General Admission
**Please note that the following information is not yet updated for 2023.**
Please find below important information regarding the 2023 General Admission graduation ceremony. Please make sure you read it all carefully as it provides you with lots of information about the day and will answer many of the questions you may have.
Girton College is normally presented in the early afternoon on Friday, and this is preceded by a full dress rehearsal and a Graduation buffet in the College gardens.
If, after reading this information, you have any questions or concerns, please contact Student Services via congregation@girton.cam.ac.uk
Please note photography and filming will be taken for the duration of this event and will be used for College-use publicity. If you wish to opt-out of this, please get in touch with the Communications Officer in advance via comms@girton.cam.ac.uk and/or please inform the videographer/photographer on the day.
General Admission Timetable
General Admission Timetable - Coming soon
COVID-19 Guidance
The health and wellbeing of the whole College community and guests is of the upmost importance to us and therefore we ask you to follow the below COVID-19 guidelines.
- We encourage all guests to be fully vaccinated against Covid.
- If you feel unwell, especially if you have had Covid symptoms, please do not attend the event.
- Our current College policy is to encourage the use of face coverings inside the College buildings.
Academic Dress
There is a strict dress code for all graduation ceremonies and all graduands must wear the correct academic dress; i.e. all graduands must wear the appropriate hood and gown and those wearing a suit must wear a white bow-tie and bands.
Arrangements have been made with Ede & Ravenscroft to deliver academic dress to the College for those graduands who wish to use this service. The advantage of this service is that you will not need to make a journey into the centre of Cambridge to obtain your hood etc.
To order your academic dress directly with Ede & Ravenscroft please use their online booking system or telephone 01223 861854 as soon as possible making sure that you adhere to Ede & Ravenscroft deadlines. Please note that Ede & Ravenscroft suggest booking academic dress 21 days before the ceremony date, as they cannot guarantee what date their website will close after this.
Gowns, hoods etc. that have been ordered will be handed out in the Old JCR on D corridor, on Thursday 29 June. Exact times will be confirmed nearer the date. Please bring the confirmation email from Ede & Ravenscroft when you collect your academic dress.
No academic dress will be handed out on graduation day. Please make sure you have everything before this date.
Graduands must return their Ede & Ravenscroft hired dress after the ceremony to the Reception Room at College or Downing Place United Reformed Church (next to John Lewis).
You may also hire or buy academic dress from the following supplier, but please note that if you are not using the Ede & Ravenscroft service, you are responsible for collecting and returning your own academic dress:
Ryder & Amies
22 King’s Parade, Cambridge CB2 1SP
Email: sales@ryderamies.co.uk
There are strict rules regarding what graduands should wear with their academic dress. Please make sure you read the Dress at Congregations document so that you know what kind of suit/clothing and shoes are acceptable. If you are required to wear an undergraduate gown, you are permitted to wear your current undergraduate gown if it is in a suitable condition.
If you are not suitably dressed for graduation (i.e. your dress does not meet the University’s requirements as set out in the document above), the Praelector may have to withdraw you from the ceremony.
Graduands are strongly advised to wear face coverings inside the Senate House, until they have their degree conferred and their photograph taken.
If you have any queries about either the academic dress that you need to order or what you are going to wear with your academic dress, please come and see the staff in Student Services and we can advise you. Alternatively email congregation@girton.cam.ac.uk.
Celebration Event in College
Owing to the pandemic and continuing Covid-19 cases, tickets for both the Senate House and the graduation buffet are limited to two per graduand. These are complimentary (no charge).
If at this point you already know that you do not require both guest tickets, please inform us immediately by emailing congregation@girton.cam.ac.uk.
These unused tickets will be randomly allocated one week before the event. To be added to the waiting list for one extra ticket (for the Senate House and the graduation buffet), you can notify us on the 'General Admission 2023' booking form (emailed to graduands separately), alternatively email congregation@girton.cam.ac.uk.
Tickets for the Senate House and graduation buffet will be available for collection from the Old JCR on Thursday 29 June. Exact times will be confirmed nearer the date.
The Mistress and Fellows invite you and your two guests to the graduation buffet held in the College gardens from approximately 11.00am onwards.
