Melbourne Higher Education graduation ceremonies are held twice yearly at Flemington Racecourse.
Flemington Racecourse is the perfect setting to mark the end of your course in the West of Melbourne, celebrating with family, friends and the VU Community.
More detailed information about your ceremony will be provided in your official invitation.
The following table details your ceremony eligibility and other key associated dates:
| September 2023 round | |
| What are the planned graduation ceremony dates? | 11-15 September 2023 |
| When will my award be conferred by? | 3 August 2023 |
| When will I receive my digital documents (Testamurs, Transcript & AHEGS) | From 4 August 2023 |
| When will my graduation ceremony invitation be sent by? | From 9 August 2023 |
| When will I receive my hardcopy testamur (certificate)? | If you have not previously received your hard copy testamur, it will be available for collection when your gown has been returned to GFP. If you do not wish to attend your ceremony and have not received your hardcopy testamur, you’ll receive a communication after the ceremony indicating how to receive it. |
| When is my course scheduled to graduate? | Find your graduation time. |
You have your tickets, and graduation day has arrived! The information below will step you through what to expect on the day. Specific ceremony timings will be emailed to you in the days leading up to the event.
Melbourne graduation ceremonies are held at Flemington Racecourse, not far from our Footscray Park campus. If you arrive by car, parking attendants will be on site to direct you to the closest car park.
If you are planning to use public transport, we recommend that you use the PTV Journey planner to plan your trip. Note that the train station at Flemington Racecourse will not be operating during graduation ceremonies.
Upon arrivale you will follow the signs and make your way to the main entrance of the venue. It is recommended that you arrive 1-2 hours before the ceremony to allow enough time for Check-in, Gowning & Photography.
Upon arrival, you will confirm your attendance with GFP – our graduations partner, who look after ticketing, gowning and photography.
You will be given a seat number that you must keep until you enter the ceremony.
You’ll then be directed through to the regalia area where you get gowned and ready for the celebration and once you’ve been gowned, you will be able to get professional photos taken with your loved ones. There is also graduations memorabilia and flowers available for you or your guests to purchase.
Note that photography will close 30 minutes prior to the ceremony start time, so it’s best to arrive early. There will also be an opportunity to get photography after the ceremony.
Doors to enter the ceremony will open 60 minutes prior to the start of the presentation. Guests will need to have tickets ready to scan to enter the venue. If your guests do not have a valid ticket, they will not be allowed inside.
Once inside, graduates can speak to one of our friendly staff who will help you find your seat number. Guests can sit anywhere, so long as there is no sticker on the seat.
After some formal proceedings, our staff will direct you to line up and get ready to cross the stage. This is the moment you’ve been waiting for!
You will be briefed about what you need to do on stage and our staff are always happy to help. Once on stage you will get to pose for a photo with a graduation cylinder, before returning to your seat. The cylinders are for photography purposes only, and don’t contain your award.
The Order of Proceedings can vary slightly from ceremony to ceremony. However generally the ceremony will run for around 1 hour, in the following format:
The Graduate reception will take place after the ceremony. This is an opportunity to celebrate with your friends, family and fellow graduates. The reception goes for one hour.
Light refreshments will be provided at the reception.
After the reception, you will follow the signs to return your gown. When your gown has been returned to GFP you can pick up your official testamur (certificate), if your hard copy version hasn't already been previously issued. This will conclude your graduation celebration.
We realise that sometimes, not all of your friends, family and colleagues can make it to graduations and for that reason we have developed an online graduation experience so that your loved ones can cheer you on from afar! See what’s on offer below:
Yes, your friends and family can watch the ceremony live!
Send the link to as many people as you like, the online stream is free and easy to access via the button above or directly at vu.edu.au/WatchGrads.
Be sure to tell your friends and family to send in their messages of congratulations either on YouTube or on the website and those comments will be displayed on the large screens inside the venue, so you and your fellow graduates can read them during the ceremony.
(Note that comments are moderated, inappropriate comments and users will be blocked from the chat).
