Before your graduation

You must register your choice in attendance, even if you are not attending or if you think you may not complete successfully. 

Your options are to:

• attend the ceremony

• defer (You will postpone your attendance until the next available ceremony. This also postpones the conferral of your degree. You will not receive your certificate until after the next available ceremony). 
  
  
• graduate in absentia (you will graduate without physically attending, this means you will not be able to attend a ceremony in the future for this award).

Please note if you do not register for your ceremony via our ticketing system by Wednesday 21 October you will be automatically conferred in absentia and will not be able to attend a ceremony in the future, for this award.  

To register click here and use the information below

Select University of Kent as the organisation. 

Your log in will be the personal email address you have registered on KentVision as your username and your student ID number as your password. 

Defer: you can select this option and then you will be contacted again prior to the next available set of ceremonies. 

Absentia: Provide your address and your certificate will be sent to you after the ceremony.

Attend: You will need to pay the £50.00 graduation fee.  As part of this fee, you can attend your graduation ceremony and you will be able to add up to 2 guest tickets.

Please note your space at the ceremony is not guaranteed until you register. We advise that you complete this as soon as we notify you as there is a capacity limit in the Cathedral.   

If this limit is reached before the registration deadline then your ceremony will automatically be closed and you may not be able to attend in November, but can choose to defer your ceremony to a future date.

Ticketing and gown hire have now been combined onto the same website.  This means when you select to attend your ceremony your graduation fee, 2 complimentary guest tickets and your gown hire will be added to your basket automatically.

You can remove the gown hire from your basket and pay for just the graduation fee.  You will then be able to log in at a later date to add your gown hire.

Please note that the registration site works best in light mode.  If you have trouble viewing the site, please check your settings.

Extra tickets are not guaranteed for every ceremony and should not be relied upon when making plans to attend your ceremony. 

Once registration has closed in October we will review the numbers.  If extra tickets are available we will email students to advise them when this will go on sale.   

Please do not contact graduations to ask for extra tickets, we will not respond.  

These will be sold online on a first-come, first-served basis. 

They are priced at £30.00 per ticket.

We welcome children at our graduation ceremonies; however, we advise that these are formal occasions, and the ceremonies are approximately 90 minutes long, this may not be suitable for all ages. 

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. 

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 either Canterbury or Rochester Cathedral.

It is your responsibility to ensure that you are aware of our lost and found child procedure prior to attending this event. 

We understand that you may need to change your booking for your graduation.

All requests for refunds for Ticketing or from the Graduate Gowning Company will be accepted up until 2 weeks prior to your graduation ceremony. This includes your graduation fee, additional tickets and gown hire fee.

After this time, refunds will only be permitted in exceptional circumstances. Requests should be emailed to graduations@kent.ac.uk and these will be reviewed. 

We reserve the right to refuse refund requests which could have been made prior to the deadline.

If you have booked for your ceremony, but then are no longer eligible to graduate either due to not completing your course in time or an outstanding debt then we will refund your booking for the ceremony automatically.

For University of Kent students only.
Please contact the Financial Aid team for  further support funding graduation, if you are in receipt of one of the following financial support packages:

• Care Leavers
• Young Independents
• Estranged Students
• Homeless/foyer Students
• Student Carers

If you or your guests have any access requirements, you will need to let us know no later than 3 weeks prior to your ceremony.

Further information about specific requirements can be found here. 

Deadline: 3 Weeks prior to your ceremony

In order to attend the ceremony some students or their guests may require confirmation of their graduation invitation to obtain either:

• Exit clearance from their home country; or entry clearance to the UK.

The visa letter produced by the Graduation team will only confirm that the student has been invited to the Congregation ceremony to help your application for a visa. This should not be confused with a Student Visa that Central Student Administration produce.

Visa applications can take up to six weeks for processing by the Embassy, please ensure you have allowed enough time for this process when applying. 

Please note that we can only issue visa letters for the number of guests you have tickets for.  

You will not be able to apply for a visa letter until you have received your invitation email. 

Further information about how to request a visa letter can be found here

Deadline : Wednesday 14 October 

Our gown supplier is the Graduate Gowning Company.  

Please note you will not be able to hire your gown until you have received your invitation.

