Tickets
For July-August 2024 graduands only
Find out about tickets, how to apply for extra tickets and options for family and friends without tickets.
If you register to attend your graduation ceremony you are guaranteed to receive:
- a ticket for yourself
- up to two guest tickets - booked via the registration form
All tickets are free of charge.
Guests are allocated numbered seats. If your guests would prefer to be seated separately please check the special requirements box on the registration form, or let us know at graduation-office@bristol.ac.uk if you have already completed the form but did not indicate this requirement.
See our Accessibility requirements page for information on accessibility arrangements and tickets for carers.
How to access your tickets
Graduand tickets
You must go the Richmond Building to collect your own graduand ticket on the day of your ceremony. This ticket provides your seat number.
You can collect your ticket any time after ticket collection opens at 8 am, to fit in with the time you are required to be seated in the Great Hall for your ceremony. See our timetables for the day for information about timings.
You will need to show photo ID to collect your ticket, preferably your student card. Other photo ID is also acceptable, such as driving licence, passport, photo travelcard etc.
Guest tickets
Your guest tickets will be sent to you in the form of an email, to your personal (home) email address, around one week before your ceremony, and by 3 days before at the latest. The email includes details of the number of tickets allocated and seat numbers.
Please print the ticket information for your guests to show on the day, to help speed entry to the Wills Memorial Building.
Guests without tickets to the Great Hall who are with you on the day can watch the ceremony at our live screening at the Richmond Building. The ceremony is also streamed online.
Babies and young children
This is a family occasion so children and babies are welcome, however all children must be accompanied by a ticket-holding adult. Children aged two years or older must have their own ticket.
Ceremonies last for around 90 minutes, so may not be suitable for very young children. Out of respect for other guests, we ask that children and babies are taken outside if they do become unsettled.
Extra guest tickets
You can apply for extra guest tickets in addition to your two guaranteed guest tickets, by selecting the number requested on your registration form (maximum of two).
All extra guest tickets are free of charge.
If a potential extra guest has accessibility requirements, this must be declared when you register to attend. You will then be contacted by email for details of the requirements. If you do not provide this information when requested, if may not be possible to put suitable arrangements in place. Please note that requesting arrangements for potential extra guests does not guarantee that extra tickets will be allocated to you.
In the event that we do have spare tickets they will be allocated by random ballot. We cannot guarantee that you will be allocated any extra tickets and we regret that we are not able to prioritise any extra ticket requests under any circumstances.
We strongly recommend that you do not make travel arrangements for extra guests on the basis that extra tickets may not be allocated.
See below for information about our live screening and streaming of the ceremonies, for guests who do not have a ticket for the Great Hall.
How extra guest tickets are allocated
We will randomly allocate one ticket per application until they run out, or until everyone who has applied has one extra ticket. If we still have extra tickets after everyone has one, we will then randomly allocate another to those who have requested two.
When will I hear if I have been allocated extra tickets?
We will email you approximately one week before your ceremony to let you know if your request for extra tickets has been successful, and no later than three days before your ceremony at the latest. This email provides details of the total number of guest tickets allocated as well as their seat numbers.
We regret that we are unable to respond to any questions about extra ticket allocation before the ballot is run and you are notified by email. Please contact us only if you still have not heard from us three days before your ceremony.
Guests without tickets
Watch on a big screen
If you have guests who would like to share your graduation day in Bristol but do not have tickets for the Great Hall, they are welcome to watch the ceremony live on a big screen at the Richmond Building.
Watch live online
If your friends and family cannot attend the day, they can watch the ceremony live online.