Graduating in absentia
If you are unable to attend your graduation ceremony, you will have until 12:00 on Friday, 6 March 2026 to arrange to graduate in absentia.
How to indicate graduating in absentia:
Log in to the student portal and go to Academics > Graduation ceremony. When you select ‘No’ for attending your graduation, the system will prompt you to choose either courier delivery or self-collection to receive your graduation documents.
Please complete the online form by Friday, 6 March 2026 at 12:00. The deadline to apply for self-collection is also Friday, 6 March 2026. After this date, no further requests will be accepted, as the documents will be packaged and sent to the Information Desk for collection.
Incorrect personal information reflected in documents
You should confirm your personal information (name(s) and surname) on your student profile before 6 March 2026, as your graduation documents will display the details we have on record. If you fail to confirm or update your details, and your documents arrive containing incorrect personal information, an additional fee of R500 will be payable for the documents to be reissued. We will also ask you to arrange a courier.
Self-collection
If you opted for self-collection by 6 March 2026, your graduation documents will be packaged and ready for collection at the Client Service Information Desk in the Inorganic Chemistry Building (no 4 on the campus map), Bosman Street, from Monday 30 March to 30 June 2026.
The collection hours are from 08:00 to 16:30 on weekdays.
Courier delivery
Please note that courier delivery is Stellenbosch University’s default option. Therefore, we will automatically courier your graduation documents if we have not received an instruction to the contrary by Friday, 6 March 2026 and you are absent from your graduation ceremony.
We will courier your graduation documents after the conclusion of the graduation period. Your default courier address will be the home address on your student profile. To receive your documents at a different address, please enter the details in the space provided on the student portal.
Please keep in mind that the University’s couriers, DHL, cannot deliver to a PO Box address.
Address and contact details
If you have indicated that you prefer courier delivery, your graduation documents will be delivered to you by DHL, whether locally or abroad. The default address will be the home address on your student profile. To ensure that you receive your documents as soon as possible, kindly check that we have your preferred delivery address and contact number.
Please keep in mind that the University’s couriers, DHL, cannot deliver to a PO Box address.
Unfortunately, the University cannot take responsibility for incorrect, late or no delivery if you have not updated your address and contact details on our system.
To update your details, please send us an email to [email protected] before 12:00 on Friday, 6 March 2026.
Delivery timeframes
We will start dispatching graduation documents from Thursday, 2 April 2026. Local deliveries normally take between two and five working days, although deliveries to remote areas may take slightly longer.
International shipments may take up to seven working days, depending on your location.
Graduands who urgently need proof of completion of their qualification before the delivery of their graduation documents may request a declaration of confirmation via email: [email protected]. Please include your SU student number and your identity number, and specify whether you would like the declaration in English or Afrikaans.
Tracking and notification of your delivery
DHL will send you an SMS with your DHL tracking number and they will contact you on your cell phone to notify you of the delivery. Therefore, we urge you to check that we have your correct number on our system before Friday, 6 March 2026 at 12:00.
Incorrect or no delivery
*Kindly note that the University will not be held liable for incorrect details (addresses and contact numbers) on the system that may result in DHL courier services delivering to the wrong physical address, or being unable to contact graduates to confirm deliveries due to incorrect contact numbers.
You will incur an additional fee of R 500,00 for any graduation documents issued incorrectly due to incorrect details on the system.
For further enquiries about the delivery or tracking of your graduation documents, phone DHL on 021 872 4717. For other assistance, you are welcome to send an email to [email protected].