May 2025 graduation timeline
Get all the information you need to attend a graduation ceremony in May, and find out when your ceremony will be held.
The University holds graduation ceremonies in May and December each year. The May 2025 ceremonies will take place from 13–16 May.
Get ready for May 2025
Take a look at the calendar of dates below, add them to your calendar, and find out what you need to do next to be ready for your May 2025 graduation ceremony.
We will email you everything you need to know, so make sure your email address is up-to-date. Update your details by logging into Pūaha, or emailing info@vuw.ac.nz.
Previous dates
7 March
- Final day to apply to graduate and attend the May 2025 ceremonies.
- Email certified documentation of legal name changes to enrolments@vuw.ac.nz.
Week of 10 March
- By the end of this week (14 March), the Graduation Office will send you an email to confirm your ceremony allocation.
12 March
- Order your academic dress by this date to receive the earlybird discount.
Week of 17 March
- By the end of this week (21 March), you will be emailed an online form to order your guest tickets for your Michael Fowler Centre graduation ceremony (guest ticketing for Te Hui Whakapūmau follows a different process).
- You are automatically allocated three guest tickets. If you require three guest tickets only, there is no need to complete the form.
- You do not need a ticket for yourself, tickets are free, and you can use the form to request additional tickets OR to return some or all of your three automatically allocated tickets.
- By the end of this week, you will receive an email with the NameCoach form to confirm the pronunciation of your name for the ceremony. Your preferred first name and legal last name, as recorded in Pūaha, will be read out as you cross the stage and listed in the graduation programme. If you have not selected a preferred first name, your legal first name will be used. You can update your preferred first name in Pūaha.
24 March
- Last day for Doctorate graduates to submit their summary via this Qualtrics form.
4 April
- Last day to confirm the number of guest tickets you need for your Michael Fowler Centre graduation ceremony is through the form emailed earlier in the month.
- Last day to complete the withdrawal form to confirm you are no longer attending and to defer to another ceremony. (This also impacts students' additional ticket requests, so please be considerate if you have decided not to attend and complete this form promptly). After this date, we will not be able to guarantee deferral to another ceremony.
6 April
- Last day to confirm the pronunciation of your name. This is done via the NameCoach form.
- Last day to update your preferred first name in Pūaha. Your preferred first name and your legal last name will be read out as you cross the stage and listed in the graduation programme. If you have not chosen a preferred first name, your legal first name will be used.
Week of 7 April
- By the end of this week (11 April), the Graduation Office will confirm your guest tickets. Ticket allocations are final.
29 April
- A late fee will now be charged on academic dress orders.
2 May
- Final day to submit the Additional Requirements Form to inform us of any special requirements for you or your guests (for example, disability accommodations, wheelchair access, serious medical conditions, breastfeeding, pregnancy, and so on).
Week of 5 May
- If you are attending a ceremony at the Michael Fowler Centre, you will be sent an individual QR code that you will use to collect your tickets. You can ask a friend or family member to pick up your tickets for you. They will need to sign for it, and our service will be much faster if you have forwarded them the email with your QR code or printed it out for them.
- Keep your guest tickets safe. We will not be able to replace your guest tickets if you misplace them.
Graduation parade
Tuesday 13 May 2025
- Faculty of Architecture and Design Innovation
- Faculty of Education
- Faculty of Health
- Faculty of Humanities and Social Science.
Thursday 15 May 2025
- Faculty of Engineering
- Faculty of Law
- Faculty of Science
- Wellington School of Business and Government.
Both graduation parades leave from the Law School, Government Buildings, Lambton Quay at 1 pm. You will need to be at the Law School by 12.45 pm.
To take part in the parade, you must be registered to attend a ceremony and wear your academic dress.
Graduation ceremony dates and times
Tuesday 13 May 2025
Ceremony 1—9.30 am
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences:
- School of History, Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations
- School of Languages and Cultures
- School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies
- School of Social and Cultural Studies
- Te Kawa a Māui.
Ceremony 2—3 pm
Faculty of Education and Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences:
- International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML)
- New Zealand School of Music—Te Kōkī (NZSM)
- School of English, Film, Theatre, Media and Communication, and Art History.
Wednesday 14 May 2025
Ceremony 3—9.30 am
Faculty of Architecture and Design Innovation and Faculty of Health
Ceremony 4—3 pm
Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Science
Thursday 15 May 2025
Ceremony 5—9.30 am
Wellington School of Business and Government:
- School of Information Management
- School of Government
- School of Management
- School of Marketing and International Business.
Ceremony 6—3 pm
Faculty of Law and Wellington School of Business and Government:
- School of Accounting and Commercial Law
- School of Economics and Finance.
Te Hui Whakapūmau
Thursday 15 May 2025
Pōwhiri—3 pm
- All faculties.
This pōwhiri is an important part of fulfilling our cultural obligations and ensuring there is enough time for two graduation ceremonies on Friday 16 May 2025. You and your whānau are welcome to attend if you can, though we understand that some whānau members may still be travelling at that time. Please note that there will be no official pōwhiri on graduation day.
Friday 16 May 2025
Morning ceremony—9.30 am
- Faculty of Education
- Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Afternoon ceremony—2 pm
- Faculty of Architecture and Design Innovation
- Faculty of Engineering
- Faculty of Health
- Faculty of Law
- Faculty of Science
- Wellington School of Business and Government.
Te Hui Whakapūmau is an official university graduation ceremony based on tikanga Māori (Māori cultural practices). It's held in May and December each year.
Te Hui Whakapūmau will be held at Ngā Mokopuna (formerly the Living Pā), which was opened on 6 December 2024.