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Information about the award of Hard Copy and Digital Award Certificates.
Upon completion of their degree and conferral of their award, students will receive an Award Certificate and official transcript.
We launched our Digital Award Certificate service in December 2023 and students awarded from November 2023 onwards will now receive their Award Certificate in both hard copy and digital format. In January 2024 we will also issue Digital Award Certificates to UG students who were awarded in summer 2023 and PG students who were awarded from September 2023.
Information for staff on the process for issuing Award Certificates is provided on this page. Information for students is published on the student Award Certificates webpage.
Hard copy Award Certificates
Award Certificates are legal documents and there should only ever be one Hard Copy Award Certificate in existence at any one time. The hologram and reference number on a Hard Copy Award Certificate are evidence that the Award Certificate is verified by UCL.
UCL does not provide additional paper copies of the Hard Copy Award Certificate and does not certify copies of Hard Copy Award Certificates. A solicitor or notary public can certify copies of Hard Copy Award Certificates. Information and guidance for students on this is provided here: How to certify a copy of your Award Certificate.
Dispatch of Hard Copy Award Certificates
Hard Copy Award Certificates and final transcripts are sent within 3 months from the date of conferral of award to the student’s home address in Portico.
UK Addresses: Documents are dispatched by first class Royal mail. Students will receive an email to notify them when their documents are due to be dispatched.
EU and International Addresses: Documents are dispatched by DHL (International). Students will receive an email to notify them when their documents are due to be dispatched with tracking information.
Digital Award Certificates
Students awarded from November 2023 will receive their Award Certificate in both hard copy and digital format. Digital Award certificates for these students will be available from December 2023.
From January 2024, we will also back-issue Digital Award Certificates to UG students who were awarded in summer 2023 and PG students who were awarded from September 2023.
UCL partners with Gradintelligence to provide Digital Award Certificates and Higher Education Achievement Records (HEARs). Documents issued by Gradintelligence are digitally signed with an electronic seal; an advanced electronic signature (AdES) with a qualified electronic certificate (QES). These digital credentials are compliant with international standards and are legally valid, tamper-proof documents which our students and alumni can freely share with third parties, whenever they want, through the Gradintelligence share process. Only Digital Award Certificates shared through the Gradintelligence share process are considered valid.
To access their Digital Award Certificates, students must activate their account with Gradintelligence: students eligible for a Digital Award Certificate will receive an account activation email from Gradintelligence (accountregistration@gradintel.com) to their UCL email address. Once they have activated their account, they will be able to log in and view / share their Digital Award Certificates. Guidance for students on how to share their Digital Award Certificates with third parties from the Gradintelligence account is provided on our student Award Certificates webpage.