Those of us graduating this year have had to get through our degrees during the covid pandemic as well as countless strikes without sufficient guidance or support from the university. Our graduations are a time to celebrate getting through our degree in spite of all these obstacles thrown our way.

We deserve a summer graduation, in fact a lot of us were looking forward to this moment throughout our whole degree. So to be told it will be happening during some random week in November is a massive dissappointment.

This decision from the university is massively impractical and increases travel costs, particularly for international students. By November most students will have moved out of Bristol and will be working full time jobs or have started post graduate courses. This makes it so much more difficult to actually get to Bristol mid-week just for one ceremony.

If the university were to hold the ceremony in August or even early September instead this would be so much better for the vast majority, and international student visas would still be valid. Many of us would not have to sacrifice being able to attend our own graduation because most students will still be in Bristol, as we would have just finished our degrees.

We completely understand that previous years had their ceremonies postponed due circumstances out of our control, and are only now having their graduations. However, our uni chose not to have any graduation ceremonies last summer despite the fact that lockdown restrictions were at a minimum, and other universities were able to hold graduation ceremonies. Their laziness should not impact our right to the graduation we deserve.

The practical layout that the university have decided on by holding the ceremony for the 2022 cohort in November makes no sense. Please support us by signing or sharing this petition so that we can get the summer graduation we deserve.