How Do I Graduate?

There are some important definitions to be aware of before you apply for the conferral of your award.

• Completion: Being completed in your program means that you have met the academic requirements of your award, and this will appear on your transcript as a completion statement. This is not the same as conferral, as you may still have outstanding financial obligations to the University. 

• Conferral: This is the process by which you are admitted to your award as a legal graduate of the University of Adelaide. When you are conferred, this means that you have met all of the requirements of your award. A conferral statement will replace the completion statement on your transcript.

• Presentation Event: This when you will be presented with your testamur. This can be either in person at a Graduation Ceremony or in absentia. The date of your conferral will appear on your testamur.

In order to be conferred in your award, you must apply for conferral in MyAdelaide. Your Faculty will then assess your eligibility for conferral, and communicate this in your graduation status letter (refer to step 4).

View the conferral deadlines to check when applications will open and close for a particular conferral round.

In some cases you may receive an automatic conferral application, but if not then you will be required to submit an application manually. Once applications have opened, you can check for an automatic application or submit a manual application by following these steps:

1. Log into MyAdelaide.
2. Select Graduations in the menu and scroll down the page.
3. Under the Graduations heading select Applications. Read the information carefully.
4. If you have received an automatic application for your program(s) of study, this will appear under Conferral Applications. You will see that the Presentation Event is listed as 'not specified'. Click on the Manage Application button, go to Presentation Event and click on Update. Once you have selected a Presentation Event and changed any relevant details, press Save. Click on the Update button at the bottom of the page and ensure that your Presentation Event is now listed in your graduation application details summary.
5. If you have not received an automatic application select the Apply button to add a new application. Confirm your award and personal details, and select the a Presentation Event. Once all of your details are correct, click the Save button at the bottom of the page.

Note: if any details listed within your application (i.e. your program or name details), please ensure that you follow the instructions and deadlines listed within your application to update these details in time for your conferral.

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How to apply if you no longer have MyAdelaide privileges

If you have been away from the University for some time, you may no longer have access to MyAdelaide.

You will need to complete and submit the application for setting up MyAdelaide privileges form to Ask Adelaide to re-activate your MyAdelaide account. When your account has been re-activated, you will need to submit an application to graduate.

At the time that you apply for conferral, you also need to select a presentation event to indicate how you wish to receive your testamur. Failure to select a presentation event will result in your testamur not being printed.

If you want to attend a ceremony – select the ceremony round that you would like to attend (i.e. April/May or September). Graduates are only eligible to attend a graduation ceremony that is held within 12 months of the date of conferral of their award.

If you don’t want to attend a ceremony – select the ‘In Absentia’ option. This means that your testamur will be available for collection or posted to you approximately 2 weeks after the conclusion of the final in person ceremony.

To select, or check that you have selected, a presentation event:

1. Log into MyAdelaide.
2. Select Graduations in the Menu.
3. Scroll down on the page to your Conferral Applications. If you have already selected a presentation event, it will be listed in your application summary.
4. If you wish to select or update your presentation event, click on Manage Application.
5. Go to Presentation Event and click on Update.
6. Select your preferred option and then Save.
7. Click on the Update button at the bottom of the page and ensure that your Presentation Event is now listed in your graduation application details summary.

Note: you will only be eligible to receive your testamur if you are successfully conferred, but it is important to select your Presentation Event at the time that you apply for conferral to ensure that you do not miss any application deadlines. Often applications for presentation events will close before conferral is processed.

The deadline to ensure all of your details are correct for your conferral is called the anomalies deadline. This is usually the last business day prior to the conferral date, however please check the conferral deadlines to find the anomalies deadline for the conferral round that you are applying for.

It is important that you check all of your personal details, particularly your name, carefully. The name that is recorded for you in the system at the anomalies deadline will determine how your name will appear on your testamur. If you update your name after the anomalies deadline, there is a cost of $250 to have your testamur reissued in a new name (even if it has not yet been printed).

The three things you need to check when looking at your details are:

1. Your name: this should be your full legal name as it appears on your birth certificate or passport. If your name is not correct, you will need to complete a change of personal details form and provide relevant documentation.
    
2. Your name order and special characters (i.e. accents): this will determine how your name is presented on your testamur. The University of Adelaide allows students to rearrange the components in their names so that students can have their last name appear first on their testamur. You are also permitted to add special characters (i.e. accents) is these exist in your legal name. You can rearrange the order of your name and add special characters under step 2 of conferral application.
    
