Award and conferment of degrees
Once the examiners have approved the award of a degree and returned their forms to Research & Innovation Services there are a number of checks that need to be completed before an award can be made. All students are debt-checked and Research & Innovation Services also checks to ensure that a Library copy of the thesis has also been received, including, where applicable, an electronic library copy (eThesis). In addition, students must have satisfied the relevant criteria of the Doctoral Development Programme (or Research Training Programme for students registered prior to 2010).
Once these checks have been satisfactorily completed, the award must first be approved by the relevant Faculty before it can be confirmed and an award letter can be sent. Notification of the award of a degree will be sent to successful students by Research & Innovation Services, following approval by the Faculty. Letters will be posted to the correspondence address held on the student's record. Students are responsible for ensuring that their addresses are kept up-to-date on the student record. This is essential so that important University correspondence is received promptly.
Every effort is made to keep to a minimum the delay between receipt of the examiners' report by Research & Innovation Services, formal approval by the Faculty and subsequent notification to the student of the award of the degree; however students should be aware that the process can take a number of weeks. Any student who requires urgent notification of his/her result, for example for employment purposes, should contact Research & Innovation Services.
Once a degree has been awarded the student record will be updated to show that the student has successfully completed. The Events Team will contact the student in due course to arrange for the formal conferment of the degree. The Events Team will issue an invitation to the next available Degree Ceremony, which will normally be held in the January or July following the award. Any queries concerning the likely date of the ceremony should be addressed to the Events Team on (0114) 222 8828 or e-mail graduation@sheffield.ac.uk .
It should be noted that, although as many students as possible are invited to the first ceremony to be held after the award of their degrees, it is not always possible to include all candidates at a particular ceremony; students should not therefore assume that they will automatically be included in that ceremony, even if departments and supervisors indicate that this will be the case. Only the Events Team has the authority to confirm invitations to particular ceremonies.
Candidates who are awarded their degree by the cut-off date of the end of March will be invited to attend the July graduation ceremonies and candidates who are awarded by the end of September will be invited to attend the January graduation ceremonies. Candidates completing after these deadlines will be invited only if space permits and may be required to wait until the next ceremonies.
Students graduating in person will receive their degree certificates at the Degree Ceremony. Students who choose to graduate in absentia may request their certificates by post from the Events Team.