Get an Apostille for UK School Documents

How to get an apostille for school documents

The original & copy of school documents can be apostilled
Both the original and copy must be solicitor certified
Email, post, or deliver your school documents in person
We get the apostille and return the school paper
The process takes 2-3 days and starts from £110

Jump to: How much does it cost? ↓ How long does it take?

So that our solicitor can certify school documents or other school papers like School transcripts, School diplomas, School grades, etc., our solicitor needs to see the original documents.

Once we confirm that your school certificate is genuine, we can certify a copy or the original for the FCDO.

Getting an apostille usually takes 2 to 3 days, and costs start from £110, including solicitor fees, FCDO fees, our fees, and VAT.

We can return the legalised documents via DHL courier (next-day service), or you can collect them from our London office – 24 hours a day, 5 days a week.

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The full order process

Step one:

Make sure that your school documents can be legalised with an apostille. Your letter should not be damaged or altered in any way.

Step two:

Contact our office.

When emailing, please provide the following information:

In which country will your school documents be used?
Should we legalise the original or a certified copy?
How soon do you need the apostille?
How will the school documents be delivered and returned?

When we have all the information, the team will assess your enquiry and give you a quotation.

Then, if you accept the quote, the process of getting an apostille starts.

Step three:

Once your school paper has been apostilled, we will email you a scanned copy.

If you are not collecting your apostilled document from our London office, we will provide you with the DHL tracking number that the courier gave.

Note that we return documents by DHL courier only. If you want to make other arrangements, please let us know.

How much does it cost?

Getting an apostille for school documents starts from £110 (including solicitor fees, FCDO fees, our fees, and VAT).

Other costs will depend on your chosen service, if you also need embassy attestation, and the selected return delivery method.

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How long does it take?

Our standard processing time for getting an apostille is 2-3 days.

Here is what 2 to 3 days mean:

If your documents arrive by 10 am, it will take 2 days to process your documents + next-day return delivery.
If your documents arrive after 10 am, then it would take 3 days to apostille your documents + next day return delivery.

We also offer a same-day apostille service.

Documents must arrive before 10 am for the same-day service.
Documents can be collected around 4 pm the same day.

Same-day service assumes you can drop off and collect your documents on the same day at our London office.

If a mailing or courier service is utilised, the same day becomes a 24-hour service.

Discover how the same-day apostille service works

Document receipt and return services

We have several ways documents can be delivered and returned like, email, in-person, post, or private courier.

Email:

Whenever possible, we prefer to receive documents by email. Email is instant and guarantees a fast service.

Post or courier:

When an email is not possible, we prefer to receive and return documents by mail or courier.

In-person:

You can deliver and collect documents in person too. Documents must be dropped off at the front desk and collected from the front desk – without seeing a staff member.

Appointments:

An appointment must be pre-arranged if you need to see a staff member, solicitor, or notary.

Is it possible to get an apostille for a digital copy of UK school documents?

Yes. The legalisation office issues two types of apostilles. One is the normal paper apostille with the official stamp of the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO).

The other is called an “e-apostille“, which is signed digitally. You can get both kinds of apostilles for a digital copy of a UK school document.

To apply for an e-apostille, a solicitor or notary public must digitally sign digital copies (such as PDF files). Not all legal practitioners are familiar with digital signatures.

To get a paper apostille, you must print out the digital copy of your UK school document and get the copy certified by a solicitor or notarised by a notary public.

Can I obtain an apostille for UK school documents issued by a private school?

Yes. You can get an apostille for documents issued by a private school, provided the school is registered with the UK government. Private schools (sometimes called independent schools) are not allowed to operate in the UK unless they are registered [1].

Can I get an apostille for a UK school document from a closed institution?

Yes. You can get an apostille for a document from some institutions that have closed down.

Records of some formerly registered schools are kept by the Department for Education (DfE) [2].

A notary public must also notarise your document. The notary must be satisfied that a formerly accredited UK institution issued the document and that you are the individual to whom the document was issued.

These facts will be recorded as notarial comments before the notary signs and seals your document. The FCDO can then legalise the notarised document.

Is it possible to get an apostille for a UK school document issued by a school that is not accredited or recognised by the government?

No. The FCDO will check that the school is registered on the school’s database before issuing an apostille [3].

Can I get an apostille for UK school documents from a British International School?

Yes. You can get an apostille for some school documents from a British International School.

British International Schools are schools in other countries that teach the UK’s National Curriculum.

Three UK examination boards (Cambridge International Examinations, Oxford AQA, and Edexcel) offer International GCSE and International A Level examinations. These examinations are recognised as being equivalent to their UK counterparts.

Because the examination boards that administer these qualifications are based in the UK, it is possible to apply for an apostille for such documents from the UK’s FCDO.

The FCDO does not issue apostilles for any other documents issued by British International Schools unless a UK-based organisation has issued them.

UK-validated documents from British International Schools in other countries should be verified by the relevant British Council [4][5].

We can obtain apostilles for your British International School documents, provided they meet the above requirements.

Is an apostille always required for school documents being used in another country?

An apostille is only required if it has been requested.

Until the UK left the EU, no apostille was required in other EU member-states. However, getting an apostille for your school documents is usually necessary if they are to be presented in any foreign country.

Most countries not signatories of the Hague Convention also require additional attestation of your documents.

Can I get an apostille for a UK school document translated by a non-certified professional?

An apostille certificate issued in the UK is in English and includes translations into two other languages, such as French and Spanish.

However, you may require translations for the underlying school documents if they are needed in your destination country.

The type of translation needed will depend on the document. We provide translation services for all official school documents.

Our turnaround time is usually 24 hours, but we can offer same-day service (12 hours) in emergencies. Our rates start at £60 per page, with discounts available for orders of three or more pages.

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References

This article has been written by experts and fact-checked by experts. We only link to high-quality sources like government information & data, original reporting, and interviews with industry experts. Reputable publishers are also sourced and cited where appropriate to support the facts within our articles.