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.
After you have handed in your form:
- the administration will process it;
- the Coordinator of Studies will check it;
- the Board of Examiners will have a last look at it and decide, for example, whether or not you will be admitted to the degree and whether this will be (Summa) Cum Laude or not.
If questions arise during any of these steps, you will be contacted. If you are not contacted, this means that everything is fine. For any questions, you may want to contact the secretary’s office.