Graduate and Guest Ticket Information

Graduate and Guest Ticket Information

Important information

• Bookings open at 11am on Monday 12th May and close at 4.00pm Friday 6th June
• It may be necessary to close ceremony bookings earlier than this date if demand is high and ceremonies reach capacity so please don't delay booking your place and guest tickets. 
• You must complete the booking form even if you are attending alone without guests
• You should not to wait until you have your final results before booking your place.  Book before the deadline of 6th June.  If you wait for your results it may be too late. 

Refunds

• If you are unsuccessful in our final assessments you will be automatically refunded any guest ticket monies paid - there is no need to email the Awards Team as they will be notified of your results and send refund requests to finance automatically.
• If you book, then discover you are unable to attend due to personal reasons,  you must email graduations@sunderland.ac.uk by 2pm on 20th June to be eligible for any guest ticket refunds.  These refunds will be processed by end August 2025.   
• Refunds cannot be given for travel or accommodation expenses.  We advise graduates to only book travel/accommodation once they know their final results.

Graduate and Guest ticket Information

• Graduates tickets are free.
• All guest tickets are priced at £30.00 each. 
• All graduates can book up to 4 guest tickets for the Main Stand area of the stadium. These tickets are guaranteed.
• Any graduate requiring more than 4 guest tickets will have the option to book and pay for up to a further 2 additional guest tickets at the time of booking. These additional guest tickets are not guaranteed.
• Additional guest ticket requests will be confirmed after bookings close and numbers attending are checked.  Cost of the additional tickets are £30.00 each.
• Any additional guest tickets purchased at the time of booking will be confirmed during week of 9th June. Refunds for any additional tickets that cannot be provided will be processed immediately.
• All guest tickets must be booked and paid for before bookings close at 4pm on 6th June

Children

• We recognise that students wish to celebrate their achievements with their loved ones, including their children. Please be mindful that this is a formal event and all guests, including children,  are required to remain in their seats for the duration of the ceremony. In order to ensure the safety of all of our guests, children aged 2 years and over are required to have their own seat and are included in your guest ticket numbers. 

• We politely remind guests, irrespective of age, that all guests are there to see their loved ones graduate and request that all in attendance respect the enjoyment of others and allow them to enjoy the event free from disturbances. We do offer tickets to our ‘live broadcast’ room which is less formal,  and your children may feel more comfortable in this setting, however consideration for the enjoyment of others is still required.

• In order to support our graduates attending with children, we offer a dedicated pushchair parking area. Upon arrival, please ask your nearest steward for directions. Pushchairs will be stored in our concourse area, and you will receive a receipt which will need to be presented to collect.  All pushchairs must be parked 30 minutes prior to the graduation ceremony commencing and can be collected post ceremony.  Pushchairs are stored at your own risk and no valuables should be left behind.

• Please note that all children under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult whom remains with them for the duration of the ceremony. We regret that we are unable to care for children whose parents are participating in the ceremony. 

• Ceremonies are not recommended for children, however we do understand that there may be circumstances that require graduates or guests to bring their children along and therefore we do require that any child aged 2 years and over have their own seat and are included in your guest ticket numbers. 

Other key points

• Graduates with outstanding debts to the university - University regulations state that prior to Graduation all debts must be repaid in full.  You will be unable to book your place via the online application if you have an outstanding debt recorded on your student record.  You should contact our Credit Control Team to discuss payment if this is the case.

• Graduates will only be invited to one graduation ceremony, the ceremony closest to completing their award.

• Wheelchairs - There is a limited amount of space for wheelchairs at the ceremonies, so please make it clear that wheelchair access is required when booking.  Wheelchairs are not provided by the venue.

• Graduates MUST still complete the Online Booking Form even if they are bringing no guests  

• All entry tickets (Graduate and Guest) are sent electronically to the graduate, one week before the ceremony. 

  Graduates must print out graduate and guest entry tickets in advance of the ceremony.  Guest Entry tickets must be given to their guests before arrival at the Stadium of Light to ensure there are no issues with gaining entry to the ceremony.

  All graduate and guest entry tickets will be scanned before entrance into the ceremony venue is allowed.  Any graduate or guest with an 'invalid' entry ticket will not be allowed into the ceremony.

  Graduate entry tickets will be replaced with a Graduate Attendance Ticket when the graduate registers their attendance with the Awards Team at Founders Bar on the day of their ceremony at the Stadium of Light

Ticket Costs

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Prices as follows:-