Explore UCD

UCD Home >

FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Your graduation date depends on when you receive your final results and when students in your College will be graduating. Once you receive your final results, please check the conferring schedule to see when your degree will be conferred.

A final deadline for the resolution of all holds is set for 5 working days before the commencement of the conferring periods in September and December. All holds affecting graduation, such as Fee holds, Garda Vetting holds, Qualification Check holds, and any other pertinent holds, must have been lifted from your record by this deadline.

All students scheduled for graduation during the December 2024 period of ceremonies are required to resolve any holds on their accounts by 22 November 2024. Students who will be academically completing late must be complete and Registry must be notified by 5pm, 22 November 2024 for inclusion.


Note: This deadline does not supersede the published fee payment deadlines.

Where you have missed your ceremony date due to holds, once holds are lifted, you will be conferred/presented with your award at the next eligible ceremony.

For more information on holds and how to check if there are any holds on your account, watch Registry Video Guide on holds.

Students must not have any holds on their account. Holds may be caused by outstanding fees or a qualification check hold on your account. To be eligible to be awarded with your degree all outstanding holds must be cleared.

Check for holds by logging into SISWeb and going to the Registration, Fees and Assessment tab. If you have any holds, you will see a menu item called Active Holds on Your Account. Click on it for details.


If you have any questions about a hold on your account, please contact the Student Desk for more information.

Students must be degree complete to confer. This means that a student must have completed all university, programme and subject requirements associated with their degree. If you have any queries regarding your programme or subject requirements please contact your College/School Office. 

Check for holds by logging into SISWeb and going to the Registration, Fees and Assessment tab. If you have any holds, you will see a menu item called Active Holds on Your Account. Click on it for details.

The most common hold that affects graduation is a Fee Hold. Make sure that all your fees are paid before your conferring date. 

If you have any questions about a hold on your account, please contact the Student Desk for advice. 

Emails will be sent to all students due to confer approximately two/three weeks prior to the conferring date. This email will contain a link to SISWeb which you must follow in order to confirm your attendance at the ceremony and in order to generate and download your conferring pack which contains an information letter, car pass etc.

You must download and print your conferring pack.

Please be sure to check your your “junk mail” folder or “spam” folder.

Guest tickets will be collected on the day, by the student at the Registration Desk in the Conservatory, O'Reilly Hall.

Guest tickets are limited to 2 per student. Please note that while children are allowed to attend the conferring ceremony, they will count as part of your 2 allocated guest tickets (not in addition). 

Please arrange a meeting point with your guests to give them their tickets. Meeting points close to O'Reilly Hall include:

  • the UCD sign beside the lake,
  • the front entrance to O'Reilly Hall,
  • the front entrance to the UCD O'Brien Centre for Science
  • the UCD University Club

Due to stringent health and safety guidelines, there will be no exceptions made to the 2 guest ticket allocations. 

The ceremony will be live-streamed and the link will be available on our website before the ceremony. 

Due to the large number of graduates and health and safety reasons, there are no extra tickets available. Guest tickets will be strictly limited to two per student, with no exceptions.  

As the ceremony takes approximately 90 minutes it is not a suitable event for children under 5.

Children are allowed to attend the conferring ceremony, however, they will count as part of your 2 allocated guest tickets (not in addition). In the interest of safety, prams/buggies are not permitted in the conferring hall.

Please note that persons without guest tickets will not be admitted to O'Reilly Hall. 

Family and friends not attending will be able to watch the ceremony via live-stream from our website


Conferring ceremonies usually lasts about 90 minutes.

No, it is not possible to postpone your conferring. All degrees must be conferred at the conferring ceremony designated for the degree immediately following the passing of the degree examination.

If you cannot attend your conferring ceremony, your degree will be conferred in absentia. The degree testimonium will be posted to you in the weeks following the ceremony. You can find out more information on graduating in absentia here.

Yes. O'Reilly Hall and the other University buildings are accessible by wheelchair. If a graduand, or a guest, has special needs please do not hesitate to contact UCD Conferring so we may ensure your comfort and enjoyment of the ceremony.

The official commercial photographers and framers for University College Dublin are Lafayette Photography Ltd. They are located on the 1st Floor of the Graduation House, 44 Fashion City, Ballymount, Dublin 24.

Lafayette Photography will have indoor studios on campus, on the day of the conferrings. A brochure for Lafayette Photographers will be included in the information pack sent to graduands prior to conferring, it is also below. Photographs and frames may be booked in advance by post or on their (opens in a new window)website. 

Lafayette Photography Brochure


Please note that freelance photographers on the grounds of the campus are not agents of the college. Do not use any of the unofficial photographers who may be on campus. Each year, some graduates complain of non-delivery of photographs or of poor-quality work by these photographers.

Those attending conferring ceremonies should enter the campus through the main Stillorgan gate. A limited number of parking spaces for vehicles will be available in N2, which is adjacent to O'Reilly Hall. The entry to the car park is strictly by car pass only (one car pass per graduand).


Graduands and their guests may be directed by Traffic Stewards to the visitors Pay and Display area. The charge in the Pay and Display area is 50 cent per hour. For further details, please contact (opens in a new window)UCD Estates.

After you graduate, stay in touch with UCD and your fellow alumni through the (opens in a new window)UCD Alumni Network, our newly-launched online platform. This cutting-edge technology allows UCD alumni to connect with classmates, link up with UCD graduates across the globe, meet a mentor, discover jobs exclusive to UCD graduates, and expand professional networks. No matter where go in the world from here, get connected and stay connected with the UCD community!

Gender identity & expression are essential to experiencing wellbeing & fulfillment. UCD is committed to providing an inclusive and diverse environment.

If as a trans or gender non-binary student at the university you wish to change your first name and/or gender on official university documents & across the university systems, the Student Desk can process your request without the need for gender recognition certificates. 

For information on the (opens in a new window)Gender Identity and Expression Policy & how to change your name/gender, please contact the Student Desk. 

UCD Conferring will facilitate students to choose which name to be used at their Conferring Ceremony. 

Where a student does not provide legal documentation in advance of graduation. The student is notified that parchments will be issued in their legal name.
The student is asked to confirm which name they would like to be called by at the ceremony and printed in the conferring booklet/website etc. This does not have to match their legal name on the parchment.

Where a student provides legal documentation. They can confirm which name is to be included on parchment, called out at  the graduation ceremony, printed in the booklet etc. 

The name on your parchment/scroll will reflect the name that you are registered with on the UCD system or via CAO. Here's how your name will appear, depending on your registration:

  • If you have included your first name, middle name, and surname when registering, or have specifically requested for these details to be added to your record, then all three names will be displayed on your parchment/scroll.

  • If you have not registered with your middle name or have not requested it to be added, it will not appear on your parchment or scroll.

Please note the characterlimit is 55 (including spaces) for printing on parchments/scrolls.

If you have concerns about the correct pronunciation of your name during the ceremony, please contact us as soon as possible with a phonetic spelling of your name. We will promptly forward this information to the announcer officiating your ceremony to ensure that your name is pronounced accurately.

We sincerely apologise for the delay in the posting of the December scrolls and the inconvenience this has caused. We are currently working on them and they will be posted out imminently so they should arrive to you over the coming weeks. 

If you still have questions, please contact us(opens in a new window), and we will be happy to help you. 


Contact UCD Conferring

Ground Floor - Open Plan, Tierney Building, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4

Email us through our brand-new connector! Click "Contact" at the top right of the page