Your documents must be officially issued

For your documents to be accepted, it's important that they're official before being scanned into a PDF file for uploading, or are copied and submitted by regular post.

If you're scanning and uploading your original documents

Scanning and uploading your documents is the easiest and fastest way to get them to University Admissions. An important thing to consider is that your original documents must be officially issued.

What does officially issued mean?

Officially issued means that your documents have been issued by a representative of the Academic Registrar's Office, the Examinations Office, or the equivalent office that issues official documentation of records at your university. Most often, this means that your transcript has been signed and, where appropriate, stamped by the issuing institution (e.g. controller of examination, secretary, registrar, dean or the equivalent). Different countries and universities can have their own methods of certifying that documents are official. If this is the case, we'll let you know on your country page.

For additional information about what applies to different countries, visit our country instructions page.

If you're submitting documents using the postal or delivery service

If for some reason you're not able to scan and upload your original documents, you can of course send copies of them to University Admissions using the regular postal service or a delivery service. If this is the case, there are important things to consider when submitting them.

University documents

All copies of your officially-issued university documents must be certified as true copies of the original. This means that the copies must be stamped and signed by the issuing institution, or a notary public.

Copies can only be made from the original officially issued document, for example degrees, diplomas, certificates, etc. Copies of copies will not be accepted.

In order to certify document copies, you must present both the original and the copy of the document to the person carrying out the certification. Each copy and page must be certified separately and clearly indicate:

• the signature of the certifying officer

• the stamp of the issuing institution or notary public

• the name and address or provider/registration number (where applicable) of the certifying officer. This must be printed so it can be read below the signature or in the stamp. It must be possible for University Admissions to contact the certifying officer if necessary. A stamp stating only "True certified copy" will not be accepted.

Documents certified by the issuing institution must be issued through and certified by a representative of the Academic Registrar's Office, the Examinations Office, or the equivalent office that issues degrees and official transcripts of records at your university. Certification by other staff, such as faculty or college staff members, is not acceptable.

Other documents submitted by regular post

The copies of some documents you submit by regular post or a delivery service must be attested. This means that someone must attest to the fact that the copy is a true copy of the original document. You can ask a teacher, school official or friend to attest the copy for you. On each copy, they must: 

• print their name,
• provide their signature, and
• write their telephone number.

The following document copies must be attested:

• Upper secondary (high school) documents
• Copies of English test results (please note that some English test results must be submitted in another way, see English language requirements for more information)