Unfortunately, not. Students graduate with their respective institute/programme only.

Yes. On the day of your ceremony, a programme is distributed to each family/group which contains the name and course title of each graduate (not your result). If you do not wish for your name to be published in this, please contact the Corporate Events team on congregations@nscd.ac.uk by 8^th August (All Programmes).

Please note that if your details are included, they will also appear on the commemorative clothing. You would also be removed from this if you request that your name be removed from the programme.

If you have a debt to your registered institution, your marks will not have gone through a Board of Examiners at NSCD, and therefore you will not be able to attend that year’s graduation ceremony.

If your outstanding balance is a fee debt, failure to meet the deadline will mean your results will be withheld, and you will be excluded from graduating.

The deadline to clear outstanding debt is one week before the published Board of Examiners Date. Once your debt is settled, your marks will be put through the next available Board of Examiners, and you will be able to attend the next graduation ceremony with the cohort from your course title.

If you do not complete your course, i.e. the full award registered for, you will be considered for an award of credit or a fallback award. If you do not accept the fallback award and choose to undertake re-sit opportunities, you will be removed from the ceremony and invited to the next available ceremony following successful completion of your course.

Please note that students will need to have a final result by our deadlines in order to graduate at the ceremony they have been invited to. If there are post result queries or resolutions that you need to make after the Board of Examiners, then this may mean that you will need to defer your ceremony.

If you have already booked your graduation fee on Ticket Solve or hired your gown from the Graduate Gowning Company, we will automatically issue a full refund.

If you receive your results and you would like to make an academic appeal, see Annex A.4 Academic appeals policy and procedures.

Please note that in some scenarios, undertaking an academic appeal may impact your ability to graduate in the ceremony to which you have been invited, and you may need to defer your ceremony.

We aim to hold graduation ceremonies as advertised. However, we reserve the right to make alterations if necessary.

In the unlikely event that a ceremony has to be cancelled or rearranged, NSCD will make every effort to contact you to let you know and we will publish updates on our web pages.

If the Awards Ceremony cannot take place or is delayed or the ceremony time needs to change due to circumstances beyond the control of NSCD, including (without limitation) fire, explosion, terrorist act (or threat of terrorist act), exceptionally adverse weather conditions or natural disaster, pandemic, national mourning (any member of the royal family), student registration exceeds our capacities or as a result of any industrial action or dispute NSCD or the venue at which the Degree and Award Ceremony is due to be held, NSCD will not be liable for any losses direct or otherwise incurred by the graduands or their guests.

NSCD will, however, make every effort to try to make the ceremony happen even if that means it takes place in another venue.

No student should be unable to attend their own graduation due to an inability to pay.

Funds are limited, but if you feel that you are unable to attend your graduation due to hardship, help may be available on a needs basis, which will be assessed through an application process, through the qualityoffice@nscd.ac.uk

Students are requested to dress smartly for the occasion. Please note that students should respect the formality of the occasion and ensure that they are appropriately covered and respectful of the environment they are entering.

It is recommended that students and their guests wear shoes they are comfortable wearing for long periods, both while walking to and from the venues and while standing waiting to enter the ceremony venue.

All students must graduate in academic gowns hired from Ede and Ravenscroft.

We welcome children at our graduation ceremonies; however, we advise that these are formal occasions, and the ceremonies are approximately 90 minutes long, which may not be suitable for all ages. As the venue’s seating is not tiered and some seats may have restricted access, the view of the ceremony may be limited.

Children aged 3 or under do not require their own ticket. However, they will be required to remain seated on a guardian’s lap for the duration of the ceremony. Pushchairs and prams will need to be folded up if brought into the venue so as not to block the aisles.

Children must remain accompanied by a guardian within any of the venues designated for graduations.

There will be no admission to the ceremony for children under 18 without an appropriate adult accompanying them.  There are no crèche or childminding facilities available at the venue.

Lost and found procedures will be published nearer the time of the first ceremony. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are aware of these procedures prior to attending this event.

The Congregations team are delighted to welcome children to the graduation events. We ask that you follow our guidance regarding their attendance to ensure you have an enjoyable and safe experience.

At any event attended by children, there is the rare possibility that they may become separated from their parent or guardian.

