Accessibility/special requirements

All seating at graduation is pre-allocated. Should you or your guests require any specific access or seating arrangements for medical, mobility or other reasons, you will need to let us know when you register.

Accessibility and special arrangements should be requested by the graduand (graduating student), on your registration form.  The form is accessed via the invitation email which will be sent to your personal (home) email address, when registration opens for your congregation.

Note that we cannot make accessibility arrangements for your graduation ceremony before registration opens.

Specific requirements

If you have requested accessibility arrangements on the registration form you will be contacted for further information.  If you have not requested arrangements via the form, please email graduation-office@bristol.ac.uk with your requirements and we will do our best to help you.

Support we have been able to offer at previous ceremonies includes wheelchair access, mobility support, British Sign Language interpretation and taking account of guests suffering from acrophobia (fear of heights). 

Please note, you will need to declare if the accessibility requirements are for guests who will receive your guaranteed tickets, or extra guest tickets if allocated.

Carers

Tickets are offered for carers to accompany students or guests into the Great Hall for the duration of the ceremony if 24 hour professional/medically trained care is required.  In other circumstances, carers can be issued with an entry pass to allow them to escort students or guests into the building and remain in the areas near the hall while the ceremony takes place. 

Information about requirements for carer tickets should be given when you are contacted for details of your accessibility needs.

Disabled parking

We have extremely limited disabled parking available if you have a blue badge, which is allocated on a first come first served basis and should be requested via the registration form.

Students who tick the accessibility arrangements box on the form can book car parking when you are contacted about your requirements.  If you have already completed registration and did not request assistance by ticking the box on the form, please contact graduation-office@bristol.ac.uk

Clean Air Zone

A clean air zone operates in Bristol, so some vehicles may incur a charge on some routes to our graduation venues.  See Bristol City Council's Clean Air Zone webpages for maps and information.

Venue information

Graduation ceremony - Wills Memorial Building

The graduation ceremony takes place in the Wills Memorial Building, Queens Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ.

There is a gown drop-off point on the ground floor during graduation.

Find out about access information for Wills Memorial Building.

All other graduation services - Victoria Rooms

  • Ticket collection
  • Gown collection
  • Official photography
  • Merchandise stalls
  • Live screening of ceremonies

The above graduation services take place in the Victoria Rooms, Queens Rd, Bristol BS8 1SA, on the day of your ceremony.

Find out about access information for the Victoria Rooms.

Logistics

It is a downhill walk from the Victoria Rooms to the Wills Memorial Building which take about 10 minutes.

The areas around these buildings will be very busy, so you should take this into consideration.

Parking

There is no designated general car parking on the University precinct. However, there are various multi-storey car parks near the University. The nearest are:

See our Travel, parking and venues page for links to information about other travel options.