Loughborough University has confirmed that there will be a graduation ceremony for students who graduated in 2020, on the 19th July 2021.
The announcement follows a statement released by the Vice-Chancellor on the 23rd February relating to the return to campus as part of the government’s ‘unlocking’ of the UK in the wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The graduation, which had originally been postponed until April 2021, has been moved back once again to the week commencing Monday 19th July.
“We are committed to providing everyone with the opportunity to conclude their Loughborough journey in style and celebrate on campus with family, loved ones, friends and staff” the Vice-Chancellor added.
There is speculation as to how graduation will be celebrated from the perspective of the Students’ Union, which was unable to hold ‘Grad Ball’ in 2020. It is unlikely that the event will be held indoors so there is potential for an outdoor event to occur in July.
It is entirely possible that the two graduation cohorts (both 2020 and 2021) could be combined, or held one after the other – although the University did not mention this in their communication.
The University has made this announcement following the government’s plans for the gradual reduction of COIVD-19 restrictions, which were announced on the 22nd February, starting with the return of in-person teaching for schools and certain University courses on the 8th March.
Before Easter, the University has said that teaching will “generally remain online”.
“Lectures and other classroom-based teaching for all other degree programmes will continue to be delivered online until after the Easter vacation. The current Government guidelines say that we should not ask students to return if their programme of study can reasonably be continued online.”
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