Today (Apr 23), Nottingham Trent University (NTU) announced they would be delaying their scheduled graduation ceremonies until September at the earliest.
The university have cited current coronavirus restrictions and uncertainty as the reason for the delay.
Students in the class of 2020 who have had their ceremonies delayed from last summer will now be due to graduate in September 2021.
Students due to graduate in the winter ceremonies this year will still go ahead as previously scheduled.
But, those due to finish their degrees this summer in the class of 2021 will have their ceremonies pushed back until Easter 2022.
Nottingham Trent University said: “Graduation is one of the highlights of our academic year and the celebration of your significant achievements is an occasion we look forward to celebrating with you.
“Due to the uncertainty around the lifting of Government COVID-19 restrictions, we have made the difficult and disappointing decision to postpone further the Class of 2020 graduation celebrations until September 2021.
“And after much careful consideration, and having discussed with Nottingham Trent Studentsā Union, we have taken the difficult and disappointing decision to postpone our Class of 2021 summer graduation ceremonies until Easter 2022.”
The university has also announced that graduating students will be able to hire their gown and hood free of charge as a thank-you for students’ patience.
Graduates will also be able to keep their hat after the ceremony.
Robbie Nichols, 22, a current MA News Journalism student at NTU who was also due to graduate from his undergraduate degree last summer, has reflected on the delay.
He said: “Iām happy that NTU are still planning to give us a graduation as many universities have cancelled them, but I do feel like after so long itās going to feel a bit pointless, though thatās not the universityās fault.
“It will also be nice to have a chance to celebrate that I managed to pass a degree during a pandemic, and I get to keep the hat which is fun.”
Meg Chadderton, 21, a Design student who was due to graduate in the class of 2021, revealed her disappointment at the news.
She said: “Honestly Iām gutted, Iād kind of come to terms with the fact it was going to be delayed but I thought it would only be a few months.
“A year is a long time and itās going to feel so strange to just move back home without any kind of celebration of the degree weāve worked so hard for.”
Students due to graduate are being urged to ensure their contact details are up to date and they keep an eye on their emails in the coming weeks for any updates.
You can find more information about the changes to the ceremonies here.
By Faith Pring