UCL postpones in-person graduation until 2022

UCL is the first UK university to announce that no in-person graduation ceremonies will take place in 2021.

Source: UCL Imagestore

UCL has decided to postpone all in-person graduation ceremonies for this academic year due to the uncertain future of the Covid-19 pandemic, making it the first UK university to do so.

Students will instead be invited to attend both a virtual graduation ceremony this year and a “special in-person event in 2022,” which will also be open to those who graduated in 2020.

In the email sent to all students, Registrar and Head of Student & Registry Services Wendy Appleby states that “it’s not clear when the government guidance will allow us to hold in-person events again, or if we will be living with social distancing measures later in the year.”

The university will contact students with more information regarding virtual ceremonies this year, and finalists will receive their degree certificate and transcript in the post.

For students who graduated last year, UCL organised over 50 online ceremonies between October and December, with some students dressing up at home to celebrate the occasion despite the exceptional circumstances.

In previous years, UCL graduation ceremonies have taken place in the Royal Festival Hall on the Southbank, although it is not yet clear whether this will be the venue chosen for the 2022 in-person event.