Apostille Education Certificates

Authenticate UK degree certificates and academic diplomas for use abroad

UK educational documents are authenticated for submission to authorities abroad with an Apostille Stamp from the Legalisation Office: PhD and Postgraduate Diplomas, Master's and Bachelor's degrees and course transcripts, A-Level, AS-Level, GCSE, BTEC and NVQ certificates, as well as secondary and primary school certificates.

Before being presented to the Legalisation Office, educational documents must be verified and certified by a UK solicitor or notary public. An Apostille Stamp can be affixed to the original certificate or to a certified copy.

Diplomas can be legalized or apostilled when awarded by an institution accredited by one of the following bodies: UK Border Agency, Scottish Qualifications Authority, OfQual, British Accreditation Council, Open and Distance Learning Quality Council, Association of British Language Schools, Sport England.

Educational certificates must have been awarded by an accredited UK institution.

Degree certificates and transcripts and Professional Qualification Certificates can be authenticated as long as they have been awarded by a recognised body.

Documents needed for countries that have not acceded to the Apostille Convention (e.g. United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar) require additional attestation by the recipient embassy in London.

Procedure to authenticate UK academic and professional qualifications

The first step is to have a solicitor or notary certify your certificates. Check with the receiving authority whether they require authentication of the original copies. If not we can certify a true copy based on a good-quality scan following verification by our notary. If you need to certify the original, we offer worldwide collection by secure courier.

If authenticating a set of documents (e.g. degree certificate and transcripts), these can be bundled together and authenticated under a single Apostille Stamp or authenticated separately. A single Apostille will be cheaper, but some authorities may require each document authenticated separately – for example when presenting to the UAE embassy for attestation.

After your certificates have been notarized, they can be submitted to the Legalisation Office for an Apostille certificate from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. If presenting to a signatory country of the Hague Apostille Convention, this Apostille will be accepted directly and no further authentication is required.

Apostille countries include Spain - Italy - Portugal - Greece - Cyprus - France - Saudi Arabia - Germany - China

Countries which are not members of the Apostille Convention will require additional attestation by their embassy in London, for example United Arab Emirates - Qatar - Thailand - Taiwan - Vietnam

Attesting UK Educational Certificates for use in Spain

Spain is a signatory to the Apostille Convention, so qualifications certified by UK Apostille will be accepted by Spanish Authorities, including the Ministry of Education, directly without requiring attestation by the Spanish Embassy. However, documents in English must be translated into Spanish. This translation must be correctly certified by a translator registered with the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (in Spanish).

For further information about the recognition and equivalence of UK professional and academic qualifications in Spain, see Spain ministry of Education (in Spanish) (in Spanish)

Attest UK Degree Certificates for Kuwait and UAE

Academic certificates required for the United Arab Emirates or Kuwait for presentation in support of UAE or Kuwaiti visa or work permit applications must be authenticated by both the UK Foreign Office (following certification by a notary or solicitor) and by the UAE or Kuwaiti embassy in London. The UAE embassy will accept notarized true copies but will not accept bundled documents – i.e. diplomas and transcripts must be apostilled separately. Following authentication by the embassy, we can send your certificates by courier directly to Kuwait, Dubai or Abu Dhabi.

Attesting UK Educational Certificates for Qatar

The Embassy of Qatar will attest educational documents, following legalization by the foreign office, including Post-Graduate and Higher Education Degree Certificates, A-level, BTECH, NVQ and GCSE certificates

Higher Education and Further Education certificates must be accompanied by a covering letter issued by the educational provider and an academic transcript (each separately legalized by the Foreign Office).

Academic transcripts must be stamped or signed by the registry of your institution on official letter-headed paper, listing:

• all the modules or subjects studied in each year
• the marks or grades achieved for each module.
• the credit value and level of each module.

The Covering Letter must specify:

• location of studies
• location of examinations
• start and end dates of studies
• the mode of studies (full-time or part-time)
• format of studies (distance or face to face learning)

The Qatari Embassy will not attest educational certificates obtained via distance learning or online learning, except for post-graduate MSC and PhD degrees.

We offer a free pre-check of all your documents before starting the legalization process for Qatar, to confirm that the transcripts and cover letter are correctly prepared.

Attesting UK Educational Certificates at the embassy of Saudi Arabia

University Degrees requiring attestation by the embassy of Saudi Arabia can now be authenticated with an Apostille Stamp only, since Saudi Arabia joined the Apostille Convention in December 2022. Verification by the Saudi Arabian Cultural Bureau and embassy is no longer required.

School reports and certificates (including GCSE and A-level certificates) can be stamped by the Saudi Arabian Cultural Attaché (without prior notarization or legalization by the UK Foreign Office). The original certificate and a photocopy of the father and child’s Saudi Iqama are required.

Legalize UK University degrees at the embassies of Vietnam and Thailand in London

We legalize UK university degrees, diplomas and other certificates at the Foreign Office and embassies of Vietnam and Thailand in London, required for visa, work permit and residency applications.

Legalize UK degrees at the Taiwan Representative Office in London or Edinburgh

We legalize degree certificates and transcripts issued in the UK at the Taiwan Representative Office in Edinburgh (Universities from Durham, Cumbria, Scotland and the Isle of Man) and London (Universities in the rest of England, Wales and Northern Ireland). We will arrange for your diploma to be notarized in accordance with the Taiwan Office's requirements and apostilled by the FCDO Legalisation Office, before attesting for use in Taiwan at the Representative Office.

Non-UK degree diplomas and school certificates

Degrees issued by institutions outside the United Kingdom, must be authenticated in the country where they were issued. isarey offers attestation and authentication of academic certificates issued in the United States, India, Switzerland, South Africa, France, Brazil and many other countries. Please contact us for further information.

Check if your degree is eligible for a UK Apostille

To be eligible for UK Authentication or Apostille, degree certificates and professional training qualifications must have been awarded by a recognised body. Degrees are officially recognised if the awarding institute is a Recognised Body or if the qualification is a Recognised Award:

• Higher education providers registered by the OfS (England)
• Recognised Awards (UK)
• Recognised and listed bodies (Northern Irealand)
• Recognised bodies (Scotland)
• Recognised bodies (Wales)