UEL Graduation Guide

Every round at UEL follows the same shape, and one date decides more than the rest: the final-award deadline. By then your classification has to be confirmed, with every resit, extension and mitigating circumstance processed. Miss it and you don't lose your ceremony, you move to the next round. Everything else on the calendar hangs off the ceremony week itself.

UEL schedules its ceremonies school by school, and splits the largest schools by level, so an undergraduate and an MBA graduate from the Royal Docks School of Business and Law can cross the stage at different ceremonies. Type your school below to see when yours is. The search follows the schedule UEL publishes for each round, so check back once the round's times are confirmed.

At UEL you register through Marston Events, the university's graduation partner: search for "University of East London" on its website and book your own ticket, which is free. The same booking is where you buy guest tickets, order a gown, choose a photography package, request a visa letter and tell UEL about any access needs, yours or your guests'. A graduand who hasn't registered isn't eligible to attend.

You don't have to wait for your results. UEL lets you book your ticket and your guests' before your classification comes through; it just won't keep your place if the award is confirmed after the deadline. The Graduation Team can't tell you when you'll be awarded, so if you're unsure, ask your tutor or The Hub (slhd@uel.ac.uk), and hold off on flights and visa fees, for you or your guests, until you know you're eligible.

Each graduand can buy up to two guest tickets, at £28 each, with no concessions or group discounts; the price covers a seat in the hall and light refreshments afterwards. Your own ticket is free. In the hall, graduands fill the rows in front of the stage and guests sit behind them, so settle where you'll meet afterwards before you split up at the door.

Think carefully before bringing young children. UEL doesn't recommend it, since the ceremonies are long and formal. Babies and children under two can sit on an adult guest's lap without a ticket; anyone older needs a full-price ticket of their own, and every child counts towards the hall's capacity. Under-16s must be looked after by a suitable adult guest, because you'll be sitting apart from them, and no child crosses the stage with you.

Everything takes place on the Docklands campus, between Docklands Square and the SportsDock. UEL asks graduands to arrive two hours before their ceremony, the time it takes to register, put the gown on and fit in photographs. There's no cloakroom or luggage storage anywhere on campus, so whatever you bring stays with you until you leave. The steps below follow the layout UEL used for its September ceremonies; the email registered graduands receive before each round has that round's details.

Driving is the awkward part. There's no parking on campus unless you hold a Blue Badge and pre-book a space; in recent rounds UEL arranged paid parking at Exchange Ilford with a free shuttle bus to the campus. The train is simpler: Cyprus DLR station opens straight onto the campus, and the Elizabeth line stops at nearby Custom House.

UEL's academic dress comes from Marston Events and is ordered with your registration. Each hire includes all three pieces, gown, hood and cap, and the design follows your award, with a separate version for undergraduate certificates, foundation degrees, bachelor's degrees, postgraduate certificates (PGCE included), master's degrees and doctorates. Ordered in advance, hire is £42 for an undergraduate award, £45 for a postgraduate one and £50 for a doctorate, and £10 more on the day. You can also buy the set, or pay £35 for extended hire with a freepost envelope to send it back. Gowns are refundable until six working days before the ceremony period begins.

Underneath, UEL asks for smart clothes, ideally a shirt or top that buttons up so the hood sits comfortably. Hairgrips keep the cap in place, and a couple of safety pins will hold the hood if you're not wearing a shirt.

Graduating with a doctorate? We hire doctoral sets too, collected and returned at the same times.

Your place in the hall rests on two conditions. First, your final award needs confirming before the round's deadline, which means every resit, extension and mitigating circumstance has been dealt with and your classification has come through. Second, any outstanding debt to UEL must be cleared at least a month before your ceremony.

If your award is confirmed after the deadline, UEL invites you to the following round instead, and with an extension or a retaken module that can happen without you asking. Missed the registration for the last round? Email the Graduation Team with your student ID number, full name and course, and ask to be invited to the next one.

Missing the ceremony costs you the day and nothing else; the degree and the certificate are yours either way. UEL never hands certificates out on stage: it starts producing yours once your classification is published and posts it, with your Diploma Supplement, about 12 weeks later, whether you graduate in the hall or not.