What is a Unique Student Identifier (USI)?
Your USI is your individual education identifier issued by the Australian Government.
Graduation
Eligibility and preparing for conferral
Find out when you'll be eligible to graduate and the steps you need to take so that we can confer your degree. There's an important deadline to be aware of.
Eligibility to graduate
To be eligible to graduate you need to have:
- received a completion letter, confirming you have completed the requirements of your course. We'll email you once this is available.
- provided us with your USI or valid exemption letter, as you can't graduate without it. Find out how to provide your USI.
- settled outstanding debts to the University by the release of your final semester results. Find out more about paying your fees.
Once eligible, your graduation involves:
- conferral - this is where you are awarded your degree and you’ll be able to use any associated titles
- a graduation ceremony - this is optional, and you can decide whether to attend.
Check the information below for any special requirements or delays that could affect your graduation.
All appeals need to be lodged before your degree is conferred, as you can't appeal an academic decision once you’ve graduated.
If you've lodged an appeal and you've received your completion letter, contact us through the Graduation support form (select 'Request a different conferral date') so that we can withdraw you from conferral until your appeal is finalised.
Once finalised, contact us again through the Graduation support form to proceed with your conferral.
If you're studying an appended honours course, your undergraduate and honours degrees will be conferred separately.
We'll do our best to confer your degree as soon as possible after you receive your completion letter, allowing a few weeks processing time.
To assist us, please complete 'Getting ready to graduate' in Sydney Student as soon as possible once you receive your completion letter. This is explained in the conferral steps below.
You can find standard conferral dates for research students on our conferral and ceremony schedule page.
If you don't plan to attend your ceremony, you should also complete Graduate without attending a ceremony in Sydney Student as this will determine your conferral date.
If you completed your final unit of study during an intensive session, you will usually need to wait until the end of the semester to receive your results. This means you won't receive your completion letter and be eligible to graduate until after your results are finalised.
Conferral steps
We'll need some information from you so that we can confer your award. The conferral steps are below:
| 1. Receive your completion letter | Once the University has assessed that you're eligible to graduate, we'll send you an email to let you know your completion letter is available in Sydney Student. You'll usually receive this a couple of weeks after the release of your final results, but for some courses it may be longer. Find out more about your completion letter. |
| 2. Complete 'Getting ready to graduate' | As soon as you've received your completion letter you'll need to submit 'Getting ready to graduate' in Sydney Student before the deadline. Go to ‘My studies', 'Assessments', then ‘Getting ready to graduate’. This is where you can: a. Confirm your details It's important you check your legal name and award course details as these will be printed on your testamur and transcript. If your details are incorrect, you will need to make changes. b. Indicate if you'd like to receive a ceremony invitation You'll be asked whether you plan to attend your graduation ceremony.
If you are studying an honours course and are unable to complete this task, please contact us using the graduation support form for assistance. |
| 3. Your degree is conferred | For most students, your degree will be conferred on your ceremony date. The following students may be conferred on a date other than a scheduled ceremony:
Our Conferral and ceremony schedule page provides more information about when your degree will be conferred. |
Deadline to submit 'Getting ready to graduate'
The deadline to submit 'Getting ready to graduate' in Sydney Student will vary depending on your circumstances and there are some exceptions to be aware of. You'll need to have your completion letter before you can submit this task.
Students who plan to attend a graduation ceremony
| Who | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Most students planning to attend an April-May ceremony | 12 February 2026 |
| Most students planning to attend an October ceremony | 11 August 2026 |
| Most students planning to attend a December ceremony | 7 October 2026 |
Exceptions
| Who | Information about your deadline |
|---|---|
| Students requesting to graduate without attending a ceremony | Submit by the closing date that applies to your request to graduate without attending a ceremony. |
| Students requesting an earlier conferral date who will attend a ceremony | Submit by the same deadline as your request for an earlier conferral. |
| Students requesting a later conferral date | Submit by the same deadline as your request for a later conferral. |
| Research students | Submit as soon as possible after receiving your completion letter, to allow us sufficient time to process your conferral. |
| Doctor of Veterinary Medicine students | Your school will contact you directly with conferral information. |
| Doctor of Medicine students | Your school will contact you directly with conferral information. |
Receiving your documents
You'll receive a digital version of your graduation documents 2-5 business days after your degree is conferred. These will be sent to your personal email address, as recorded in Sydney Student, with information on how to create an account with My eQuals. This will also be the address we use to set up your My eQuals account.
You'll receive your hard-copy documents at your ceremony if you decide to attend. Otherwise, we'll send you an email asking whether you'd like to collect your documents in person or receive them by post.
If you need a hard-copy document that shows your degree has been conferred before receiving your documents, you can request an optional certificate of graduate status.
Have a question?
Last updated: 12 December 2025