On your graduation day
What to expect on your big day!
Public transport
The Cathedrals are located close to train stations (Canterbury West / Canterbury East and Rochester) and Southeastern offer a high-speed rail service which takes less than an hour from London.
Parking
There are lots of places to park when attending a graduation ceremony, however Canterbury and Rochester will be busy at this time. We recommend checking out the parking in advance and leave plenty of time for travel and parking.
We cannot provide parking within the Cathedral grounds. Please arrive with plenty of time to allow for parking.
There are a number of pay and display car parks available.
Canterbury
Please see the Canterbury Council parking list.
You may also wish to use the Park and Ride service, with buses running regularly from just outside the city centre.
Canterbury Cathedral is sited within the pedestrian zone and there is restricted access controlled by security bollards, you may not be able to drop guests off by car at the Cathedral via the Christ Church gate.
Rochester
Please see the Medway Council parking list.
We also run a park and ride service from the Medway campus to Rochester, please get in touch to request details.
Canterbury Cathedral & Rochester Cathedral
Ticket & gown collection: Shirley Hall
Photography: Cathedral Lodge Hotel
Ticket collection, photography, gowning: Corn Exchange
Information about collecting your tickets:
You will need to bring your E-Receipt with you, which is an email that has been sent to you containing barcodes. This will be sent to you around a week before your graduation ceremony.
Please note, your guests will not be able to enter the Cathedral without the hard copy of their ticket.
Canterbury
After collecting your gown and your guest tickets and handed the tickets to your guests, please head to Chapter House in the Cathedral grounds for Graduate Registration.
This is where you will collect your number in the processional order. You will need to be back in Chapter House at least 45 minutes before your ceremony start time.
This will allow enough time for the Graduate Seating Team to organise all students in number order and process into the Cathedral.
Rochester
Graduate registration will be in the Corn Exchange, where you collect your guest tickets and photography.
You will need to be back in the Queen's room, Corn Exchange at least 45 minutes before your ceremony start time. This will allow enough time for the Graduate Seating Team to organise all students in number order and process into the Cathedral.
Once you have processed into the Cathedral and sat down, you will watch the ceremony, cheering on your classmates until it is your turn to graduate.
Graduation ceremonies are a formal opportunity to celebrate you. They will begin with the processions into the Cathedral, starting with students and ending with senior academics and civic attendees.
You will hear from our Presiding Officer, and either the new honorary graduate if there is one being awarded at the ceremony or representatives from our Kent students union. Ceremonies are about 90 minutes long.
There will be an opportunity for official photographs to be taken by Tempest Photography. Locations: Cathedral Lodge Hotel (Canterbury), The Corn Exchange (Rochester)
Merchandise will be available to purchase both on the day of your graduation ceremony and online.