3. Your contact details: If you have requested that we post your testamur, please ensure that your have listed the correct postage address in your conferral application. Please also ensure you have provided a mobile phone number that the courier will be able to contact you on when delivering your testamur.

Approximately five business days prior to the anomalies deadline, the Graduations Office will release a status letter in your MyAdelaide account. This letter will confirm whether you are eligible to graduate and, if so, you will need to check that your name and program details are recorded correctly for your conferral.

Please refer to the conferral deadlines to find out when status letters are scheduled to be released.

To be eligible to be conferred, you must:

1. Complete all academic requirements for your award
2. Complete any practical experience required
3. Be in good financial standing with the University (not have outstanding financial obligations / Negative Service Indicators)

If you receive a 'Ineligible to Graduate' letter

If your status letter indicates that you are ineligible to graduate, you will need to follow the instructions in your letter to resolve the issue.

If you are ineligible for academic reasons, you will need to contact your Faculty. The Faculty are able to provide accurate details about your academic eligibility. Postgraduate Research students who have submitted their final bound thesis before the deadline will need to contact the Adelaide Graduate Research School.

For outstanding financial obligations, you should contact the relevant department:

1. Student Finance - overdue tuition fees if you are a full fee paying student, unpaid field trip fees or an unpaid Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF).
2. The Barr Smith Library - for outstanding library fees
3. Education and Welfare - for outstanding student loans, emergency loans and accommodation.

You will need to resolve the issue and receive a ‘Now Eligible to Graduate’ letter by the anomalies deadline in order to be eligible for conferral in the current round. If the issue is not resolved in time, your application will become inactive and you will not graduate. You will need to submit an application to graduate in the next conferral round once applications open.

If you receive an 'Eligible to Graduate' letter

If your status letter indicates that you are eligible to graduate, you will still need to carefully check that the following details are correct. If any details are incorrect, they must be updated by the anomalies deadline in order to be effective for your conferral.

• Your name – if this is incorrect, you will need to submit a change of personal details form. If you cannot access the online form, you can download the hard copy change of personal details form. Please submit this form as early as possible, to allow time for it to be processed by the anomalies deadline.
   
• Your award – if this is incorrect, contact your Faculty.
   
• Your Honours class – if you are graduating from and Honours degree, ensure that your Honours class is listed correctly. If you are not graduating from an Honours award, this section should state ‘none recorded’.
• Your major – if you are graduating from an award that includes a major, ensure that this is listed correctly. If this is incorrect, contact your Faculty. If you are not receiving a major, this section should state ‘none recorded’.
   
• Your thesis title – If you are a postgraduate research student (i.e. PhD or Masters by Research), ensure your thesis title is listed correctly. If you are not a postgraduate research student, this section should state ‘ Applicable to Doctorate Awards Only’.

Please be aware that the name and award title that appear in your letter reflects what will be printed on your testamur. These details cannot be updated for your testamur after the anomalies deadline. The cost to purchase a reissue testamur in a new name is $250.

If you are eligible for the conferral of your award, the Graduations Office will process your conferral by 5pm on the conferral date (or by 5pm the next business day if your conferral date falls on a weekend, public holiday or during University closure).

Conferral is a system process only and does not require you to be present on the day. Once your conferral has been processed, this will be reflected on your Academic Transcript.

Upon conferral you will receive a free digital copy of your Official Academic Transcript, Australian Higher Education Graduation Statement (AHEGS) and testamur.

Official Academic Transcript and AHEGS

Shortly after your conferral you will be issued with a complimentary digital copy of your Official Academic Transcript and your Australian Higher Education Graduation Statement (AHEGS).

The Graduations Office will commence issuing these documents as soon as conferral has been processed, however the documents may take up to one week to be released. There is often a delay between the time that you receive each of these documents.

Testamur

Testamurs are issued in accordance with the presentation event selected in your conferral application (i.e. at a graduation ceremony or during an In Absentia round). All graduates are issued with a digital and hard copy version of the testamur. Please see below for details about receiving your testamur.

See the digital documents page for more information about official digital documents.

Please follow the links below to find out more about receiving your testamur, depending on which presentation event you have selected.