Graduation

Information for guests

Getting here/parking 

If you're planning to travel to Dunedin on the day of graduation, please make sure you leave plenty of time as the roads into the city can be busy. 

The area around the Dunedin Town Hall can get very busy and there will be little to no car parking available here.

We would recommend that you park outside of the main centre of town (if possible). This Where you can park webpage on the Dunedin City Council website might be useful for planning. 

Another option is parking a distance away and getting a bus into the centre of town. You can find Dunedin bus info here. 

Attending guests

Guests don’t need tickets to attend a graduation ceremony.

Due to the capacity of the Town Hall, we ask graduates the total number of guest seats they require when they register. If a graduate wants to increase the total number of guests coming along, they can update their registration via the Student Hub or, once registration closes, let us know by email at graduation@op.ac.nz

All guests can sit in any unreserved seating in the Town Hall. Reserved seating will be marked with a sign so it'll be clear where guests can sit. 

Please let us know if any guests need assistance on graduation day. e.g. an elderly guest with limited mobility or anyone specifically requiring ground floor seating. Email graduation@op.ac.nz

Can't make it to the ceremony?

We provide a livestream of each ceremony on our website. You can find this on the main homepage. This usually begins about 15 minutes before the start of each ceremony. 

Parade and ceremony details

You can check the parade route with our map below.

We'll add information about timings for our September 2025 Graduation closer to the event.  

Professional ceremony photography

McRobie Studios take a photograph of everyone who crosses the stage at the Graduation Ceremony. Photographs will be taken as degrees are conferred and awards are presented.

These photographs, along with frames and mattes with the Otago Polytechnic and Te Pūkenga logos, are available to view and order online at McRobies. There are alternate ways to order, please enquire about this directly with McRobie Studios (details on their website).

View at mcrobie.co.nz

Event photography

Just a heads-up, during the Graduation Parade through Dunedin City, and during the Graduation Ceremonies at Dunedin Town Hall, our Marketing team will be taking photographs and recording video for the Otago Polytechnic promotional channels.