Graduation FAQs

Apply through the online graduation link.

If you are exiting in 3rd year, and not continuing to Honours, remember to inform your School Office that you intend to graduate in order that they can process your award. Please also inform graduations@napier.ac.uk in order to receive an invite to attend your graduation ceremony.

There is no graduation fee for the student to attend graduation.

All students who do not wish to attend a graduation ceremony should apply to graduate in absentia to ensure your award certificate is posted to you.

Apply through the online graduation link.

There is no fee to graduate in absentia.

Your award will be conferred at the appropriate graduation ceremony and will be sent to you by post, after the graduation ceremony. Award certificates posted to UK addresses will be sent via Royal Mail. Award certificates sent to addresses outwith the UK will be sent by air mail post. Please allow 6-8 weeks following graduation for delivery of your award certificate.

You can request that your award certificate be sent via DHL by contacting graduations@napier.ac.uk before 11 July. There will be an additional cost for this service and requests received after this date may not be processed.

If you are planning to change your delivery address, please email graduations@napier.ac.uk before 11 July. We may be unable to make changes after this date.

Information about how to request a graduation letter is available via the online graduation letter form. Should you require further assistance, please contact our Visa and International Support team at internationalsupport@napier.ac.uk

No. Students can only graduate once for their award they are receiving. This includes graduating in absentia.

Should you apply to graduate in attendance or in absentia, then you cannot apply to graduate again for the same award.

Should you apply to graduate in absentia, you cannot attend a graduation ceremony.

You may defer your graduation ceremony to another ceremony within a 12-month period starting from your proposed original ceremony, i.e. summer 2025 to either autumn 2025 or summer 2026.

In order to defer, you should inform us of your intention to defer, and to which ceremony, by emailing graduations@napier.ac.uk. The opportunity to defer is only offered once.

Please note that if you defer your graduation, you will not be able to receive your award certificate until the date of the ceremony you attend, which will be the date printed on your degree award certificate.

The closing date for students to apply for graduation is Monday 16 June. This is the closing date for students to apply to attend the ceremony and to graduate in absentia.

Yes. Students must read and accept our graduation ceremony terms and conditions as part of their graduation application to attend a ceremony.

It is the students responsibility to read the terms and conditions in its entirety and to advise any accompanying guests.

Your award is legally conferred by the Chancellor at the next available graduation ceremony. It is only after this legal process that award certificates can be produced. This means that you must wait for a ceremony in July or October before you can receive your award certificate.

If you attend a graduation ceremony, you will receive your award certificate on the day of your graduation ceremony in the Usher Hall.

If you’re intending to graduate in absentia please see the section Graduate in absentia (if you’re not attending the ceremony). Please note that you must apply to graduate in absentia to have your award certificate sent to you after the next available graduation ceremony.

If you would prefer to collect your award certificate in person (from Sighthill campus only), please email Student Administration at graduations@napier.ac.uk within a week of your ceremony date, and we will advise when it is ready to collect.

There is no cost to the student to attend graduation or to graduate in absentia. All graduands can request up to two guest tickets free of charge for their graduation ceremony. You do not need to request a ticket for yourself.

It may be possible to purchase additional guest tickets for the ceremony. Further information will be available from Tuesday 17 June. Additional guest tickets will cost £20 per person.

If you have a debt to the University which is not cleared before graduation, you will not be permitted to participate in the graduation ceremony or receive your award certificate.

If you think you may have a debt to the University please contact Credit Control on 0131 455 6140.

The University holds its graduation ceremonies in the Usher Hall, Lothian Road, Edinburgh, EH1 2EA.

When you arrive at the Usher Hall you must register at the registration desks located in the main foyer. The registration desks run in alphabetical surname order. You should be registered at least 1 hour before the start of your ceremony.

When you register you will be given your seat number on a blue seating card. Staff from both the University and the Usher Hall will be available to direct you to your seat, which will be in the stalls area of the Usher Hall.

The ceremony will last approximately 1.5 hours.

Both class awards and prizes will be announced at the same time as your award is announced. Class award certificates will be included in your certificate folder if you attend the ceremony, or they will be posted out to you if you applied to attend in absentia. Prize winners will be contacted by the development office or relevant school office.

Information about how to apply for guest tickets is available on our Guest Tickets page.

The auditorium opens one hour before the start of your ceremony. Both you and your guests must be seated at least 20 minutes prior to the start of the ceremony. Latecomers are not permitted to enter the auditorium.

Children can attend the ceremony, but you should note that it may not be suitable for very young children.

Children under two do not pay for a ticket. Children over the age of two will require a ticket due to the Usher Hall’s health and safety regulations.

You can purchase a scroll holder and other university memorabilia online at onlineshop.napier.ac.uk.

After consultation with the Edinburgh Napier Students' Association, a decision was made in 2023 to discontinue the practice of providing graduate names for newspapers.

This decision was made in line with our Environmental Sustainability Strategy in efforts to further reduce our wider carbon footprint, and to contribute towards Net Zero Carbon 2030.

Graduate names can still be found in our digital graduation booklet, which is available on our Edinburgh Napier website from the day of the ceremony.

Our graduation ceremonies are not currently live-streamed. Video recordings of each ceremony are uploaded onto the Edinburgh Napier University YouTube channel shortly after the ceremonies have concluded.

You can order your gown and hood from the University robe makers Ede & Ravenscroft or telephone 01223 861 854. Please note there is a separate cost to hire your gown.

Yes, all students attending graduation must wear the Ede & Ravenscroft gown relevant to their award, or you will not be permitted to cross the stage. Please note that there is a separate cost to hire your gown.

Yes, graduation is a formal occasion and students are expected to dress appropriately. Religious, national or military dress and headwear may be worn. You can wear a mortarboard hat if you wish, but other hats and fascinators are not permitted.

Gowns will be available to collect from the top floor of the Usher Hall after you have registered. You can collect your gown at the times shown below for your ceremony:

Ceremony time	Gown collection time
Morning 10.30am	8.30am - 10am
Morning 11am	8.30am - 10.30am
Afternoon 1.30pm	11.30am - 1pm
Afternoon 3pm	12.30pm - 2.30pm
Afternoon 4.30pm	2.30pm - 4pm

Your gown should be returned to Ede & Ravenscroft after the ceremony at the Usher Hall.

We recommend that you pre order your photography in advance from Ede & Ravenscroft Graduation Services page as the queues for the photography sales desk can be quite long.

You can have your photographs taken before or after your ceremony. The photography studios will be open two hours prior to the start of your ceremony and will generally finish about an hour after the last ceremony of the day. If in doubt, please check with the Ede & Ravenscroft Sales desk on the day.

Photography services are based in the Sheraton Grand Hotel, opposite the Usher Hall.

Members of the audience may take photographs, but should remain in their seats. The use of flash apparatus or private video recording is not permitted in the auditorium of the Usher Hall.

Photographing your big day is a great way to capture some lasting memories of yourself and your guests. However, in the interest of protecting your achievement and fraud prevention we would ask that you do not post detailed photographs of your award certificates online.