UK Apostille for University Transcript

A university transcript is the official record produced by a UK university or college that lists every module a student studied, the credits earned, and the grades awarded across each year of their degree.

It is separate from the degree certificate (which only confirms the qualification awarded), and is a document that is often requested by overseas employers, visa departments, foreign universities and licensing bodies when they need to verify your full academic history.

If you need to use your transcript abroad, you will almost always need it to be legalised with an apostille. We arrange UK solicitor certification of the transcript and submit it directly to the FCDO on your behalf – typically returned within 1–2 working days, from £94.

Legalising a Degree Transcript

apostille for degree transcript

Academic Transcripts

Having worked hard to earn your degree you may be offered a job to work in a country outside of the UK. Employers and visa departments will probably ask for you to get an apostille on your degree certificate and/or transcript. The transcript shows a breakdown of modules studied and grades for each module.

What is a University Transcript?

A university transcript – sometimes called an academic transcript, degree transcript, statement of results or marks sheet – is the official document issued by your university or awarding college that typically shows:

  • Every module or unit you studied as part of your degree
  • The credit value (typically in UK credits or ECTS) of each module
  • The mark or grade awarded for each module
  • Your overall classification and the date the qualification was awarded
  • The official seal, signature or watermark of the issuing institution

A transcript is distinct from your degree certificate, which is a one-page document confirming the qualification awarded. Some overseas employers, visa offices and universities ask for both. We often apostille degree certificates and transcripts together.

How to Legalise a Transcript?

  • We can add the apostille to the original document or make a copy

  • Our solicitor will add a certification and sign the transcript

  • The document must be solicitor certified

Why you need an apostille on your transcript?

Reasons your academic transcript is requested.

Overseas employers, governments and academic institutions generally cannot verify a UK university’s seal or signature themselves – so they ask for a recognised international stamp instead. The apostille, issued by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), is that stamp. It confirms the document is a genuine UK document and is accepted by all 120+ countries that have signed the Hague Apostille Convention.

Common reasons our clients apostille a university transcript:

  • Applying for a working visa or skilled-worker permit overseas

  • Taking up a teaching post abroad (TEFL, international schools)

  • Enrolling on a postgraduate course at a foreign university
  • Registering with a professional body in another country (medical, legal, engineering, accountancy)
  • Sponsoring a family member’s visa where qualifications must be proven
apostille certificate

Express Solicitor & Apostille

£94

Per document

Documents requiring certification

Inclusive service

  • Document Checks

  • Solicitor Certification

  • Fast Submission to FCDO

  • Order Tracking

Apostille in Days, Not Weeks

Document Legalisation, Simplified

Post your documents, we do the rest. Quick turnaround, no hassle.

  • Order online
  • Post your documents to us with your order number

  • We add the apostille to your document

  • That’s it! We’ll do the rest.

Paper Apostille or
e-Apostille?

You can have either the paper apostille on a physical copy of the university transcript or you can choose the e-apostille digital legalisation:

  • Paper apostille – a physical apostille certificate attached to the original or solicitor-certified copy. Accepted everywhere in countries part of the Hague Apostille convention and the most widely recognised format internationally.
  • e-Apostille – a digital apostille issued by the FCDO and delivered as a verifiable PDF. Faster, fully accepted in a growing list of Hague countries, and ideal when the receiving institution accepts digital submissions.

We need to see the original transcript (or verify it directly with the university) before either format can be issued. Many UK universities now issue digital transcripts through services like Digitary, Gradintel or Parchment – these can usually be processed if we can verify the document with the issuing institution.

Original or Copy Degree

We can add the apostille to the original document or make a photocopy and attach the apostille to the copy. Our solicitor will add the correct certification to the transcript. In general, legalising a copy is accepted in most countries. This means your original document will not be marked. However, there are occasions when the original needs to be legalised. Please check what you need to present overseas.

When you order online you can select how you want your document processed – Original or Copy.

If you want us to legalise a copy you need to provide the original for our solicitor to check and copy. Alternatively, we can contact the issuing university to verify the copy is accurate. This can take time and will incur a verification fee which can be purchased here in addition to the apostille fee.

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How to order an apostille for your transcript?

Order online and send the original document to us. This is normally the quickest way to obtain the apostille. On receipt of the document our solicitor will check the document and certify a copy of the transcript (or the original, if you prefer). The apostille is then added to the document.

If you can wait a few days, we can process your order by email. If you have a degree, masters or PHD from a UK university or college we can attempt to verify the transcript with the university or college. This service incurs an additional fee to cover our additional costs and the administration time spent checking documents.

How to order by email?

If you want to email a copy of the transcript to us for the apostille, we have to verify the document. We cannot accept a copy degree without checking it is genuine. How we check the document

  •  Step 1. Order the apostille and verification service online.
  •  Step 2. Email a clear scan copy of your transcript with the completed consent form.
  •  Step 3. We will check the document and consent form.
  •  Step 4. We contact the university to verify your document.
  •  Step 5. Apostille issued and document returned.

The verification of degree transcripts can take between 1 to 4 weeks depending on the university that issued the document. Due to the increased costs and administration we charge an extra £50 verification fee.

You can order the degree verification and apostille service HERE so that we can verify your degree with the issuing university. Please complete and sign the consent form with a pen.

How do we verify a degree transcript?

If a university transcript is sent to us as a PDF by email, we need to verify the document with the issuing body/organisation.

There are 3 ways we can check the degree/academic document is genuine.

Option 1 – you arrange for the university to email us a confirmation of your qualifications (this should be the records/admin/registrar office).
Option 2 – some universities allow students to share their documents or qualifications with third parties via an official website/portal.
Option 3 – you pay us a £50 verification fee and complete a consent form and we will try and verify the qualification with the university ourselves. This may take time to do (*1-2 weeks).

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know before ordering your apostille.

Do I need a solicitor to certify a transcript before it can be apostilled?

Yes. The FCDO will only attach an apostille to academic documents that have been certified by a UK solicitor or notary public.

Yes – provided we can verify the digital transcript is genuine. Many UK universities now issue secure digital transcripts through services such as Digitary, Gradintel, Parchment or directly via institutional portals. We download the verified PDF, our solicitor certifies it, and the FCDO apostille is fixed to the certified copy. Where the receiving country accepts digital legalisation, we can also obtain an e-Apostille for the digital transcript.

Yes, providing the electronic version is digitally certified by a UK solicitor, e-transcripts can be legalised with the e-Apostille. Alternatively, a printout of a verified transcript that has been digitally issued can be certified by a UK solicitor or notary and then issued with the traditional paper apostille.

Many overseas employers, visa offices and universities ask for both documents – the degree certificate confirms the qualification, the transcript provides the detail. Apostilling both at the same time as part of a bound set saves on combined service fees. See our prices page service for the combined processing option.

The apostille itself does not expire. However, some countries, may only accept apostilled academic documents that have been legalised within the last 3–12 months. Always check with the receiving body before submitting older documents.

The UK FCDO can only apostille documents issued in the UK. For transcripts issued by universities in other countries, the apostille must be issued by the relevant authority in that country. We cannot assist with legalising non-UK academic documents.

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