Apostille service overview:
  1. Our solicitors must see the original bachelor’s degree
  2. Originals & copies must be certified or notarised by a UK FCDO-registered solicitor or notary. 

Service options:

  • 3-4-day service from £120
  • 1 day (next business day) from £135
  • 1-day e-Apostille from £97 

The price includes admin fees, solicitor certification, apostille certificate, FCDO fees, and VAT.

If your bachelor’s is not already certified by an FCDO registered solicitor or notary – our solicitors need to see the original to certify the bachelor’s degree.

Let us know if we should apostille the original or a certified copy.

If you only have a COPY, or a digital download (PDF), our solicitors will require proof that your copy/PDF is genuine. This can be achieved by asking the issuing university to send an email to our solicitors directly. 

We can return the legalised documents via DHL or Royal Mail (next-day service), or you can collect them in person.

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

The full order process

Step one:

Make sure that your bachelor’s degree can be legalised with an apostille. Your degree 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 bachelor’s degree be used?
  • Should we legalise the original or a certified copy?
  • How soon do you need the apostille?
  • Do you also require embassy legalisation?
  • How will the bachelor’s degree be delivered and returned?

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

If you accept the quote, we will send an invoice to be paid, and the process of getting an apostille starts.

Step three:

Once your bachelor’s degree has been apostilled, we will send you a scanned copy via email.

If you are not collecting your apostilled document from our London office – we will provide you with the tracking number given by the courier.

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


How much does it cost?

The price includes admin, solicitor, FCDO, and VAT. Business documents incur an additional processing fee.

There could be additional costs, depending on your chosen service and how many documents you wish to apostille. Additional cost examples are:

  • Translations start from £30
  • Notarisation by notary public (+ £96)
  • Return delivery costs (+ £12)
  • Embassy legalisation (from + £75)

How long does it take to get an apostille?

There are three options for getting an apostille.

Option one: 1 day (next business day)

  • Documents must arrive before 10:00 am for the next-day service.
  • Documents can be collected around 3:30 pm the next day.
  • Documents are submitted and collected in person

Option two: 3 to 4 days:

  • If documents arrive by 10:30 am, it will take 3 days
  • If documents arrive after 10:30 am, then it will take 4 days
  • Documents are submitted and collected in person

Option three: e-Apostille 1 to 2 days 

If the document qualifies for an e-apostille, it is usually completed within 24 hours but can take two working days, depending on the FCDO’s workload.

Do I have to come to your office?

No, you do not have to come to our office. You can email a PDF version of your bachelor’s degree or other educational certificates.

Your documents can also be sent by courier or by post. We recommend using a tracked service if you send your documents by post. We return your documents in the same way.

If it is more convenient, you can of course attend our office in person to both deliver and collect documents.

You must only attend in person if a notary public must notarise your degree.

Please let us know if you need notarisation.

Is obtaining an apostille for a bachelor’s degree different from other academic qualifications?

The process for obtaining an apostille for all UK university degrees is the same. The purpose of an apostille is to ‘legalise’ an underlying document.

The apostille is confirmation by the UK government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office that the document has legal standing and can be recognised in other countries.

The legalisation office of the FCDO is therefore not concerned with the comparative levels of university degrees (Bachelor’s, Master’s, Doctorate, etc.).

The FCDO will, however, check the signature’s authenticity of the degree.

There are other means and institutions for making international comparisons and establishing equivalence. The UK’s own national agency for international qualifications and skills is known as UK ENIC (formerly NARIC) [1].

Other countries have their own agencies.

The process for obtaining apostilles for other academic qualifications is also the same. The process only varies if you use certified copies of your qualifications rather than the originals (see below).

Can I get an apostille for my bachelor’s degree if it was awarded by a UK university that is no longer in operation?

It is possible to get an apostille for a degree awarded by a defunct UK university, provided the university was authorised to grant those degrees and was accredited by the UK government when the degree was awarded.

It is not possible to obtain an apostille for a degree issued by any institution that has not been properly authorised and accredited.

Established UK universities rarely close down without a trace. Instead, one university or college is often merged with another to form a new institution.

The new institution keeps the records of the former establishments.

The Higher Education Degree Database (HEDD) keeps records of degrees awarded by UK universities [2].

