Graduation

Your graduation ceremony is a special occasion where you can formally celebrate all of the hard work that you put into achieving your degree. It will be an event that you, your family, course friends and tutors can remember for many years to come. At the ceremony you will be addressed by a prominent keynote speaker from the creative industries, our Vice-Chancellor will present you with your degree certificate on stage, and afterwards you are invited to join us for a celebratory glass of bubbly.

The ceremony is held in the Royal Armouries, Leeds, LS10 1LT. You will collect your tickets, gown and have your photograph taken in the Royal Armouries Museum. The ceremony is held in New Dock Hall, which is located just on the opposite side of Armouries Square.

Timings for the ceremony

We are having two ceremonies and each course has been allocated to attend a specific ceremony.

Ceremony One 10.45am

Invited to this ceremony are:

• BA (Hons) Fashion
• BA (Hons) Fine Art
• BA (Hons) Printed Textiles & Surface Pattern Design
• BA (Hons) Visual Communication

What do I do from 8.30am – 10.15am?

You start the day in the Royal Armouries Museum. This is where you collect your tickets, gown and have your photograph taken. Please allow at least 60-90 minutes for this.

Refreshments are served in the Armouries Hall of the Royal Armouries Museum for graduates and their guests.

What do I do from 10.00am – 10.30am?

All graduates and guests must take their seat in the New Dock Hall by 10.30am.

The doors to New Dock Hall will be open from 9.30am and you are welcome to make your way over once you have collected your tickets, gown and had your photograph taken.

You get to the New Dock Hall by leaving the Royal Armouries Museum and walking 100 meters across Armouries Square to the New Dock Hall on the other side. There will be student ambassadors pointing you in the right direction.

Once inside the New Dock Hall you need to take your seat. Graduates sit in a labelled seat at the front of the hall, it is essential that you sit in the seat we have allocated to you so that you receive the correct degree certificate on stage. Guest seating is unreserved to the rear of the New Dock Hall.

What do I do from 10.45am – 12pm?

Your ceremony starts at 10.45am.

During the ceremony you will be addressed by the Vice-Chancellor Professor Simone Wonnacott, Students’ Union President Megan Ojari and our keynote speaker.

To receive your degree you will walk across the stage, shake hands with the Vice-Chancellor and receive your certificate, then walk to the other side of the stage and return to your seat. The stage is accessed by a couple of steps, please get in touch if you foresee any problems accessing the stage.

The ceremony will be filmed and a free recording will be available online the week following the event.

What do I do from 12pm – 1pm?

After the ceremony you and your guests are invited to join us for a celebratory glass of bubbly. Drinks will be served in the New Dock Hall. You will be able to take your drink outside to Armouries Square where you will find a traditional fairground horse carousel that we invite everyone to enjoy – the carousel is free. There will also be an ice-cream van and hot churros (vegan) with dipping chocolate for you to purchase.

What do I do by 4.45pm?

Return your gown to the Royal Armouries Museum by 4.45pm.

What do I do from 6pm?

Your Students’ Union has organised a Leeds Arts University Class of ’19 Graduation Reception from 6pm in Redondo Beach, Headrow House. Everyone is welcome including family and friends. See the Leeds Arts Union Facebook event for details.

Timings for the ceremony

We are having two ceremonies and each course has been allocated to attend a specific ceremony.

Ceremony Two 2.15pm

Invited to this ceremony are:

• BA (Hons) Animation
• BA (Hons) Creative Advertising
• BA (Hons) Fashion Photography
• BA (Hons) Graphic Design
• BA (Hons) Photography
• BA (Hons) Illustration

What do I do from 11.00am – 1.45pm?

You start the day in the Royal Armouries Museum. This is where you collect your tickets, gown and have your photograph taken. Please allow at least 60-90 minutes for this.

Refreshments are served in the Armouries Hall of the Royal Armouries Museum for graduates and their guests.

What do I do from 1.30pm – 2.00pm?

All graduates and guests must take their seat in the New Dock Hall by 2pm. The doors to New Dock Hall will be open from 1pm and you are welcome to make your way over once you have collected your tickets, gown and had your photograph taken.

You get to the New Dock Hall by leaving the Royal Armouries Museum and walking 100 meters across Armouries Square to the New Dock Hall on the other side. There will be student ambassadors pointing you in the right direction.

