Helpful information for our 2025 cohort eligible to graduate at General Admission.
If you are considering a fourth year option (part III) or if you are on a four year integrated Masters course i.e. NatSci and Engineering, you will not automatically be put forward for the ceremony this July. However, if you do not wish to proceed to a fourth year or your grades may not be acceptable for the next level of studies, it is important that you contact tutorial@sid.cam.ac.uk so that you can be included in the Ceremony, even as just a precaution.
Once you are added to the Ceremony, it is easy to remove you up until the last minute, however, it is not possible to add you to the ceremony once the deadline has passed, so please keep in touch with me about any concerns you may have or to talk through your options.
Please note, General Admission is reserved for the current years cohort only.
- Information for your diary
To assist with planning for the Graduation Ceremony you may find the following information useful for travel and holiday arrangements for you and your guests, all the dates are correct, however, the times are an approximation and may vary slightly:
Thursday 3 July 2025
TBC Rehearsals (you will be provided with an exact time)
18:15pm Graduation Service in Chapel
19:00pm Pre-Dinner Drinks then Dinner in Hall
Friday 4 July 2025
Exact timings for graduation day will be determined once the University has provided colleges with additional information.
10:15am Group Photograph
11:15am (Provisional) Arrival and preparation for procession to Senate House
11:55am (Provisional) Graduands walk in procession to Senate House
12:05pm (Provisional) Admission to degrees
13:15pm (Provisional) Graduation Lunch and Individual Photographs for Graduands and thier guests
- College Bill
All debts to the University must be settled in full before a student can graduate. The Student Finance Manager will write to you before the end of Lent Term with further details of your final term’s College bill.
- Registering for Graduation and the Graduation Ceremony
The University deadline for sign-up is (Day TBC) May 2025 To register, log on to CamSIS and select ‘Graduation > Apply for Graduation’. Subsequent steps are self-explanatory. You will be asked:
- whether you wish to receive your degree in person or in absence.
- how many Senate House tickets you would like for guests (maximum of 2).
- whether you wish to apply for one additional Senate House ticket; if you do, CamSIS will place you on a waiting list and any remaining tickets will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.
- how many College Reception guests you wish to have, up to 5 in total.
- whether you wish to attend the graduation dinner (Undergraduates only).
- Your degree name (see University Transcripts for further information).
The graduation ceremony will take place in the Senate-House; we are anticipating that there will be up to 2 guest tickets per graduand with the opportunity to apply for a 3rd through a waiting list on a first come first serve basis.
- whether you wish to receive your degree in person or in absence.
- Graduation photo and rehearsal
Graduands must arrive for the Rehearsal dressed as if ready for graduation on Friday (see below). The day before the ceremony, the Praelector will conduct a full-dress check of each individual graduand, and a full rehearsal. You will receive a group time and further details in due course.
A group photo of all graduands, with the Master and other College Officers, will be taken in the Masters Garden on the morning of the ceremony. We are also pleased to announce new this year, the opportunity for individual and family photos at the garden party.
Each graduand will be issued in advance, by the Tutorial Office, with a small card (credit card size) with a bar code on it, which will be used to identify individuals in the photograph. This card must be:
collected from the Tutorial Office on the morning of the ceremony and photo between 8am and 10am.
brought with you to the photography
- Graduation dress
The University has strict requirements for graduation, concerning both academical dress (gowns and hoods) and the clothes worn with it. Please consult carefully the Dress Regulations for detailed information.
Please note that you will need to collect your academical dress on the afternoon of Wednesday 2 July or first thing in the morning of Thursday 3 July, ready for the Graduation Photo and Rehearsal on Thursday afternoon. We are lucky to have an agreement in place with Ryder and Amies, for a 1 day hire for the 2-day period. Please contact them directly, further information will be sent from the Tutorial Office.
- Graduation dinner
Please note, guests are not permitted to the Undergraduate Graduation Dinner due to numbers and the limited capacity of Hall.
Undergraduate Graduands’ Dinner
Date: Thursday 3 July
Time: 19.00 pm Pre-dinner drinks on the Master's Terrace.
19.30 pm Hall
Dress: Evening Dress and Lounge Suits. Gowns will be worn.
- Graduation buffet
The Master and Mrs Burton cordially invite you and your graduation guests to a buffet after the ceremony, in the Master's Garden. The Fellows, and many members of the College staff, who have supported you through your time at Sidney will join the party to celebrate your graduation and your time at Sidney, and to wish you well for the future.
- University Transcript
Your name on Degree Certificates and Transcripts:
- The primary name that is displayed on your CamSIS account is the name that will appear on your degree certificate and transcript, exactly as it appears in CamSIS.
- If this is wrong in any way (eg missing accents), it is your responsibility to request that this is changed by adding a degree name on CamSIS during the sign-up process.
- This change must be made prior to the sign-up closing date.
Student Registry will not provide reprints free of charge to students who did not inform them of their name change prior to the ceremony date. Free replacement certificates will only be issued if the defect with the certificate was the fault of Student Registry. Otherwise, you would need to order a replacement certificate from the online shop, noting the updated name when ordering.
Degree certificate names need to conform to Western naming conventions – the university are not able to reverse the order of first name and surname. In some cases, a proof of ID will be required to issue the certificate in the new name.
For further information on degree certificates and transcripts, please check the University website.
Digitary CORE
A secure cloud platform that helps University students to access and share their verified academic documents online 24/7 with employers, other education providers, governments and, and third parties. Further information can be found on the Academic Transcripts website.
Receiving your Transcript (and Degree Certificate for those who graduate in absence):
The College receives your University Transcript usually by mid-July, this is then posted to you. For this purpose, we ask that you update your ‘First Destination’ address in CamSIS, if you do not do this, we will use your last known home address on CamSIS which may delay any applications that require proof of your degree. Please update your ‘First destination’ address by the end of June so that you receive your Transcript.
- The primary name that is displayed on your CamSIS account is the name that will appear on your degree certificate and transcript, exactly as it appears in CamSIS.
- Alumni Community
Once you have completed your course, your details will be kept on the Development and Alumni Relations Team database. If you wish to update your details going forward, please use the Keep in Touch form on the website, where you can also state your communication preferences and see how your College membership can continue after you graduate including events, reunions, alumni privileges and societies.
- @cam email addresses and CamCORS Reports
Students will lose access to their emails 21 days after graduation, therefore, please remember to move any important emails and update your email address in CamSIS or with the Development and Alumni Relations Team by completing the Keep in Touch form. If you wish to keep your CamCORS reports for further reference, please remember to download these before you graduate.