Ceremonies for Research Graduates

Attending a ceremony is an important milestone in your journey with The Open University. It is your day to celebrate your amazing success with family, friends, and fellow graduates, to reflect on your achievements and look forward to your future as a member of the Open University alumni family.

The following information relates to ceremony booking / attendance for those who have gained a research qualification (PhD, EdD, DHSC, MPhil or MRes) with The Open University.

If you are not a research student and would like information on ceremony booking / attendance, please visit our Open University Ceremonies website. 

Eligibility to attend a ceremony

To be eligible to attend ceremony, you must have met all the requirements of your qualification and submitted your thesis to ORO (Open Research Online). Due to the administrative processes involved in finalising the completion of a qualification, you need to allow a minimum 6-week period between you submitting your thesis and the date of your degree ceremony.

Before you book

The first thing to do is look at the ceremonies listed below and decide which you would most like to attend. As an Open University graduate, you are free to attend any of the ceremonies in our schedule – the choice is up to you!

If you have any questions or concerns about the suitability of a venue for you or your guests, please contact the Ceremonies Centre before making your booking.

When and how to book

Booking for our autumn ceremony season will be open from 10:00 Tuesday 22 July 2025. If you would prefer to attend a ceremony at a later date, bookings for the spring 2026 season will open in January.

Ceremony bookings are subject to availability and are booked on a first-come, first-served basis. As such, we would not recommend you make any non-refundable travel or accommodation arrangements before your booking is placed and confirmed. 

Please read the Ceremonies Terms & Conditions before booking.

In order to make your booking, be sure you know the following...

• the date, time and location of your preferred ceremony
• your personal identifier
• the number of guest tickets you would like to purchase
• your payment card details ​

Please review the ceremony locations, dates and times below. To book your preferred ceremony, please go to our Eventbrite page, Open University Ceremonies 2025.  

List of ceremonies

Guests & ticket costs

As a graduate, your place at the ceremony is free. You can bring family and friends to celebrate with you. Tickets for guests aged 4+ are £27.50 each. Children aged 3 or under can attend free of charge but must still be declared in your ceremony booking.

All tickets are subject to availability and are sold on a first-come, first-served basis. All guest tickets are non-refundable once purchased. If you would like to add guest tickets to an existing ceremony booking, please call the Ceremonies Centre to make this request (subject to availability).

Additional requirements

If you or any of your guests have any additional requirements for the ceremony day, please indicate this when making your booking. Additional requirements may include being a wheelchair user, having mobility issues or difficulty negotiating stairs for example.  When the ceremony draws nearer, a member of our Ceremonies team will contact you to request the details of your / your guest’s additional requirement so that we can take these into consideration when making our arrangements for the ceremony day. 

Please be advised that if you require assistance up to and/or across the stage, this will need to be provided by one of your guests. Open University and venue staff are unable to fulfil this role. Please inform the Ceremonies Centre that you’d like your guest to assist you once you have made your booking, so that appropriate seating arrangements can be made.

If you or any of your guests would benefit from a BSL interpreter during the ceremony, please contact the Ceremonies Centre (+44 (0)1908 541079 / ceremonies@open.ac.uk) as soon as possible after making your booking. Whilst we are unable to make any guarantees, we will take steps to try and secure an appropriate interpreter for your ceremony.

Publication of names & OPEN SU t-shirts

During the booking process, you will be asked whether you are happy for your name to feature in the Directory of Graduates. This document will be part of the official ceremony programmes which are handed out on the ceremony day. If you agree for your name to appear, please be advised that it will do so alongside the name of your completed qualification. Please note that if you are booking your ceremony within 4 weeks of the ceremony day, it may not be possible for your name to be included as this document may have already been printed.

When booking your ceremony, you will be asked whether you are happy for your name to feature on the ceremony t-shirts produced by the Open Students Union (Open SU). These t-shirts will list the names of graduates at your ceremony but will not include any qualification details. They will be available to purchase on the ceremony day from the OPEN SU merchandise stall. Please note that if you are booking your ceremony within 4 weeks of the ceremony day, it may not be possible for your name to be included, due to production deadlines.

Confirmation of your booking and further information

Once you have made your booking via Eventbrite, you'll get an email from confirming how many tickets you've booked. The Ceremonies Centre will send further information approximately 3 weeks prior to the ceremony confirming the date and time of your ceremony and providing further details on what to expect on the day. 

Academic dress and graduation photography

Your new qualification entitles you to wear Open University academic dress which consists of a robe and hood.It is not compulsory to wear academic dress at your ceremony however, most students prefer to.

For convenience, the Open University works with Ede and Ravenscroft who attend all ceremonies to provide academic dress and professional photography for graduates. Hiring through Ede and Ravenscroft means the correct academic dress will be available for you upon arrival at the ceremony venue, and their team will be available to support you with correctly placing your hood, ensuring you look your best for your photos and celebrations.

More information is available at www.edeandravenscroft.com or telephone +44 (0) 1223 861854.

Please note, hire of academic dress and purchase of photography should be arranged after you have booked your ceremony place and at least 15 working days before your ceremony date.

Mortarboards, hats, or bonnets are not worn at our degree ceremonies and graduates are not allowed to wear these or any other institutional / non institutional academic dress at the ceremony. If you would like to wear a mortarboard, hat, or bonnet for your official photographs, there will be some available to borrow for this purpose only from the photography studios.

The academic dress that you will wear for your ceremony will be specific to the qualification you have completed. Different robe and hood colours signify graduates of different qualification types. If you would like to view the complete range of Open University academic dress, you can do so here.

In addition to the studio photography available on your ceremony day, Ede & Ravenscroft photographers will be capturing images of graduates as they cross the stage which you will be able to buy and take home on the day. These do not need to be pre-booked.

Alternatively, these presentation photographs can be viewed in the online gallery on the Ede & Ravenscroft website a few days after the ceremony date, where they are available to purchase. A password will be required to access the photo gallery which will be sent to you by email approximately 2 weeks before your ceremony date. If you do not want your photograph included in the online gallery, please email awards@graduationservices.co.uk to request its removal.