Tickets for the graduation buffet will be available for collection from the Old JCR on Thursday 30 June. Exact times will be confirmed nearer the date.
On the day of your graduation, we will have a photographer in College. Their studio will be in the Reception Room (near the Porters’ Lodge). This will be open from approximately 9.30am to 1.00pm.
If you wish to have your photograph taken please go to the Reception Room.
The photographs will be of 8″ x 6″ and each will come in an embossed folder. The prices are:
- One photograph £20.00
- Two photographs £27.00
- Three photographs £34.00
All prices will include mount, post and packing.
You will be able to pay by cash, cheque or card.
You can have your official Graduation photograph taken by yourself, with your family, or with a group of your friends, up to 3 different poses.
The Ceremony
We are delighted that from the start of Easter Term 2022, the University is welcoming the return of guests to the Senate House. Graduands can invite up to two guests to attend the ceremony at the Senate House.
Please note that guests are strongly advised to wear face coverings inside the Senate House.
Tickets will be needed for your guests to enter the Senate House. All guests of graduands need to have a ticket, including young children and babies, and tickets are checked before guests enter the House.
Any unused Senate House tickets will be randomly allocated one week before the event. To be added to the waiting list for one extra ticket, you can notify us on the 'General Admission 2022' booking form (emailed to graduands separately), alternatively email congregation@girton.cam.ac.uk.
Transport to town for Guests
Any taxis required to take guests to the Senate House must be pre-booked; the Porters’ Lodge will not be arranging this transport.
Local taxi companies you could use include Panther Taxis and CamCab.
The number 5 Stagecoach bus is the regular bus from College into town. You can view the route and timetable here.
Although timings for the ceremony at the Senate House will not be available until nearer the time, we strongly advise guests pre-book any taxis and leave College for the Senate House in good time.
Full details and timings will be confirmed nearer the event when graduands will be contacted via email. Until this point we will not know the exact timetable for the day.
A full dress rehearsal will take place in College on Friday 1 July at 9am. This must be attended so that we can make sure that everyone who is graduating is there, and appropriately dressed. Attendance at the rehearsal is compulsory. Further details about the rehearsal will be confirmed nearer the date.
All graduands will be taken down to the ceremony by coach from the back drive of College, next to Ash Court. We are afraid that we cannot provide transport for accompanying relatives and friends, nor do we provide transport for the return journey to College. Depending on the weather we shall either be dropped on Queen's Road and process from there to the Senate House, or be dropped close to the Senate House. The Praelector will announce which during the rehearsal in Girton.
So that your family and friends who cannot attend your graduation in the Senate House can see you graduate, the University will provide a livestream of the event (the link will be emailed to those attending shortly before the ceremony) so they can view the ceremony from home.
Please note that by attending the ceremony in person, you are giving your consent to being included in the livestream. It will not be possible to take part in the ceremony and not be part of the recording.
The return of guests to degree Congregations has necessitated changes to the way in which the ceremony is livestreamed. In order to ensure the privacy of guests and staff the number of indoor cameras has been reduced to two; one will remain in the gallery providing a wide-angle view of the Senate House and the dais and the second will be above the dais to capture the moment of admission from a position in front of the graduand. These positions will minimise the likelihood of guests being inadvertently recorded. The private YouTube link for each ceremony will remain live for two months after the ceremony.
The livestream is provided to allow those friends and family members unable to attend the Senate House to view this important event. It is provided on the understanding that it is a private recording, not to be publicly shared on social media or in any public forum. Whilst the University and the contractors will make best efforts to provide the livestream, it is not guaranteed and some circumstances may prevent either a live broadcast or possibly a later showing of any recording.
Tempest, the University’s official photographers, will offer studio photography and certificate framing services on the day, as well as photographing you inside the Senate House as your degree is conferred.
The name(s) printed on your degree certificate and official University Transcript will appear as they do in CamSIS (your 'Primary' name). It is a good idea to check your name and email congregation@girton.cam.ac.uk by Friday 3 June to make any reasonable changes (e.g. add middle names) for you before graduation.
If you are having your degree conferred in person, your degree certificate will be handed to you at the Senate House.
If you take your degree in absence, the certificate will be posted on to you.
Official University Transcripts will be posted to all those students who graduate a few weeks after the ceremony.