On the day of your ceremony

It’s going to be a busy day and we recommend that you arrive at Curve Theatre at least an hour and a half before your ceremony begins.

Graduation is a formal event, so you need to dress smartly, similar to if you were attending a wedding. All graduands must wear the university’s full academic dress hired in advance of the ceremony and the university's appointed academic dress supplier and designer of the specific DMU embossed hood for each award is William Northam Ltd who supply the hire of the official DMU branded graduation gowns.

For more information about hiring your robe, visit William Northam.

The robe is all black and the hood varies in colour depending on the subject; the main hood colour is an amber-gold. We recommend comfortable shoes you can walk a reasonable distance in. We reserve the right to refuse entry to graduands dressed inappropriately.

Read more information about academic dress at De Montfort University.

Double check the time of your ceremony on the schedule .

We need you to have arrived at Curve, collected your robe and hat (and photos if required), collected your ticket at Student Registration and be seated at the Curve Theatre 30 minutes before the ceremony starts.

Before heading out for the day, double check that you have:

• Email confirmations of your student booking (this can be on your phone or you may prefer to print a copy)
• Guest tickets (unless they are for an international address)
• Robe and photography booking confirmation
• The Graduation Guide (this will have been sent in the post)
• Depending on where you are planning to park, you might want to bring along comfy footwear too.
• Please note there is no storage facility for luggage and large bags at Curve Theatre.

Student tickets are collected from us on the day at Curve Theatre.

Guest tickets for international addresses are collected at Student Registration at Curve.

Depending on your travel plans, check with the National Highways for any disruptions that might delay your route.

Before your graduation day it’s worth planning your journey to the university. The ceremony, robe collection and photography is based at Curve Theatre, Leicester. The venue address is:
Curve Theatre
60 Rutland Street
Leicester
LE1 1SB

Travelling by car

There are several options to park in the city centre, although it can be very congested - so allow plenty of time to make your way to Curve Theatre from your parking spot.

The nearest parking for Curve is Rutland Centre Car Park Multi Storey (LE1 1TQ). This car park is operated by NCP. If you need to contact NCP by phone, call 0345 050 7080.

Curve visitors can park in the NCP Rutland Centre car park for a reduced fee covering parking from 9am to midnight on the day of your visit. Present your parking ticket at Curve Box Office, Green Room Café, or Stage Door Bar during your visit and it will be validated.

Please note that there are likely to be queues to enter the NCP Rutland Centre at busy periods and spaces may be limited at peak times. The discounted rate doesn’t apply in the short stay NCP Rutland Centre Car park just behind the multi storey.

Other parking facilities in the City are listed below – it takes around 20 minutes to walk from these facilities to Curve Theatre.

• Newarke Street, LE1 5SN (operated by Leicester City Council). Telephone 0116 254 9856
• St Nicholas Circle, LE1 4LF (operated by NCP). Telephone 0345 050 7080
• Welford Road, LE2 7AD (operated by NCP). Telephone 0345 050 7080
• Highcross, LE1 4QJ (operated by Highcross). Telephone 0116 242 8644

Further information about parking in the city is at this City Council Where to Park"

Travelling by train

Leicester Train station is mainly served by East Midlands Railway with hourly services connecting Leicester to Nottingham, London, Lincoln, Sheffield and Cross Country trains running between Leicester, Cambridge, Birmingham and Stanstead Airport. It’s about a 20 minute walk to Curve Theatre from the train station.

For more information visit either

• National Rail
• East Midlands Rail

Travelling by bus

There are two bus stations in the city, Haymarket and St Margaret's. A number of bus routes operate through and around the city – these are:

• Arriva Midlands
• First Leicester
• Kinchbus
• Centrebus
• Skylink (operated by Kinchbus)
• National Express
• Stagecoach Bus

It is recommended you contact the bus company directly to enquire about routes and fares.

Robe Collection

When you arrive at Curve, head straight to Rehearsal Rooms 4 and 5, second floor to collect your robe.

To manage crowd congestion, guests cannot accompany students when they collect their robe but can either meet up in Rehearsal Room 1 for photographs (if needed) or in the Café and Bar areas on the ground floor.

Please note that there’s likely to be a queue for robe collection.

