Accessibility and Support at Graduations

If you are driving to the celebrations, parking for blue badge holders is available on campus and is identifiable via the campus mobility map. We recommend that you enter via East Gate (near the Guild of Students) so that security can allow you onto campus to find appropriate blue badge parking. Some disabled parking may require you to enter restricted campus areas. If this is the case, please press the buzzer to speak to security, who will be able to open the appropriate gate for you. Please ensure that you display your blue badge clearly.

Your graduation ceremony will take place on our Edgbaston Campus in the Great Hall (Aston Webb Building). The campus mobility map shows level access routes to the Great Hall. If you require level access, you should enter via the Bramall Building (reference R12 on the campus mobility map).

For hearing aid users, the Aston Webb reception and foyer area has an induction loop system installed and the Great Hall is fitted with an infrared (IR) hearing system.

Registered assistance animals can be brought into the Great Hall. If you are a graduand and have an assistance animal that you plan to bring with you to the Degree Congregations, please email gradhelp@contacts.bham.ac.uk so that we can discuss your requirements.

Yes, aids such as wheelchairs and mobility scooters can be brought into the Great Hall. If you will remain seated in a wheelchair or scooter throughout the ceremony, please speak to a member of staff in the Great Hall who will be able to help clear a space at the end of a row. 

A member of staff in the Great Hall will be able to advise where you can store any items which will not be in use whilst you are seated for the ceremony.

The university is unable to provide wheelchairs for graduands and guests to borrow. However, you can speak to a member of staff at our Accessibility & Support Stand who will be able to support you and suggest limited walking routes.

Graduating students have an allocated seat at the back of the Great Hall. Guest seating is at the front of the Great Hall and is unallocated.

If you are a graduand and would like to request specific seating arrangements due to access needs, please email us at gradhelp@contacts.bham.ac.uk and we can discuss your options.

If you are a guest and require special seating arrangements due to a disability, for example end of row seating or space for a wheelchair, please ensure you arrive at the Aston Webb reception an hour before the ceremony start time and a member of staff will accompany you into the Great Hall to find suitable seating.

Your ceremony will involve:

• Being seated for approximately one and a half hours (both graduands and guests)
• Waiting in line for approximately five minutes before your name is read out
• Accessing the stage by a set of stairs (please let us know beforehand if you have a mobility impairment that would require alternative arrangements)
• Leaving the stage and returning to your seat at the back of the hall via the central aisle

There will also be moments of music and clapping throughout the ceremony, which can become very loud.

You can get a feel for what your graduation ceremony may look like by watching recordings of previous congregations on the University of Birmingham's YouTube Channel.

If you have any concerns about the logistics of your graduation ceremony, please email us at gradhelp@contacts.bham.ac.uk to discuss how we can make the day easier for you.

If you have hired robes to wear at your graduation ceremony, these will need to be collected from the first floor of the Bramall building (reference R12 on the campus mobility map), which can be accessed using a lift. There will be members of staff from Ede and Ravenscroft available to help you put on your robes correctly. 

The robe return and certificate collection point will be in the Aston Webb Main Lecture Theatre. The easiest accessible route would be to take the large lift in the Bramall Music Building down to the lower ground floor, then exit outside and re-enter into the Aston Webb C Block.

Ede and Ravenscroft offer a range of photography packages, which can be booked online using the same form as for hiring academic dress. Portrait photography will take place in the Nuffield Building which has level access.  The studios will be open from 08:00 until 20:00 on days with 4 ceremonies (last ceremony 5.30pm), and 08:00 to 19:00 hours on days with 3 ceremonies (last ceremony 3pm).

There will be an Accessibility & Support Stand on the day of your ceremony located in the Aston Webb Student Hub (R7 on the campus mobility map). Please visit us here if you have any questions or concerns on the day, and a member of staff will be able to assist you.