Eligibility to graduate

Candidates who are suitably qualified by examination, residence and having discharged their College accounts may be admitted to their degrees at any Congregation of the Regent House.

The College will contact candidates for the MEng, MSci, VetMB and BA degrees in the Easter Term of their final year with details of the arrangements for General Admission at the end of June. Other candidates should read the information on arranging your graduation and return the booking form included there at least three weeks before the intended Congregation (graduation ceremony). The University also provides further information about the ceremony.

Can I graduate if I have only conditional approval for a degree from the Board of Graduate Studies?

No. You must have full approval before you can graduate. The College is, however, quite happy to enter your name for graduation provisionally as soon as you know that approval is likely to be forthcoming. Indeed, it is important to do this if the Board of Graduate Studies will meet less than two weeks before the Congregation at which you intend to graduate. You must satisfy all conditions set by the Board by 10am on the Friday which falls eight days before the Congregation. For example, if you submitted only a soft-bound dissertation for examination, then the corrected hard-bound volume must be submitted to the Board of Graduate Studies by then.

How long do I have to wait after a PhD viva before I can graduate?

Assuming the examiners are satisfied with your work, they make a recommendation to the relevant Degree Committee, which makes a recommendation to the Board of Graduate Studies, which in turn makes the actual decision. In other words, the timing is determined by the schedule of meetings. Don't forget to allow a week for papers to be circulated before meetings.

When do graduates become eligible for the MA?

BA graduates become eligible for the MA six years after the end of their first term of residence, as long as two years have passed since they graduated BA. This means that most people who have been undergraduates at Cambridge become eligible to graduate MA six years and one term after they matriculate. The College will contact all its eligible graduates at about this time, and invite them back to graduate MA the following March. Of course, this relies on the College having current contact details for all of its graduates! Please remember to let the Tutorial Office know if your postal or email addresses change.

What are the arrangements for medical degrees?

Clinical medical students complete their course in June. Successful candidates graduate to the BChir degree automatically more-or-less immediately so that they can practice legally. They then have a year in which to graduate MB, either in person or in absence, after which they will graduate automatically. The Medical School hopes that clinical students will graduate together at the July Congregation, but it is still necessary to apply in the normal way using the standard form. For obvious reasons, most clinical graduates wear the BChir gown and hood when graduating.

Can I proceed to my PhD degree at the General Admission in June?

Unfortunately not. Due to pressure of numbers, the University stipulates that MEng, MSci, VetMB, BA and BTh degrees only may be conferred at General Admission.