University graduations: How much are students prepared to pay?

Rahul Mancin should have walked across the Whitla Hall stage at Queen's University Belfast in July 2020 to collect his degree in Music Performance.

He ended up graduating in his living room, watching a YouTube livestream with his housemates in the first Covid-19 lockdown.

The pandemic had brought in-person ceremonies to an end but, in December 2021, the university held a series of "graduation celebration events" for students who had missed out on their ceremony.

This second opportunity was initially exciting for Rahul - but ultimately, bothered by the cost to attend after an expensive three years, he decided not to go.

"We lost a lot of lessons to teachers going on strike and the pandemic, but we were still paying the same tuition fees," he said.

"It felt quite insulting in a way, like rubbing salt into the wound."

While universities across the UK have different approaches to the cost of graduation, both of Northern Ireland's higher education institutions - Queen's and Ulster University - charge students to attend their graduation.

The president of the National Union of Students Union of Students in Ireland (NUS USI) has called for graduation fees to be scrapped, accusing universities of gross profiteering.

"The current education system is really based on profit rather than student experience," said Ellen Fearon.

"Graduation is just another way for universities to make that profit.

"After years of working so hard for a degree, graduation should be a big pay off and a chance to celebrate with your friends.

"Instead, it just lands students with another big cost on top of the debt they are already in.

"Graduation fees should not exist."

Graduation costs vary across the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

For students at Newcastle University, tickets, gown hire and a photo of the graduate walking across the stage are free of charge.

At University College London, registration is free but guest tickets are priced at £35 each and students are required to hire gowns from an external company.

The only costs for students at Oxford, Cambridge, and York Universities are external gown hire, with prices ranging from £25 to £75.

The same goes for Glasgow and Cardiff University, as well as most universities in the Republic of Ireland.

At Queen's University Belfast, students have to pay £47 to attend the graduation ceremony.

The price covers the student's ticket, academic gown hire, a souvenir brochure and access to a 90-minute garden party.

Ulster University charges £40 for a similar package.

Guest tickets cost £10 each at both universities, with a maximum of three per student for Queen's and two for Ulster.

If students want professional photos in their gown, the cheapest package at Queen's will set them back £33 plus postage, while a photo of them walking across the stage costs an extra £10.

Professional photo packages at Ulster University start at £25, but a separate package costing £29 must be purchased for photos of the journey across the stage.

So before the celebratory dinner bill arrives, a single student with two guests and a professional graduation portrait would be set back £100 at Queen's or £85 at Ulster University.

Bridie Kemp graduated from Ulster University with a degree in Nutrition in July 2019.

The pressure to get the perfect graduation photos added to her costs.

"The photos are the reminders you look back on," she said.

"I bought a new dress which was somewhere between £50-£60 and I got my hair done on the day.

"So on top of the ceremony costs and the pictures, I probably paid £200 before we made it to dinner."

Bridie remembers the day being very rushed.

"Our slot was about two to three hours long and there was another ceremony scheduled after ours," she said.

"You pay so much money to sit in the hall and wait for the two seconds when your name is called, to then get a glass of prosecco and a maybe a bite to eat.

"On the day it felt worth it but, looking back on it, it was not worth the money."

Nearly 90% of students choose to attend their graduation ceremony at Queen's each summer.

Attendance at winter graduations, which are mainly for Master's and PhD students, is about 73% each year.

But last December, fewer than 40% of students chose to attend their postponed ceremony for a variety of reasons.

Matty Irvine, also a BA Music Performance graduate, was among those at a ceremony in December.

"I felt like that is what you are supposed to do," he said.

"If you finish the whole university experience and then you don't have the experience of getting your robes on, getting the photos taken and getting your fake scroll, then it feels like an anti-climax."

As for Rahul Mancin, he is disappointed his mother will never see him graduate.

"It is important for my mum as much as it is for me," he added.

"I feel like I have missed out."

Ulster University said extensive planning went into graduation events and ceremonies "to ensure a memorable and special day for our graduating classes as they celebrate their achievement with family and friends".

"There is no cost to students for their parchment, which marks the culmination of many years of hard work and commitment to their studies," said a spokesperson for the university.

Queen's University did not respond to requests for a comment.