Taking your Degree
Degree days are allocated to the College by the University and are scheduled for various days throughout the year. If you are unable to attend a ceremony in person, there is the option to have your degree conferred in absentia.
A ticket system operates for guests in the Sheldonian theatre. The College Office is able to reserve up to three tickets to enable your friends and relatives to attend the ceremony, except for on certain dates when the limit is two. You will need to confirm how many guest tickets you would like when you complete the Degree Day Application Form.
Applications must reach the College Office at least 25 days before the degree day of your choice. It may not be possible to fit you in on that day as the University imposes a limit on the numbers attending ceremonies in person. If that is the case we will advise you of other available dates.
Before you take your degree you must have paid any outstanding battels and returned your library books. Candidates supplicating for a DPhil must ensure that the Library copy of their thesis is deposited in the Bodleian; the degree cannot be conferred until this requirement is met.
The University has decided that a candidate will not normally be permitted to withdraw from a ceremony once his or her name has been entered. This means that if you have entered your name to take a degree at a particular ceremony and you are unable to attend, your degree will be conferred in absentia.
Please note also that although it is possible to take more than one degree at a single ceremony, you will only be presented to the Vice-Chancellor for the highest degree and will not be presented for the others. This means that you will receive all the degrees to which you are entitled at one ceremony but you will only need to hire (or buy) one gown to change into during the ceremony. Of course this does not affect those who become entitled to take another degree after taking a degree at a previous ceremony; for example, someone who has taken a BA but not an MA at the time of the first ceremony may come to another ceremony at a later date to take the MA.
