City College Norwich has been forced to cancel its graduation ceremonies.

CCN announced the news to students in an email.

It said: “Due to the government restrictions currently in place for large gatherings, the college has taken the regrettable decision to cancel this year’s graduation ceremonies which were due to be held at Norwich Cathedral.”

But the email reassured students they would receive written confirmation of any exam rewards in the coming months.

Alternative arrangements for a ceremony will also be decided by students via a questionnaire die to close on August 19.

They will have a choice of a virtual graduation or a delayed in-person event due to take place next year.

Jerry White, deputy principal of CCN, said: ”Like colleges and universities across the country and around the world, we’ve had to take some really tough decisions over the past few weeks. Postponing this year’s graduation ceremony has been one of the hardest.

“We know this is a real high point for our students and it’s a big day for CCN too. We are disappointed that we’ve had to take this step, not least because we were looking forward to welcoming our Easton College graduands to the wonderful surroundings of Norwich Cathedral for the first time.

“We are asking all our graduating students how they’d like to mark their graduation in these difficult and uncertain times. We’ll listen to all the views and come up with the best solution to celebrate the achievements of our 2020 graduands as soon as we can.”

One student, who wished to remain anonymous, decribed the decision to cancel the event at Norwich Cathedral as “a bit hasty.”

The student said: “Our graduation wasn’t until the middle of November, so there’s a feeling [between students] that it’s a bit of a hasty decision. It could have probably gone ahead but with measures in place such as limited ticket numbers.”

It follows the decision by the University of East Anglia, who validate and award Higher Education qualifications for CCN, to delay this year’s summer graduation ceremonies which were due to held in July.