduate?
Any member of 91¶¶Òõ who has fulfilled the appropriate examination and residence requirements may proceed to their degree at Congregation. The College will automatically contact those students whom it expects to present for their 'first' degrees at General Admission in the Lent Term. The Student Registry informs graduate students when they have been approved for their degrees and asks them to contact the College to make the necessary arrangements to have their degrees conferred at Congregation.
The College will not put forward anyone for graduation in person who has not settled their College and University bills.
How to register for a Congregation
If you wish to put your name forward to receive your degree at any Congregation, except MA and General Admission, you will need to complete the webform for the congregation you wish to participate in. You cannot book your graduation through CamSIS. Your application will only be processed once details have been checked with the University and any balance owing to the College has been paid. Please do not book travel tickets until your place at the congregation has been confirmed.
Each Congregation generally follows the same pattern although the precise timing of events will not be available until one week before the Congregation. Final times and other details will be sent by email as soon as they become available.
If you are unable to attend in person, you may wish to receive your degree in absence. If that's the case, please complete the relevant webform. Your certificate will be posted to the First Destination Address shown on your CamSIS Self-Service.
Bookings must be made before noon at least 15 days before the Congregation date.
It is important to ensure that your personal details, including your primary name, are correct on CamSIS.
CamSIS can be accessed here:
If you wish to update your primary name, please note that this change will apply to all official University documentation, including your:
- transcript
- degree certificate
- degree list
To request a change to your primary name, please email studentregistrydesk@offices.admin.cam.ac.uk and include an official form of ID showing the name you wish to use.
Degree certificates and transcripts
Original degree certificates are issued without charge to all those proceeding to degrees. If proceeding in absence, the certificate will be sent to you by post. Any extra copies must be ordered from the University's Student Registry office.
All graduands receive a formal University transcript free of charge after graduation. They will be sent out from the College, so please ensure that you have completed your First Destination address in CamSIS. Again, extra copies of transcripts must be ordered through .
Photography
For photography inside and around the Senate House please
During the course of the graduation ceremony, an individual photograph is taken of each graduand at the moment the degree is conferred. Following the ceremony, while you rejoin family and friends on the lawns of the Senate House, photographers are available to take individual portraits. There is no need to make arrangements in advance as this is all organised on the day.
Graduation
Information on GA, MA, dates and academical dress
Although congregations are held at intervals throughout the year, the late June or early July congregation is set aside for what is called General Admission, at which most undergraduates proceed to their first degrees at the end of their final term. Also included at this time are those receiving their Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine.
Timetable
The timetable will not be confirmed until about a week before the ceremony.
What to Wear
Please check the academical dress web page for information. You may wear your own academic gown as long as it is clean and pressed. The alternative is to hire a gown and the appropriate hood for the degree that you will be receiving. You will require a gown (no hood) for the Graduation Dinner on Friday. If you order through , they offer a 'Collect in College' service.
Please note that it is important that you order your gown and hood well in advance.
Photography
Find out about on Graduation Day.
The College arranges a formal group photograph of graduands the day before the ceremony, and on graduation day a photographer is present in College to take studio-style portraits as well as more informal pictures of graduands and their guests.
Tickets for the Ceremony
You may request up to two free tickets for the ceremony in the Senate House (you will not need a ticket for yourself).
We expect to have a small number of spare tickets and, if so, these will be allocated by ballot. Please note that no more than one ballot ticket will be allocated to any graduand.
Tickets for the Garden Party
You may request up to three free tickets to the Garden Party: you will require a ticket for yourself. You may also purchase up to 4 additional tickets for the Garden Party.
Graduation Dinner
Those graduating at GA are warmly invited to attend the Graduation Dinner.
In 2026-27, we will present graduands at the Congregation of the Regent House on:
(in absence only)
(in absence only)
10 April 2027 (MA only)
1 May 2027 (in absence only)
21 May 2027
3 July 2027 (GA only)
23 July 2027
Click on the date above to register for that congregation.
You may bring up to two guests to your congregation.
Please note, the University only circulates the timetable a week before the congregation. We will email this to graduands at the earliest opportunity
Gowns, Hoods and Dress Code
You are required to wear the gown and hood of the highest Cambridge degree you already have or, as a graduating postgraduate student without a previous Cambridge degree, the MA Status gown. If in doubt, Ede and Ravenscroft or Ryder & Amies can advise you.
Please note when hiring the gown you will also need a hood for the ceremony.
For MA and General Admissions, will deliver and collect gowns and hoods to 91¶¶Òõ. do not offer delivery and collection for any congregation.
For all other congregations, you will need to collect your gown and hood from or , they will advise you when and where you can collect and return your gown and hood.
There is no need to wear a square cap or mortarboard - they mostly just get in the way!
Please read the for what to wear at a congregation:
There is no formal dress code for guests but they usually wear something suitable for a formal party. There is no need for hats unless they like wearing them.
Live Streaming
All our degree ceremonies are live streamed and the recording of the ceremonies is held for two months after the ceremony. However, we cannot guarantee the livestream for every ceremony. The recording of the events is protected by copyright and must not be shared on other platforms or reproduced in any way.
We will take every reasonable action we can to ensure that no guests are captured on the livestream, or recording, but by accepting a ticket to the event you are acccepting that you are aware there is a risk of this happening.
Please note for graduands who are having their award conferred in absence your names are not read out.
If you have any queries on your graduation, please phone 01223 762203 or email congregations@murrayedwards.cam.ac.uk
A Bachelor of Arts may be admitted to Master of Arts not less than six years from the end of his or her first term of residence, provided that a supplicat for the latter degree may only be entered after the former degree has been conferred. Find out more .
This removes the previous requirement for the BA Degree to be held for two years before the MA can be conferred.
Someone who qualified for the BA but has never had it conferred cannot be entered for the MA, even if the necessary time has passed since the end of their first term of residence, unless and until the BA has been conferred on them. You cannot have the BA and MA conferred during the same ceremony.
The Praelector will send invitation emails in January.
Although the degree may be conferred at any Congregation, this Congregation is traditionally the occasion when alumnae return to Cambridge for the event and a special dinner is arranged on the evening before or following the ceremony (depending on the timings of the day).
If you have been awarded a Master's degree from another University, please note that this does not preclude you from receiving your Cambridge MA.
Please check with your eligible colleagues/friends that they have received information.
Master of Arts (MA)
In almost all cases, those taking their MA wear the gown and hood of their highest degree already received from the University. You must not wear your College (undergraduate) gown to receive your MA.