Apply to graduate

Use these step-by-step instructions to guide you through applying for graduation—and find out deadlines for attending graduation ceremonies.

When you apply to graduate, you are applying for the University to formally grant your qualification, as well as telling us whether you want to attend a graduation ceremony or receive your certificate in another way. The formal granting of your qualification is called conferment.

You need to apply to have your qualification conferred even if you don't want to attend a graduation ceremony.

There are a few steps that need to be completed:

1. Your qualification will be reviewed and confirmed as completed—you can check the status of your qualification in the Student Records section of Pūaha.
2. Pay any outstanding fees or fines.
3. Check the details we hold for you are correct, including your full legal and preferred names, email address and qualification.
4. Complete an Online Conferment Application—be sure to apply by the deadlines below if you want to attend a graduation ceremony.
5. Your qualification will be conferred at University Council.
6. Receive your qualification certificate—at a ceremony, by post, or collect it from campus.

Step 1: Your qualification will be marked as 'qualification completed'

After your final grades are released, your qualification must be marked as 'qualification completed' in the Student Records tool in Pūaha before you can apply to graduate and have your qualification conferred. There may be a delay of up to five weeks between the release of your final grades and this status appearing in your records.

If your qualification isn’t marked as 'qualification completed' in Student Records within that time frame and you think there might be a problem, contact your Student Success team.

To find out when the final grades are released, visit the Key Dates webpage.

Step 2: Pay any money you owe to the University

Outstanding fees, debts, or fines need to be cleared before your qualification can be conferred. A delay in conferment can affect which graduation ceremony you are able to attend.

To see if you have any money to pay, use the Student Records tool within Pūaha and select ‘View fees account and make payments’.

Step 3: Check the details we hold are correct

Make sure that your details are correct, as recorded in Pūaha.

• Full legal name and qualification—check that your full legal name and qualification are correct as these will appear on your qualification certificate—the formal, legal record of your qualification.
• Preferred first name—check that your preferred first name in Pūaha is correct. If you decide to attend the ceremonies, your preferred first name and your last legal name will be announced during the ceremony and printed in the graduation programme.
• Email address—check the email address is correct, as we’ll use this to contact you. You’ll also use this address to access your electronic transcripts.
• Contact details—check your contact details, including your postal address, postcode and phone number are correct. If you selected to have your certificate posted, this is where it will be sent. For international postage, a local phone number and postcode must be provided along with the postal address.

It is better to update these details early as making changes while you’re applying to graduate can cause delays.

Find out how to update your contact details in Pūaha, and how to change your legal name in the University's records.

Step 4: Apply to have your qualification conferred

In order to have your certificate legally conferred by the University—whether you want to go to a ceremony or not—you must complete the Online Conferment Application form.

When your qualification status is marked 'qualification completed' by your Student Success Adviser, an automatic email will be sent to your preferred address. This email may end up in your spam or junk folder.

Within this email, there will be a link to the Online Conferment Application form. You can also find the form in the Student Records tool in Pūaha.

Double check that all the information is correct and if it is not, follow the instructions on the form to get it updated.

You’ll also use this form to tell us whether or not you want to attend a ceremony, receive your certificate by post, or pick it up from Kelburn campus.

Postgraduate thesis students

If you have completed a PhD or a Master's by thesis degree, you will need to have deposited your thesis in the Library before you can apply to have your degree conferred or attend a graduation ceremony.

The Faculty of Graduate Research website has more information:

• Graduation eligibility for PhD students
• Graduation eligibility for Master's by thesis students

Step 5: Your qualification will be conferred

After you have submitted your application to have your qualification conferred, you will receive a confirmation email. This email will confirm that your application was approved, along with the details you submitted and the date when your qualification will be conferred.

If you haven’t received this email, it means that either your name and/or your qualification details were marked as incorrect in your application. We will contact you if we require any further information.

Qualification conferment dates

The formal conferment of your qualification takes place at a meeting of the University Council. You don’t need to attend this meeting and it is not the same as a graduation ceremony.

University Council meetings are held approximately every six weeks between February and December. Look at the table below to find out when you can have your qualification conferred and when your digital certificate will be available.

Step 6: Getting a copy of your certificate

Graduation ceremonies

If you choose to attend a ceremony, you’ll get your certificate then.

For those attending the May ceremonies, you will begin receiving email communications from the Graduation office in mid-March, confirming the details of your ceremony. If you choose to attend the December ceremonies, you will start receiving email updates from the Graduation office in mid-October.

Collect your certificate or receive it through the post

If you have chosen not to receive your certificate at a ceremony, your hard copy certificate will be printed within five working days of conferment and will then be available for collection or to send by post.

Read more about getting a copy of your qualification certificate.

Digital copies

We will issue you with a digital copy of your qualification certificate through myeQuals within five working days of the University Council meeting where your graduation is conferred.

Read more about accessing your University documents through eQuals.

Ceremony eligibility

From the date of your application to have your qualification conferred, you are eligible to attend one of the next three graduation ceremonies.

For example, if you applied on 21 August, you will be included in the September conferment, and you will be able to attend either the December ceremonies, May ceremonies the following year, or December ceremonies the following year.

Graduation ceremonies are for recent graduates, so if you do not attend one of the upcoming three graduation ceremonies, your certificate will need to be posted to you. Contact graduation@vuw.ac.nz to ensure your postal details are correct.

Details about application deadlines

Trimester 2 completions

Students completing their studies in Trimester 2 usually attend the May graduation ceremonies.

Trimester 3 completions

Students completing their studies in Trimester 3 may be eligible to attend the May graduation ceremonies. However, this is subject to the timely submission of final grades and the completion of a qualification audit by the Student Success teams. The 7 March deadline is strict.

Reasons for application deadlines

These deadlines are because the administrative process to allow students to apply to have their qualification granted can take some time to complete after their course of study has finished (up to three weeks). All students need to apply by 1 October to be included in the December graduation ceremonies, and by 7 March to be included in the May graduation ceremonies.

There are three main phases to the administrative process that need to be completed before a student can apply for graduation:

• courses need to have been finished and all assignments/exams need to be completed with final grades input
• following this the Student Success Teams complete a manual qualification audit, where they ensure the student has completed all the requirements of their qualification
• this triggers an automatic email to be sent to you.