Awarding degrees & producing certificates

As a student comes to the end of their course, the Board of Studies in their Faculty, the School of Management or the Doctoral College will meet to consider the approval of their award.

Once the Boards of Studies have taken place, the awards they have approved are conferred in accordance with our Charter and Statutes.

Following conferral, we're able to verify that your award has been approved.

If you're not sure at which Board of Studies meeting your award will be considered, contact your Department or, if you're a Doctoral student, the Doctoral College.

How you'll get your certificate

Once your award has been conferred, we'll either:

• give your certificate to you at your award ceremony, if you've notified us that you will be attending, or
• arrange to post your certificate to you at one of three specified points during the year.

Receiving your certificate at your graduation ceremony

Normally, degree certificates will be provided on the day to all graduates attending a graduation ceremony, if they have not already received their certificate, and they don't have any outstanding tuition fee debt (see the section 'Tuition fee debt' below).

Receiving your certificate by post

If you're unable or do not wish to attend a ceremony this year, and have provided us with an up-to-date address, your certificate will be posted to you after the ceremonies.

We'll arrange for your certificate to be posted to the address of your choice. If you haven’t already provided your details, we'll contact you to confirm your address for postage.

• If your address is within the UK, your certificate will be sent using first-class Royal Mail.

• If your address is overseas, your certificate will be sent using DHL.

We currently produce certificates three times a year:

• In July/August, intended to coincide with regular summer ceremonies.
• In December, intended to coincide with regular winter ceremonies.
• In March, to reduce waiting times between the two main production points.

Outside of these times we can provide verification letters on request. In exceptional circumstances a hardcopy of a certificate may be produced.

Tuition fee debt

Your certificate will be withheld from you if you have any outstanding tuition fee debts at the point that an award is conferred, but it won't prevent you from attending your award ceremony.

If you are in this situation you should speak to our Credit Control team as soon as possible to settle your outstanding fees.

Proof of your award

If you want to show an external organisation (an employer, or government organisation, for example) that your award has been approved by a Board of Studies before you’ve received your certificate, you can request an “award verification letter” from Academic Registry. You can do this by emailing verification@bath.ac.uk, once your final award is confirmed on SAMIS or when you know the Board of Studies has approved your award.

If you need a copy of your certificate

If you’d like to get a duplicate certificate or an endorsed/certified copy of your certificate (for example, if it’s been damaged or lost in the post) follow the instructions in our guide Get a copy of your certificate.