HE Graduation Ceremony 2024

Venue: Bideford Methodist Church, 60 High Street, Bideford, EX39 2AN

Date: Friday 11 October 2024

The University Centre for Northern Devon is dedicated to embracing and celebrating the beautiful and diverse region where we live, work and study. 

Each year, we strive to honour our unique local communities by hosting our graduation ceremony at different venues. By bringing celebrations closer to the communities that have nurtured and supported our students, it reflects our commitment to inclusivity, accessibility, and the celebration of regional diversity.

Bideford Methodist Church is located on Bideford High Street, with pay and display parking close by at Honestone Street, Bridge Street, and The Quay car parks and bus links a short walk.

Graduation has a formal dress code. Graduands are required to wear academic dress (gown, hood and mortar board) during the ceremony. You will not be able to graduate if you are not wearing this. 

Ede & Ravenscroft provides this service and you can book your academic dress online at the Ede & Ravenscroft. 

You should wear smart clothing beneath your gown. Please do not wear jeans or trainers. 

Smart but comfortable shoes are important – especially for walking onto stage.

Top tips: We suggest you bring safety pins to secure your hood in place, and those with long hair might want to use hair grips to help secure their caps.

You can hire your gown from Ede & Ravenscroft. The academic dress costs £46 to hire. For more information and to book, visit: www.edeandravenscroft.com (available from May).

Guest tickets can be purchased through Ede & Ravenscroft from May. There is a charge of £13 per ticket for each guest which includes a souvenir programme and entrance to the ceremony reception where canapés and a welcome drink will be served. 

The online graduation service will open in May and close on Friday 13 September.

No, as a graduand, you will only need to purchase the hire of your academic gown and optional photography package. This will secure your seat at graduation. 

The only people requiring tickets will be your guests.

We are committed to making the graduation ceremonies accessible and welcoming to all our graduands and guests.

When you purchase your gown and guest ticket, please let us know if you or any of your guests have special requirements we need to be aware of such as:

• BSL Interpreter (only available upon request)
• Wheelchair user
• Guide/Assistance dog user
• Temporary disability (i.e. broken leg)
• Individual needs or access requirements

If you have accessibility requirements, please email graduation@petroc.ac.uk. We may contact you before the day to discuss any special arrangements with you. Please note the stage is accessed via steps. There is disabled access to the Church via a ramp.

Of course, but please note that if you are graduating, your child/children will not be able to sit with you, they will need to sit and be accompanied by a responsible adult. If your child requires a seat, this will be counted in your allocation, alternatively your child will be required to sit on the lap of your guest.

If you need to bring a pram with you on the day, please make the Graduation Team aware before the day. This will allow the team to arrange space to accommodate the pram. 

Please can we ask that if your child/children become unsettled during the ceremony, that they are taken outside.

You will be allocated an arrival time closer to the event. 

We ask that all guests are seated in the auditorium 15 minutes before the start time so the ceremony can begin promptly. Anybody who is late will regrettably be refused entry.

Information will be emailed to graduands nearer to the event, but please refer to the overview below for your information:

• Arrival and registration.
• Gowning and photography will commence approximately two hours before your ceremony in the robing room. You will be allocated a gowning time closer to the date.  
• Graduands briefing.
• Guests will be seated at the theatre 15 minutes before the start of the ceremony when the doors will be closed.
• Once the Graduation Ceremony commences, it will last for approximately one hour.
• After the Ceremony, it’s time to de-robe and celebrate with family and friends! Previous graduates have celebrated by going for a meal with friends and family in the local restaurants of Bideford and the surrounding areas.

There is no cloakroom service at the venue. Please leave all personal items (mobile phone, handbags etc.) with your guests.

Yes, the official photographer for our ceremony is Ede & Ravenscroft. 

You can book your photography package at the same time as hiring your gowns. 

There will also be roaming photographer on the day. 

Your guests are very welcome to take pictures/video during the ceremony, but we would politely ask that those with cameras take care not to obscure the view of other guests.

You will be presented with a scrolled certificate on stage, however, not all certificates will have been produced by the date of our graduation ceremony and we will therefore produce a ‘holding’ University Centre for Northern Devon certificate to present to you at the ceremony. Once we receive your official certificate we will forward this to you.

If you are unable to attend your graduation but would like to attend the next ceremony, please let the Graduation Team know and we will do our best to accommodate you. Please note we only hold one graduation event per year.