Photographs

Photography is on the second floor. If you haven't booked photography beforehand, you can still pay to have them taken on the day.

It can be very busy in robing and photography areas so there’s likely to be queues.

If you are running short of time and have collected your robe, you can always return for photos after your ceremony. It’s more important to be in your seat on time!

Robing, photography and registration timings

Ceremony Start	Robe Collection and Photography	Student Registration	Ceremony finishes (approx.)
10am	From 8am	From 8.30am	11.30am
2pm	From 10.30am	From 11.30am	3.30pm
5pm	From 2.30pm	From 3.30pm	6.30pm

Photography will close at 7pm each day

Student Robe returns will close at 7.15pm each day

Curve Theatre building closes at 8pm each day

You need to be in your student seat (robed) at Curve Theatre 30 minutes before the ceremony begins.

All students collect their ticket from the Student Registration Desk, found on the ground floor next to Curve Box Office; it’s here you can check your name pronunciation with our announcers if you need to – please note student names are read out in full without nicknames and abbreviations.

You’ll receive a commemorative Graduation Brochure to keep, this will have a full list of courses, student names and prizes. Degree classifications are not listed in the brochure or read out at the ceremony.

Leave your bag and personal belongings with your guests; you can take your phone in with you. Unfortunately there is no secure storage area for bags and personal belongings.

Students are seated in the Studio in Curve Theatre, there will be DMU and Curve staff there to guide you to the right seat.

The ceremony is usually 90 minutes long, longer if there’s an honorary degree conferred. Despite that, each individual's moment onstage can feel short-lived, so it’s important to make the most of every second. Smile - the cameras will be rolling, and we welcome plenty of applause for every student!

The Order of Proceedings are:

• The ceremony officially begins with the academic procession of the Chancellor (or Pro Chancellor), Vice Chancellor (who is the Presiding Officer), Deans, Executive and Senior Academic staff of the university and their invited guests, who will process into the Auditorium from two separate doors. Students and guests are asked to stand (if able) whilst the Academic Procession enters
• The Chancellor or Pro Chancellor will give a welcome speech
• The Vice Chancellor (or nominee) will give a speech
• The De Montfort Students Union representative will give a speech
• There is a video featuring different students from the university
• Live performance of a song
• If the university is conferring an honorary degree, the honorand will receive a citation, the Honorary Award and then give a speech
• The Vice Chancellor requests that names of the graduands are announced
• The Name Reader announces the name of the faculty, level of academic award, course title and graduand
• Students are guided from their seat, in order, to wait to cross the platform. There is a final check of your robe and hat
• Students cross the platform, and the Chancellor, seated in the middle of the front row in a gold chair, will acknowledge each student by touching the tip of their hat; in return, students doff their hat to the Chancellor
• Towards the end of the platform, the Vice Chancellor (or her nominee) will be waiting to greet you. Students must also doff their hats to the Vice Chancellor who will return the gesture
• Your moment of crossing the stage will be captured on video as a clip. This will be emailed to you after the ceremony
• Students will receive their certificate to lots of applause
• Students are guided off the platform and directed back to their seat
• After the final student is announced, the Vice Chancellor will formally close the ceremony
• Photographs of students from inside the Studio will be shown on the screens
• Closing music will signal for the Academic Platform to exit and guests will give a final applause to all graduands
• DMU staff will signal to graduands to leave their seat and make their way out of the Auditorium

There will be DMU and Curve staff on hand to guide you through each step of the day.

Graduands doff their hat to the Chancellor and the Vice Chancellor. It’s a very straight forward gesture; you simply place your right hand on the edge of your hat and tilt your head towards the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor as you pass by or approach them. Just a gentle tip forward is fine!

Graduation is a formal event, and your name in full will be announced as it is printed on your degree certificate. Nicknames and/or abbreviations are not announced on the day.

Celebrate your graduation, remember your experience and share your big moment with a StageClip personalised video. The video is customised to focus on you and your special moment of graduating. It’s easy to save and share with your friends and family using all major social media platforms.

Within hours of your graduation ceremony you will receive an email with a link to your own, personalised StageClip video, so that you can capture the moment and share it forever.

Make sure you smile and wave as you cross the stage!

Click an example:stage clip example