Log into PeopleSoft and check your Academic Record carefully to ensure that your qualification, specialisation, and/or your dissertation/thesis title is correct. If it is not, contact your faculty office urgently.

View your Academic Record on PeopleSoft: click on the ‘Academic Records’ tile then click ‘View Academic Record’. Ensure Academic Record Self-Service is the Report Type then click ‘Submit’. Enable pop-ups as the Academic Record will open in a new window.

By law, your degree documentation must reflect your full name exactly as recorded on your ID document or passport at the time of graduation.

Check your name on PeopleSoft: click on the ‘Profile’ tile and click on the ‘Names’ link under ‘Personal Details’ to view your full name. Your ‘Primary Name’ is what will appear on your certificate (please note that titles don’t appear on the certificate). You can also view your full name on your Academic Record.

If your name is reflected incorrectly on UCT’s records, please request that your name record is updated by e-mailing a certified copy of your ID document or passport to:

• reg-records@uct.ac.za

Do not attempt to update your name record on PeopleSoft yourself.

Should you fail to verify your name and require a corrected certificate to be printed after your graduation you will be charged a fee of R400.00.

If your fee account has not been settled you will not be able to access your academic record or graduate in December. Any qualifiers who had outstanding fees, fines, interests or dues as of 31 October 2023 have no guarantee of receiving their degrees in December, and their names will not appear in the graduation programme.

Please contact the Fees Office if you have any queries regarding your fee account:

• fnd-feeenq@uct.ac.za

Check your fee balance via PeopleSoft by clicking on the ‘Student Finance’ tile and then click ‘View Account Details’. If a payment is made on or near the cut-off date, proof of payment must be forwarded to the Fees Office marked ‘Graduation’, or the payment may not be noted in time.

Do not rely on a bursar, sponsor, or employer to make last-minute payments on your behalf, as the Fees Office may not be able to get this credit onto your fee account in time to qualify for graduation.

Ensure that you have a clear library record and owe no library fines or outstanding books. Ensure that you settled all pending disciplinary matters with the Student Disciplinary Tribunal. You will not be permitted to graduate in December if you have unpaid disciplinary fines or incomplete community service.

Prebook your academic attire through House of Graduates and your photography through Gordon Harris Photographic. You may only wear the gown and hood of the qualification that will be conferred upon you at the graduation ceremony. Wearing gowns and hoods of previous qualifications will not be permitted.

You do not need to RSVP or confirm your attendance. Graduates will be issued with two (2) guest tickets which must be collected before the ceremony.

On the day before your ceremony

Collect your name card, two (2) guest tickets, and academic attire from the Molly Blackburn Hall, Otto Beit Building between 09:00 and 18:00. No third-party collections will be permitted. You must present a valid photo ID (ie, SA ID document or passport) when collecting your tickets.

On the day of your ceremony

Graduands should enter the Sarah Baartman Hall at the side South Entrance wearing their academic attire, with their name cards and ensure that they are seated no later than 20 minutes before the ceremony commences. Please note that no flowers or large bags etc. will be permitted to be kept with you at your seat.

Guests should present their tickets at the front entrance to the hall and ensure that they are seated no later than 15 minutes before the ceremony commences. All guests require a ticket, regardless of their age.

Promptly 15 minutes before the ceremony commences the procedure for the ceremony will be explained.

During the ceremony you will receive your official graduation documentation and have your graduation photographs taken.

After the ceremony you may have your group/family pictures taken in the Maths Building.

Return your academic attire to the Molly Blackburn Hall no later than 1 hour after your ceremony.

The Disability Service provides support at all UCT graduation ceremonies. Persons with various disabilities including physical/mobility disabilities, Deaf people who require the services of a South African Sign Language Interpreter, or other disabilities may contact the Disability Service no later than two (2) weeks before the graduation ceremony to request assistance:

• disabilitygrad@uct.ac.za.

Please note that if you do not indicate that you require assistance timeously, the Disability Service will be unable to prioritise your request for assistance on the day of the graduation ceremony as there are limited resources available.

You are not required to RSVP or let us know that you will not be attending.

It is not possible to elect to defer your attendance to a future date. If you are not able to attend the graduation ceremony, you will graduate in absentia. No correspondence will be entered into regarding the deferment of graduation.

You will be able to collect your degree certificate from the Student Records Office (Masingene Building, Middle Campus) or request courier delivery from 3 January 2024 onwards. It will not be possible to receive your degree certificate before this date under any circumstances.

Please contact the Student Records Office from 3 January onwards to request courier:

• reg-records@uct.ac.za

Students’ network accounts give them access to UCT services which you will lose access to upon graduation; it is important that you carefully follow the instructions by ICTS on what to do before leaving:

• www.icts.uct.ac.za/leaving-UCT.

Your student email account remains active, which you may continue to use permanently, if you wish. An alias will be created following the format of name.surname@alumni.uct.ac.za. You may use either this alias or your original student email address.

You will receive the following documentation:

• your original hard copy degree certificate and one hard copy of your transcript
• one electronic certificate and one electronic transcript that will be emailed to your @myuct account after your graduation ceremony, ie between 18 and 29 December 2023.

If you have not received your electronic documents and don’t follow up within three months, you will only be able to receive an electronic transcript through the Student Records Office. If a certificate received after graduation is subsequently lost, damaged or stolen, graduates may apply for a duplicate certificate through the Student Records Office. The fee for a duplicate certificate is currently R800.00.

The only way to confirm that you are graduating is to check that your academic record states ‘Qualifies for award of degree’ with the 14 December 2023 confer date.

You are not required to RSVP or indicate your attendance. If you are attending, please follow the instructions in the section titled ‘If you will be attending your graduation ceremony’.

Yes. Invitation letters may be requested from Student Records Office. Kindly note that there is a turnaround period, therefore please submit your requests timeously. Requests should be sent via email:

• reg-records@uct.ac.za

If you are attending the ceremony, you will be issued with two (2) guest tickets. It is not possible to receive additional tickets. It is not possible to request the tickets of someone who will not be attending the ceremony.

Yes. Please note that all guests require a ticket, regardless of their age.

We are unable to confirm the exact duration. You can expect the ceremony to be approximately two (2) hours in duration.

Yes. The graduation ceremony will be livestreamed from the UCT website and social media channels.

Collect your tickets and academic attire from the Molly Blackburn Hall, Otto Beit Building, on the day before your ceremony as per the table above. No third party collections will be permitted. Ensure that you present a valid form of photo identity (SA ID or Passport only) when collecting your tickets.

No. Students with outstanding fees are not permitted to graduate or receive their academic documents. Once you have settled your outstanding fees, you will be allocated to the next graduation session.

Legally, it is not possible to receive your degree certificate before the qualification has been conferred upon you at the graduation ceremony (in person or in absentia). Request a qualification confirmation letter from the Student Records Office to use in place of the certificate in the interim:

• reg-records@uct.ac.za

Electronic copies of your degree certificate and transcript will be emailed to your MyUCT email address between 18 and 29 December 2023.

No. Official communication may only be sent to your @myUCT email address. Please ensure that you retain access to this mailbox.

It is not possible to elect to defer your attendance to a future date. If you are not able to attend the graduation ceremony, you will graduate in absentia. No correspondence will be entered into regarding the deferment of graduation.

Yes. Please follow the instructions on the ICTS website to ensure that you retain your email access:

• www.icts.uct.ac.za/leaving-UCT.