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 (marked with a passing grade) 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, make sure to only upload the approved (marked with a passing grade) thesis. The thesis grade (in order to be able to graduate) 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.
For more information on writing your BA thesis, please go to this page.
We advise you to keep track of your study plan in your third year to prevent any unpleasant surprises right before graduating. If you’re not sure whether you have passed all study components, please contact your study advisor.
Did you almost finish your bachelor’s? Check the Humanties tab of this page which describes the administrative part of the graduation process.
Graduation ceremony
The degree/graduation ceremony will take place in October. Whether there is also a graduation ceremony in March varies from year to year (depending on how many students graduate). There is no graduation ceremony in March 2025. This means that you will be awarded the diploma in October or March, even if your official graduation date is earlier. In this case, you do not have to re-enrol for the next academic year (please note: if you graduate by the end of January, you have to de-register via Studielink, see below!).
The graduation ceremony will be held in the Academy Building. The exact date of the graduation ceremony will be announced in an invitation sent to the student. You can invite your family and friends; the invitation will contain more information.
Please notify the education administration in advance if you cannot attend the graduation ceremony. The education administration will contact you when your diploma is ready. You can then collect it yourself at the administration (osz-oa-arsenaal@hum.leidenuniv.nl). Do not forget to bring your identification.
Terminating your registration
When you graduate, you can submit a request for termination of enrolment via Studielink. Log in and choose the option ‘request for termination of enrolment’ at ‘my enrolments’. You also have to do this when you haven’t finished and don’t want to continue your bachelor’s. You can find more information on this website.
Upon graduating
You can terminate your registration via Studielink in the month following your graduation date at the latest. The de-registration will take effect on the 1st of the month following the month in which the last mark has been obtained. Log in and choose the option ‘request for termination of enrolment’. If you have already paid the tuition fee for the months following the month of graduation, then the amount overpaid will be refunded. This does not apply for July and August. For more information, you can contact Front Office Student Affairs Plexus. There will be no refund when you de-register from 1 July or 1 August.
Student finance
The right to study finance lapses as of the month during which your registration has been terminated. This is the case only when you cancel your registration for all programmes for which you are registered as a full-time student. You have to cancel the study finance yourself by sending a change notification form to the Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs (DUO).
Public transport card
Please remember that you no longer have the right to study finance and the OV public transport card from the moment of de-registration. Do not forget to cancel your student travel product in time. If you use your student travel product after you should have cancelled it, you will receive a fine from the Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs (DUO) of about €160. You can find information about how to cancel your student travel product on this website. Moreover, all study finance you have received in this period will be re-claimed. From September to June, you can submit a request to the Executive Board/Student Registry via Studielink to receive a refund for part of (the remaining part) of the tuition fee.
The request must be submitted in the month following the month of graduation at the latest (the graduation date mentioned on the diploma, not to be confused with the date of issue of the diploma).