Once inside the New Dock Hall you need to take your seat. Graduates sit in a labelled seat at the front of the hall, it is essential that you sit in the seat we have allocated to you so that you receive the correct degree certificate on stage. Guest seating is unreserved to the rear of the New Dock Hall.

What do I do from 2.15pm – 3.30pm?

Your ceremony starts at 2.15pm.

During the ceremony you will be addressed by the Vice-Chancellor Professor Simone Wonnacott, Students’ Union President Megan Ojari and our keynote speaker.

To receive your degree you will walk across the stage, shake hands with the Vice-Chancellor and receive your certificate, then walk to the other side of the stage and return to your seat. The stage is accessed by a couple of steps, please get in touch if you foresee any problems accessing the stage.

The ceremony will be filmed and a free recording will be available online the week following the event.

What do I do from 3.30pm – 4.30pm?

After the ceremony you and your guests are invited to join us for a celebratory glass of bubbly. Drinks will be served in the New Dock Hall. You will be able to take your drink outside to Armouries Square where you will find a traditional fairground horse carousel that we invite everyone to enjoy – the carousel is free. There will also be an ice-cream van and hot churros (vegan) with dipping chocolate for you to purchase.

What do I do by 4.45pm?

Return your gown to the Royal Armouries Museum by 4.45pm.

What do I do from 6pm?

Your Students’ Union has organised a Leeds Arts University Class of ’19 Graduation Reception from 6pm in Redondo Beach, Headrow House. Everyone is welcome including family and friends. See the Leeds Arts Union Facebook event page details.

The Royal Armouries is located on Leeds Dock on the south side of the city centre. The closest available car park is CitiPark, Leeds Dock, LS10 1LE. You are able to book your space in this multi-storey in advance through their website. Due to the proximity of alternative car parks to the Royal Armouries we definitely recommend that you book your parking to avoid disappointment on the day.

Your graduate ticket, two free guest tickets and any extra guest tickets you have purchased will be available for collection in the Armouries Hall, which is on the ground floor of the Royal Armouries Museum. If you want to check how many guest tickets you have please login to www.gownhire.co.uk to see your order.

All graduates and guests will need their ticket to enter the New Dock Hall where the ceremony takes place.

All gowns are collected from the Wellington Suite on the first floor of the Royal Armouries Museum. Specialist gown hire company Ede & Ravenscroft will be there to fit your gown correctly.

We ask that only graduates wait in the queue to collect their gown, guests can wait in the refreshments lounge in the Armouries Hall on the ground floor.

The gown you will wear is black with a crimson red hood, there are pictures of it below. Graduation is a formal occasion so we ask that you dress smartly. You will find it useful to wear a buttoned shirt or blouse to which the academic hood can be fastened. You will probably find that hairgrips are useful to secure your mortar. We recommend wearing ‘sensible shoes’, as you will be asked to collect your degree from the stage, which is accessed by a number of steps.

Photography is located in the Armouries Hall, which is on the ground floor of the Royal Armouries Museum. Specialist gown hire company Ede & Ravenscroft also manage the photography.

We ask that only graduates and guests who are having their photograph taken wait in the photography queue, other guests can wait in the refreshments lounge in the Armouries Hall.

If there isn’t enough time before your ceremony you can come back to have your photograph taken after the ceremony.

This information will be useful if you have disabled guests or guests with reduced mobility. Please contact Rose Townsend 0113 202 8152 if you want to talk over your specific accessibility needs.

The Royal Armouries is located on Leeds Dock on the south side of the city. You will either need to take a taxi there or park in CitiPark, Leeds Dock, LS10 1LE.

The graduation is spread over three locations: The Royal Armouries Museum, New Dock Hall and Armouries Square. All of these venues are on a level access.

The New Dock Hall is 200 meters from the CitiPark and the Royal Armouries Museum is a further 100 meters across the Armouries Square. If you have guests with limited mobility you can seat them in the foyer of New Dock Hall whilst you collect your tickets, gown and have your photograph taken.

Seating the New Dock Hall is unreserved and it is all on one level, there is no tiered seating. There isn’t a specific disabled viewing area, guests in wheel chairs will be able to sit on the end of a row, the seating is loose chairs so we can remove a seat from the end.