Please hire your gown online before Wednesday 21 October. 

To hire your gown please log into your Tempest ticketing account, enter your height and add to basket, then checkout.

You will not need to enter your hat size as it will be fitted on the day.

You will not be able to graduate if you use a gown that is not supplied by the Graduate Gowning Company.

To hire your gown and check what colour your hood will be please click here.

The cost to hire your cap and gown are as follows:

• Before the deadline - £43
• On the day - £48

If you wish to purchase your cap and gown please contact The Graduate Gowning Company, this can also be done on the day. 

You can also purchase your cap on the day for £10.

Attending your ceremony 

For those attending the November 2026 ceremonies, certificates will be provided at the ceremony.  There are sometimes circumstances that mean we cannot provide a certificate at the ceremony, however the Graduations team will advise you on the steps for receiving your certificate.

Graduating in absentia 

For those graduating in absentia, we will send certificates to the addresses that you provide on Tempest ticketing as your mailing address.

Please note certificates cannot be sent until after the ceremony. We will begin posting the certificates for those graduating in absentia from the 30th November onwards and this takes a few weeks for all of the certificates to be sent out. You may not receive your certificate until mid December. 

Collecting your certificate 

Students who choose to graduate in absentia can request to collect their certificate in person from the Canterbury campus. This can only be done by appointment only, and will not be until after the ceremonies from approximately the 7th December onwards. We will advise students who wish to collect how they can book an appointment after the ceremonies have taken place. 

Transcripts will not be provided with your certificate. Transcripts can be viewed and downloaded on KentVision from the 'My Transcript' section of the 'My Marks & Results' tile. They will not contain the current academic year's information until your results have been released to you. Please note you will only have access to KentVision for 60 days after your student registration ends. After 60 days you can view your Transcript on Digital Certificates. Please see the Digital Certificates section on this page for more information.

If you require a stamped hard copy of your transcript, this can be ordered via the online store. Further information about this and the link to order can be found on the Alumni Services page.

Graduates of the University of Kent are able to view (but not download) their certificate and transcript via Digital Certificates after your graduation ceremony. 

You can also use this service to buy a replacement certificate and set up a "connection" with a third party, such as prospective employers, so that they can view your certificate. 

Please note that third parties will need to register on the website and pay a fee to be able to see your documents. You will be able to use this service for free for up to 3 months after your graduation ceremony, after which time you will be charged £16 to view your documents. Please visit Digital Certificates using Google Chrome or Internet Explorer.

Please note this is a non-refundable service.

To use Digital Certificates, please wait until after your graduation ceremony to register with them, and use a personal email address, not your Kent email address. If the details you give match our records, your account will be created straight away. If your data doesn't match, you will receive an email advising you to email csao@kent.ac.uk with some further details so that we can confirm your identity. We will then manually approve your request during our working hours.

There are strict rules governing your legal name which should appear in full on your certificate as on other legal documents. 

You will need to ensure your legal name is correct on KentVision as this is how it will appear on your certificate.   

Check your legal name on KentVision - this is how it will be printed on your certificate.

If it is correct? You do not need to do anything further regarding your legal name. 

If it is not correct, you must contact the Student Record Administration Office (SRAO). 

You must contact SRAO with a copy of your passport if your legal name is wrong before the deadline listed below. If you submit a name change after your ceremony, your certificate will not be reprinted. 

The deadline for changing your legal name is Wednesday 21 October. 

Your degree certificate is a legal document, so must display your full legal name matching other documentation, such as your passport.

This is also the name that you have read out at your ceremony.  You can let us know how to pronounce your name when you book for your graduation. 

However, should you wish to have your chosen name read out at the graduation ceremony and displayed in the graduation programme, then please let us know.

The deadline for requesting a chosen name is Wednesday 21 October.

Some outstanding financial commitments to the University may prevent you from graduating. 

If you have not cleared an outstanding debt by Friday 16 October then you will not be able to attend your ceremony in November.

Please see further information on outstanding payments. 

Please take a moment to read through our terms and conditions information.

Graduations: Terms & Conditions 

If you wish to opt out of having your name name included in the on the day printed Programme, or on the Campus Clothing merchandise then you must notify us in writing by Wednesday 21 October. 
 to graduations@kent.ac.uk.