Dear students,

We are pleased to advise you that, with effect from this academic year (2021-22), degree conferment will be decoupled from the Congregation/Graduation ceremonies in November/December. There will be three specified dates for conferment of Master's and Doctoral degrees awarded by the University in a calendar year. These specified conferment dates are 31 March (Term 1), 31 July (Term 2), 15 October (Summer term). Under this new arrangement, students who have fulfilled all graduation requirements can have their degree conferred at an earlier date, which will facilitate their further studies or employment needs.

To better accommodate the needs of students, graduates with their degrees conferred on 15 October (Summer term) will be given two options regarding the date to be printed on the degree certificate: 15 October or 15 November. 

As the degrees are conferred after the completion of the graduation assessment, students are reminded to plan their studies carefully and to fulfill all graduation requirements by the end of the specified academic term. Students should proactively follow up with the course teachers concerned for any pending grade after the grade release date. For students with pending grades/documents/records at the time of graduation assessment (e.g. units exemption applications, unresolved disciplinary actions, etc.), their degree conferment will be postponed to the next degree conferment date.

M.Phil. and Ph.D. students should also observe the timeline to declare the intention to submit a thesis (i.e., at least four months before actual submission), and to submit the first draft of the thesis. In particular, students are required to submit the final thesis before the deadline as stipulated below in order to have their graduation included in the degree conferment date concerned.

The degree certificates will be available for collection around one month after the degree conferment date. Due to the impact of multiple reasons of COVID-19, transportation takes about 2-3 weeks. Details on the collection of degree certificates will be announced via Email by GS or Programme office.

Graduate School Office

10 October 2022