Arranging graduation
You're about to graduate. That means there’s a lot to be arranged. The university expects you to take certain steps, as does your faculty and/or institute. Your faculty has various regulations and procedures in place that you need to follow carefully when arranging your graduation.
Steps towards graduation
Graduation means there’s a lot to be arranged. Below you will find a general overview of the steps to be taken. Make sure to first read the information provided by your faculty and department, as regulations and procedures can vary.
- You receive the final grade needed to fulfil your examination requirements.
- You request graduation: look under the faculty/study programme tab to find out exactly what steps your programme requires you to take to arrange graduation. You may receive a message from uSis entitled ‘You can graduate’. This message will explain the options available if you wish to delay graduation.
- Your student registration will not automatically be cancelled when you graduate. You have to cancel your registration yourself via Studielink. However de-registration is not compulsory if you have a reason for not wishing to do so. Make sure to carefully read the information on de-registering or re-registering.
Requesting postponement of graduation
If you receive a message from uSis entitled ‘You can graduate’, but you don’t yet want to graduate because you are taking additional courses or an internship that you want to be mentioned on your final transcript, you can request postponement of graduation. Look under your faculty or study programme tab for more information.
Conditions of postponement
The maximum duration of postponement you can request is until you have been registered on your study programme for the official programme duration plus one additional year. For Bachelor’s programmes this is 3+1 years, for most Master’s programmes this is 1+1 year. If you are more than a year behind in your studies your request will not be granted.
Official regulations on postponing graduation
The regulations and agreements concerning the postponement of graduation have been laid down by Leiden University Executive Board in the Leiden University Regulations on Postponing Graduation.
Graduation procedure
Have you nearly completed your Bachelor or Master and is graduation on your mind? Fill in your graduation form no later than on the last working day of the month preceding the date of the exam.
Graduation September until June
The graduation date is always the last working day of the month in which all components of the programme are completed. The form needs to be handed in no later than on the last working day of the month preceding the date of the exam. If you have completed all components, but you are awaiting your grade for one or more of those, please specify so on the form for each component.
Graduation in August
Students who graduate on the last working day of August need to hand in the form no later than June 1st. If you have completed all components, but you are awaiting your grade for one or more of those, please specify so on the form for each component. Note that all the results should be available in uSis by the 31st of August 16:00 hours.
Bachelor graduation form
Follow the steps described in the Graduation Form Bachelor Exam. Hand in the filled in form together with the required supplements at the Secretary's Office of your programme. In the form you will also find more information about deregistration.
Questions about the form or the procedure? Contact your Coordinator of Studies.
Master graduation form
Follow the steps described in the Graduation Form Master Exam. In the form you will also find more information about deregistration.
Questions about the form or the procedure? Contact your Coordinator of Studies.
Student repository
In the Student Repository, Leiden University programmes are building an online archive that makes Bachelor and Master theses easily searchable and publicly available (if desired). This is also a useful tool for future graduates. Uploading your thesis to the student repository is part of the graduation procedure. Please note that you will have to upload the final and approved version (in PDF) of your thesis yourself.
The thesis itself can only be made publicly available if the student and the supervisor have given their consent. You can indicate this when filling out the graduation form. If one of the parties does not agree with publication, your thesis stays under embargo. For more information and an FAQ, please see the Student Repository Website.
Please note that the repository accepts only one upload per student. Consequent revised versions will therefore not be accepted. The thesis grade can only be registered after a copy of the thesis has been uploaded into the Repository.
Requesting postponement of graduation
If you receive a message from uSis entitled ‘You can graduate’, but you don’t yet want to graduate because you are taking additional courses or an internship that you want to be mentioned on your final transcript, you can request postponement of graduation. To do so, please fill out this form.
Conditions of postponement
The maximum duration of postponement you can request is until you have been registered on your study programme for the official programme duration plus one additional year. For Bachelor’s programmes this is 3+1 years, for most Master’s programmes this is 1+1 year. If you are more than a year behind in your studies your request will not be granted.
Official regulations on postponing graduation
The regulations and agreements concerning the postponement of graduation have been laid down by Leiden University Executive Board in the Leiden University Regulations on Postponing Graduation.
Bachelor graduation
|
Dates for joint graduation |
Dates for submitting first version bachelor’s thesis* |
Dates for completing other exam components |
|
31 January 2025 |
23 December 2024 |
31 January 2025 |
|
30 June 2025 |
15 June 2025 |
15 August 2025 |
|
29 August 2025 |
15 June 2025 |
15 August 2025 |
*A first version is a complete bachelor’s thesis, including notes, bibliography, images and other appendices.
If you want to graduate on the 28th of June 2024, the bachelor’s thesis and all other exam components have to be submitted/completed by the 15th of June at the latest. The diploma can only be issued when all your results have been registered.
When the bachelor’s thesis is submitted after the 15th of June 2025 for the first time, or is assessed as a fail, the new version has to be submitted by the 15th of August 2025 at the latest. Your graduation date will then be the 30st of August 2025.
The requirements for the bachelor’s thesis are included in the faculty’s regulations concerning the bachelor’s thesis. The number of words for the thesis is 6000, excluding notes, bibliography, images and possible appendices.
Deadlines for submitting the bachelor’s thesis
15 May: FIRST COMPLETE VERSION
- This is the ‘first complete’ version, including footnotes, bibliography, images and other appendices, to be discussed with the supervisor (= first reader); no grade/assessment yet. The student will receive feedback.
15 June: FINAL VERSION
This version will be reviewed by the supervisor and second reader. They will determine if it is a pass or a fail. If the bachelor’s thesis is a fail the student will be given the chance to do a retake. Generally, there is no thesis supervision from the 1st of July until mid-August.
15 August: RETAKE
- This version will be reviewed again by the supervisor and second reader (cursory by the second reader) and they will determine the mark.
If the student cannot meet the deadline of the 15 June due to special circumstances, the student will contact the supervisor in good time prior to this date. The supervisor has to discuss an alternative submission deadline, which needs to be approved by the Board of Examiners.
Theses that are written during the summer without any supervision will not be graded.
Procedure to submit your bachelor’s thesis
- Submit your thesis by e-mailing it as a PDF with your uMail-address to your thesis supervisor and second reader. Put the faculty’s mail address BAthesis@hum.leidenuniv.nl in CC.
- Upload your thesis to the university’s Student Repository to add it to the archive.
Student Repository
The Student Repository provides a digital archive for all theses from Leiden University. If possible, theses will be made publicly available. Students have to upload their thesis to the Student Repository and submit a Thesis Publication Consent Form to the education administration office in the Arsenaal building.
Assessment BA3 thesis
As a student you have the right to view the forms completed by the first reader/supervisor and second reader.