Graduation venue accessibility

We want everyone to be able to enjoy graduation. Find out about accessible facilities and support at our venues, including arrangements for disabled students and guests, accessible parking and getting around campus on the day.

Access on campus

Graduation ceremonies are held on the first floor of The Great Hall. Both The Parkinson Building and The Great Hall have lift and wheelchair access.

If you need any assistance, our team will be on hand to help during the day and can help guests into the Great Hall via the lift and provide them with a seat near the exit if needed. All guests must have a valid guest ticket to enter the graduation ceremony.

The live stream venues in the Michael Sadler Building and Leeds University Union also have level access routes to them. It is not necessary to reserve accessible seating in these locations.

The following links may help you plan for the day:

• View our interactive campus map
• Download a PDF of the campus map (5MB)
• View family-friendly facilities and access routes

Disabled students taking part in the ceremony

Complete the graduation special requirements form (form available from 12 October until 30 November 2026) or email the Graduation team at graduation@leeds.ac.uk to let us know about any accessibility requirements or other special arrangements needed for you or your guests.

A platform lift is available if you can’t (or don’t want to) use the steps up to the stage. You also have the option to not go on stage – the presiding officer can come to you.

We also have communication cards which are available to collect on arrival at our ticket desk, if you like to use these to express yourself when feeling overwhelmed.

Watch an archive recording of a previous ceremony to find out what to expect.

Relaxed graduation days

There are different arrangements in place for relaxed graduation days and we will let you know about these in advance.

Parking for graduation

Blue badge holders can park for free on campus during graduation. To do this, you'll need to register your vehicle in advance using the special requirements form, as automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) is in operation in our campus car parks.

To find out more about parking options and how to register for parking for blue badge holders, check our Travel to graduation page.

Other travel and parking options are available for students and guests coming to graduation.