CELEBRATE

The conferral of your award is when your award is officially granted and you are issued with your certificate.

The conferral dates for 2025/26 are as follows:

• Winter conferral – Tuesday 27 to Wednesday 28 January 2026
  For awards agreed by an assessment board on or before Friday 5 December 2025
  
• Spring conferral – Wednesday 6 May to Thursday 7 May 2026
  For awards agreed by an assessment board after 5 December 2025 but on or before Friday 20 March 2026
  
• Autumn conferral – Friday 16 October to Friday 23 October 2026
  For awards agreed by an assessment board after 20 March 2026 but on or before Friday 28 August 2026

Please see the Certificates section below for details of how and when you will receive your certificate.

The 2026 graduation ceremonies will be held on the following dates:

• Unicaf (Winter and Spring conferral)  -  May 2026 at the University of Suffolk and The Hold in Ipswich
• University of Suffolk at East College - Friday 16 October 2026 at Great Yarmouth Minster
• University of Suffolk; London School of Commerce (UK campuses); LD Training; SCITT providers; University of Suffolk at Suffolk New College; Unicaf (Autumn conferral); Unitas - Saturday 17 to Wednesday 21 October 2026 at the University of Suffolk on the Ipswich Waterfront (see the Graduation Schedule for details once confirmed)
• British School of Commerce - the graduation celebration event will take place in 2026 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, date TBC
• London School of Commerce (Malta) - the graduation celebration event will take place in Malta in September/October, date TBC
• Global Banking School - the annual graduation celebration day for students will be held on July 2026, exact date and locations TBC. Students whose awards are conferred in Winter and Spring 2026 will be invited to attend the events in July 2026. Those whose awards were conferred in Autumn 2025 will be invited to attend the annual graduation celebration days in 2026.
• Hanbridge Institute - the graduation celebration event will take place on 6 November 2026 in Singapore.
• Rushmore Business School - the graduation celebration event will take place on 24 January in Mauritius.

For Winter conferral, students who have completed their studies and had their award agreed by an assessment board by Friday 5 December 2025 will be contacted by the Graduation Office in December/January and asked to complete the Graduation Registration form in OASIS by noon on Monday 12 January 2026.

For Spring conferral, students who have completed their studies and had their award agreed by an assessment board after 5 December 2025 and by Friday 20 March 2026 will be contacted by the Graduation Office from March onwards and asked to complete the Graduation Registration form in OASIS.

For Autumn conferral, students who have completed their studies and had their award agreed by an assessment board after 20 March and by Friday 28 August 2026 will be contacted by the Graduation Office from August onwards and asked to complete the Graduation Registration form in OASIS. 

When the form is available for you to complete, you will be sent an email to your student email address and the personal email address that we have for you on our records. A copy of this email will also be stored in your correspondence history in OASIS. You do not need the email to be able to access the form, but you will not be able to see the Graduation Registration form in OASIS until the email has been sent.

Whether you are interested in attending the annual graduation ceremonies or not, it is important that you complete the registration form when asked to do so to ensure that we have a correct record of your name and address details. This is the final opportunity for you to check your details and correct any misspelling of your name before your award is conferred and your certificate is issued. We also need you to confirm your postal address for your certificate. If you do not complete the form, we will not post your certificate.

When you complete the form, you will also be able to register your interest in attending the annual graduation ceremonies. You will be invited to attend a particular ceremony. It is not possible for you to change to another ceremony if the date or location is not convenient. If you register your interest in attending, you will be contacted again with further information, including how to book your attendance, purchase guest tickets and order your gown. 

It is important that all graduating students complete the Graduation Registration form when asked to do so.

• For Winter conferral, the deadline for completing the form and confirming your details is noon on Monday 12 January 2026.
• For Spring conferral, the deadline for completing the form and confirming your details is noon on (TBC)
• For Autumn conferral, the deadline for completing the form and confirming your details is noon on (TBC)

On the day your award is conferred, you will be issued with your final Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR) and a digital copy of your certificate (for those receiving University of Suffolk awards) via Gradintelligence. Please note that your HEAR is your transcript, and the HEAR is only issued in digital format so you will not receive a paper copy. Details about how and when you will receive the paper copy of your certificate are provided below.

For Winter conferral, certificates will be posted by recorded delivery by the end of March to the address provided on the graduation registration form.

For Spring conferral, certificates will be available in the weeks following conferral.

For Autumn conferral, students who attend the graduation ceremonies in Ipswich and Great Yarmouth will normally be issued with their certificate on the day. After the graduation ceremonies have taken place, certificates for students who did not attend (i.e. those who graduated in absentia) will be available.

We will not post certificates unless the address has been confirmed and/or updated in the graduation registration form.

Please note that for graduates from British School of Commerce, London School of Commerce Malta, Hanbridge Institute, Rushmore Business School and Unicaf, certificates will be couriered to the headquarters of the partner institution for onward distribution.

It is not possible for certificates to be issued before the awards have been conferred.

Please note that the name shown on your certificate will be your full name as held on your student record. When you complete the graduation registration form you will be asked to confirm that your name is correct or to let us know if any corrections are required. It is your responsibility to ensure that your name is correct before your award is conferred. The University will not reissue a certificate to change a name once the award has been conferred.

For information about how we use your data for the purposes of the graduation ceremonies and conferral of awards, please see the Graduation Privacy Notice.

All students on an eligible course at the University of Suffolk will be issued with an electronic Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR), which replaces the traditional transcript and diploma supplement - find out more about what this contains, who is eligible, when they are issued and more.