UAL Graduation Goes Viral as Students Turn the Stage Into a Runway

Every summer, graduation content fills social media feeds with the usual tears-and-mortarboard montages. This year, one London ceremony obliterated the template.

The University of the Arts London held its 2025 graduation ceremonies from July 15 through 18 at the Royal Festival Hall, with more than 6,400 graduates walking across 12 separate events. Rather than traditional academic robes, students turned each diploma walk into a full creative statement. Sculptural headpieces, hand-sewn couture, dramatic silhouettes, and even pets appeared onstage. Clips of graduates strutting, dancing, and skipping to collect degrees have since exploded across TikTok under the hashtag #UALGrads2025.

One TikTok video alone from the Arts Students' Union account racked up nearly 939,000 likes. On Instagram, UAL's official account shared a reel of what it called "cute moments from graduation week," drawing over 1,300 likes and dozens of comments. A Reddit thread titled "The graduating class at UAL goes viral for being full of baddies" generated massive engagement, with users comparing the spectacle to "giving more than the Met Gala."

UAL is one of the world's largest art and design universities, comprising six colleges, including Central Saint Martins and the London College of Fashion. Alumni of Central Saint Martins include Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, John Galliano, and Riccardo Tisci. That pedigree makes the viral moment more than a novelty. These graduates are portfolio-ready designers, and their diploma walk doubles as a showcase.

Thirteen exceptional creatives received honorary doctorates during the four-day celebration, ranging from a BAFTA committee video games developer to the current Creative Director of Off-White. Singer and actress Paloma Faith was presented with an honorary doctorate from London Contemporary Dance School at the same ceremony. Faith herself holds an MA in Scenography from Central Saint Martins.

Graduation content performs well on social media every spring and summer, but UAL's ceremonies stand out because they look nothing like a standard commencement. The visual contrast is the hook: orderly robes versus one-of-a-kind outfits that function as genuine design work. Short-form video rewards exactly that kind of spectacle.

For UAL, the organic reach is the sort of recruiting pitch money cannot buy. This year, the graduation programme was made entirely digital to reflect the university's commitment to sustainability. The next round of ceremonies is already scheduled at the Royal Festival Hall for July 13 through 16, 2026.

If the algorithm has any say, those clips will land even bigger.