Graduation at Greenlands
Eligibility for Graduation
Programme members who have successfully completed an MBA, MSc, DBA or PhD, or who have received a PGDip or PGCert as a final award at Henley Business School's Greenlands campus, are awarded their degrees in a graduation ceremony held at our Greenlands campus in Henley-on-Thames.
Invitations and Registration
Email invitations will be sent out in early to mid-August to all programme members who are due to graduate. If you think you are due to graduate and you have not received an invitation email by Monday 17 August, please contact the Graduation Office as soon as possible by email to: graduation@henley.ac.uk.
On the Day
Tickets
Each graduand can request two guest tickets if they register before the deadline. Extra tickets, if available, are allocated on a first-come-first-served basis on the day and are released up to 90 minutes before each ceremony. Guests without tickets can watch from the nearby video relay room.
Arrival
Graduands
- Graduands should arrive 90 minutes before the start of their ceremony.
- On arrival you need to make your way past the large marquee on the front lawn to the graduand entrance of the main house and follow signs to the ticket desk to collect any allocated guest tickets
- Once you have collected tickets you will need to collect your robes from the graduand robing room.
- You can then join your guests and fellow graduands in the pre-ceremony catering marquee for refreshments.
- You must be in the Processions Room 45 minutes before the start of your ceremony to register. If you do not arrive in the Procession Room by this time you risk not being allowed to graduate in your ceremony.
Guests
- On arrival you need to make your way past the large marquee on the front lawn to the pre-ceremony catering marquee while the graduands collect their tickets and robes.
- Guests should make their way to the ceremony marquee 15 minutes before the start of the ceremony to be seated.
- Guests without tickets for the marquee are invited go to the video relay room to watch the ceremony live on a big screen.
Each ceremony lasts approximately 40-50 minutes. Guests should stay in their seats throughout the ceremony. Video recording is not permitted, however a DVD of the ceremony will be available to purchase on the day.
Guests with disabilities or mobility difficulties
We can reserve seats (or spaces for wheelchair users) in the marquee for guests with disabilities or mobility difficulties.
What to wear
You should hire your academic dress at least 21 days before your degree ceremony from our official suppliers Ede and Ravenscroft: www.gownhire.co.uk.
Graduation is a formal occasion, so you should wear smart clothing beneath your gown; no jeans or trainers. It is useful to wear something such as a shirt or blouse with buttons which will make it easier to attach the hood to your clothing. If a shirt is worn then this should also be accompanied by a tie. Smart but comfortable shoes are important.
Appropriate military dress or the national dress of your country is also allowed to be worn underneath your gown.
Please leave handbags, mobile phones, etc. with your guests. You will not be able to carry them with you in your ceremony.
Please be aware, we reserve the right to prevent you from joining your procession and graduating on the day if you are not dressed appropriately in the correct academic dress. You would, in that case, graduate in absence.
Food and drink
Refreshments will be available before the ceremony for graduands and their guests in the catering marquee. After the ceremony a light finger buffet will be served (sandwiches, cakes etc.) in the Heyworth Room. There is no charge for food and refreshments. Wine and champagne will be available to purchase by the glass.
Souvenirs
There are souvenirs and merchandise available to purchase on the day from retailers stalls around the campus and on online before graduation:
- Photography is supplied by Ede and Ravenscroft. Studio photography is available in River House and ceremony photography from the Garden Common Room.
- DVDs/USBs are supplied by Visions Unlimited, from their stall on the main lawn next to the Ceremony Marquee
- Official Henley Business School merchandise from the HBS shop in River House
- Celebratory bouquets of flowers from Sonning Flowers, from their stall on the main lawn next to the Ceremony Marquee
