On the Day

Please make sure you know how you are travelling to Royal Festival Hall (RFH) and are up to date on any travel restrictions by checking out the Transport For London website.
The auditorium at RFH opens for guests one hour before the start time of the ceremonies – please see the Venue, Dates and Times page for the ceremony start times.
Please be seated 30 minutes before the advertised start time, as the ceremonies will start promptly at the given time.
The ceremonies last approximately 90-120 minutes.
Throughout the day, marshals are there to assist you, so please feel free to ask them for help or directions.

We advise that you arrive 90 minutes before the scheduled start time so you have plenty of time to collect tickets, collect graduation robes and take any photographs.
There are ample waiting areas in The Southbank Centre and café’s and restaurants nearby. Please note, guests are not allowed to wait in the Registration and Robing areas to avoid overcrowding.
Guests should aim to take their seats 30 minutes before the start of the ceremony.

Official photographers will be on site all day.
Frames for photographs will be available and can be purchased from the photography stall on the Ground Floor.
A DVD recording of the Ceremony can be ordered at a stand that will be located inside the building. Guests are reminded that they may take still photographs during the ceremony but only with hand-held cameras and from their seats. Private videos are not allowed in the hall.

The graduate will be issued with tickets for themselves and for their guests when they register on the day.
If the graduate has been allocated extra tickets, these will need to be paid for on the day by the graduate. Therefore, if you are intending to pay for the extra tickets on the graduate’s behalf, please ensure you give the graduate the money (cash only), before they go to the registration area as parents/guests are not permitted in this area.
Guests leaving their seats while the ceremony is still in progress is disruptive and distracting for other guests, and for this reason you MUST REMAIN SEATED until after the end of the ceremony and after the procession and graduates have left the hall.

If you are bringing young children to the ceremony, then please note that there are no crèche facilities available at the hall and you must ensure you take children out of the ceremony if they become unsettled. No unaccompanied children will be admitted to the auditorium.

After the ceremony, you are invited to light refreshments at a reception. It would be appreciated if you could give the marshals your full co-operation especially by remaining seated at the end of the Ceremony until you are directed to the appropriate reception area.

Because of the very large numbers of people in the building, we have planned the movement of graduates and their guests so that congestion is minimised and traffic flow maintained. It is particularly important that we are able to keep the landings and the areas at the bottom of staircases clear at all times.

Thank you for your help. We hope you have an enjoyable day.

University of the Arts London