Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become graduates. Before the graduation, candidates are referred to as graduands. The date of graduation is often called graduation day. The graduation itself is also called commencement, convocation or invocation, though in some cases inaccurately.

At the University of Cambridge, the occasion on which most graduands receive their BA degree is known as general admission. After degree completion, graduates can be referred to by their graduating year.

"Graduation" at the college and university level occurs when the presiding officer confers degrees upon candidates, either individually or en masse, even if graduates physically receive their diploma later at a smaller college or departmental ceremony.