Please ensure that you let your child know in advance that if they are separated from you during the event, they should report to a member of staff for them to be safely and promptly returned to your party.

All our staff members at the graduations are fully briefed on our lost and found child procedure.

Our staff members will be in a distinguishable uniform and will be wearing an NSCD staff badge or name badge.  The meeting and collection point will usually be the NSCD reception in the foyer.

We recommend arriving at least 1.5 hours before your ceremony start time. We cannot guarantee that graduands who arrive late will be permitted to enter the venue once the ceremony has started.

Graduands and guests should note that there is no parking in the grounds of NSCD during ceremony days, but there should be plenty of parking on the main street surrounding the school.

Seating in the venue is pre-allocated to ticket holders, and seats are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis from the point of sale on TicketSolve. Please note that, due to the design of Riley Theatre, there are some restricted-viewing seats that will be used as graduands’ seating. From these seats, you can view televisions showing a live feed of the ceremony. Guests need to arrive as early as possible. As a general rule, the queue will start building up around 90 minutes prior to the ceremony start time. We recommend that guests accompany their respective graduand to have group photographs taken and collect tickets if you have not already done so. However, once this is done, we recommend you join the queue as early as possible.

Yes, the ceremony is filmed and, where possible, live-streamed. If live streaming is available, this will be confirmed in advance, and the links for each ceremony will be available on the ceremony dates page. Members of the congregation are asked not to move from their seats, take photographs or make video recordings during the ceremony. Only certain members of the NSCD, journalists, the official photographers and a TV company are authorised to do so. The photographs and video recordings may be used for publicity and marketing purposes to promote the School and its partnerships.

Guest seating at the congregations’ ceremonies is allocated on a first-come, first-served basis at the point of sale. Guests are not able to choose or change seats, and please note that some seats have restricted views. From these seats, you can view televisions showing a live feed of the ceremony. All guests must have a seat, and we cannot allow any guests to stand during the ceremony.

Ceremonies generally take around 90 minutes. Most ceremonies include an honorary degree, which will be awarded midway through the ceremony. We request that guests remain in the venue for the duration of the ceremony.

Toilets are available and signposted in the venue. Please be aware that guests will not be able to leave the ceremony 15 minutes before the end, as the procession will begin.

No grades will be read out during the ceremony. Only the award title will be read by the name reader.

Providing students register to attend the ceremony before it reaches capacity and before the deadline, students are entitled to up to two guest tickets. However, there is also a limit on how many guests can enter the venue grounds; other than in the ceremony itself, all guests are welcome to celebrate together throughout the day.

We want to ensure that all students and their guests can fully participate in the graduation ceremonies. The student must let us know of any specific access requirements either they or their guest(s) may have.

Small bags only – no suitcases! Please note that during times of heightened national security, NSCD security may conduct routine bag checks.

We recommend bringing water, sunscreen and/or umbrellas/wet weather attire because there is no shelter while queuing to enter the venue for the ceremony.

There are lots of places to park when attending a graduation ceremony, around the streets which surround the venue, but note these will be busy at this time. We recommend checking out the parking in advance and leaving plenty of time for travel and parking.  The train station is Leeds mainline station, where we recommend a short Uber ride to the school

We are asking graduands to go straight to Studio 5 on their arrival to collect their hire gowns and ceremonial dress. Guests may wait in the café and outside areas.  We will then ask graduands to have the photographs taken (if they have ordered this service) in Studio 4 before making their way up the street to congregate outside the Reginald Health Centre.  There will be a public procession of granduands down Chapeltown Road back to Studio 5 (which guests might like to see.   Once guests are fully seated, the graduands will process into the Theatre.

Guests may begin by watching the Chapeltown Road procession of NSCD granduands 40 minutes before the start of the ceremony, before taking their seats in the Riley Theatre, before the ceremony is due to begin. Doors will open roughly one hour before the ceremony start time if guests want to take their seats early.

To notify us that they are present for their ceremony on the day, they need to check in to Studio 5. They must check in no later than one hour before the ceremony.

There will be numerous refreshment outlets around the NSCD’s grounds.

Live streams of the ceremonies will be available on YouTube for guests unable to attend or who do not have tickets to enter the ceremony.