Education and Eliteisum

[Marylou]

Do Oxford graduates get a degree certificate without arranging a ceremony, then? I've had to supply my graduation certificate on several occasions to prospective employers, and to clients when I became self-employed. I remember it was possible to graduate in absentia if you couldn't make the ceremony for some reason, but I wouldn't have got away with not having a piece of paper to wave at work providers!

Edited to add - my certificate is in Latin for some reason. Fortunately nobody has ever asked for a translation.

[sterling]

Do Oxford graduates get a degree certificate without arranging a ceremony, then?

I don't know the answer to this question I'm afraid because we both had a graduation ceremony soon after our degree. However, I've never needed to show my certificate and hence still don't have one.

I went back to use the Bodeian library a while ago and they dug out the old files of green-striped computer print outs of our year and found my name to prove I had passed my degree. I was once told you didn't need a certificate because Oxbridge degrees were published somewhere so it was a matter of public record and companies, etc, could check them out independently, in the same way they can check doctors' and solicitors' qualifications. Don't know how true that is.

[aliportico]

I don't have a degree certificate, no. (Or if I did, I lost it immediately, lol!) But I've never been asked to show it to anyone.

Oxford are the same as Cambridge, giving out BAs that convert to MAs. I seem to remember checking it out at some point, and you could acquire the MA without having to spend an afternoon in the Sheldonian if you wanted - which must have meant somehow graduating in absentia. So I guess I could still get some proof of my degree if needed.