Polytechnics in the UK were authorised to become universities and to issue their own degrees by the Further and Higher Education Act 1992.

From 1965 until 1992, the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) awarded degrees from polytechnics. The records of the former CNAA are now kept and managed by the Open University (OU) [3].

All degrees, therefore, that have been appropriately authorised and accredited can still be checked, either with the awarding institution or through one of the national databases. There is usually a charge for these checks.

There are different charges depending on which agencies and institutions keep the records.

Is it necessary to have an apostille for my bachelor’s degree if I only apply for jobs within the UK?

If an accredited UK university awarded your bachelor’s degree, it is not necessary to obtain an apostille if you are applying for jobs in the UK.

It is possible that a foreign-owned company operating in the UK might ask for an apostille.

If you are asked for an apostille for a bachelor’s degree awarded by a foreign university, you should obtain an apostille from the country where the degree was granted.

This applies even if you are now a UK resident and your degree was awarded in a Commonwealth country.

Can I request an apostille for my bachelor’s degree if I received it more than 10 years ago?

Yes. There is an official record of your bachelor’s degree if an accredited UK university awarded it.

Most UK universities retain the data necessary to identify you (with the dates you studied at the university, the degree and the classification you were awarded) for at least sixty years after graduation plus an additional ten years.

All other data relating to your time at the university is usually deleted after six years to comply with data protection legislation.

You can request an apostille for as long as your degree can be verified.

Is it possible to request an apostille for my bachelor’s degree if a UK-recognised university did not award it?

In principle, you can only get an apostille for documents issued in the UK.

The FCDO does not normally issue an apostille for a bachelor’s degree that was not awarded by a UK-recognised university.

In exceptional circumstances, a foreign degree that has been notarised in the UK may be accepted. The notary public must contact the foreign university directly to obtain proof that you have completed the necessary course of study.

The notary must then state on the notarial cover sheet that a full background check has been performed.

Most UK notaries are unwilling to undertake this lengthy and complicated process. Even if all of these procedures have been followed, there is no guarantee that the Legalisation Office will accept the application.

It is simpler, more certain (and probably less costly) to obtain an apostille from the country in which your bachelor’s degree was awarded.

There are also many bogus ‘universities’ offering bogus ‘degrees’ – for a price and mostly online.

You cannot get an apostille for a bachelor’s degree acquired in the UK from a university that is not recognised and accredited to award degrees [4].

Can I request an apostille for my bachelor’s degree even if I am not the original recipient?

If you are not the original recipient of the degree, it is not your bachelor’s degree.

However, you can apply for an apostille on behalf of someone else (e.g. your son or daughter). You will need to provide proof of their identity.

The apostille simply confirms the legal validity of the bachelor’s degree certificate.

Do I need to provide additional documentation besides my degree certificate and transcripts to obtain an apostille?

You only need to provide additional documents to support your bachelor’s degree if it has been requested. If supporting documents have been requested, they, too, need to be certified and apostilled.

Often, those documents can be “bound” and only require a cover letter and one apostille.

Example of support documents are:

  • Degree transcript
  • Letter of enrolment
  • Letter of attendance

How do I know if the apostille for my bachelor’s degree will be accepted by the country where I am using it?

Apostilles are accepted in all countries which are party to the Hague Convention on Apostilles [5].

Further verification and attestation may be required in countries that are not signatories to the Hague convention.

We can advise you and ensure that all requirements are met.

Is there a way to speed up obtaining an apostille for my bachelor’s degree if I have a tight deadline?

Yes. If you need the apostille for your bachelor’s degree urgently, we can offer a 24-hour service.

Provided your documents reach us by 10 a.m., they can be returned to you, with the apostille, by DHL courier the following day.

For very urgent cases and in emergencies, we also offer same-day service.

To qualify for our same-day service, all your documents (including solicitor-certified or notarised copies) must reach us by 10 a.m.

They will be ready for collection from our office by 4.30 p.m. on the same day. [6].

Your bachelor’s degree certificate and apostille cannot be returned to you by post or courier on the same day. They must be collected from our office.

Please telephone to arrange collection.

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.

[1] The UK national agency for international qualifications and skills (UK ENIC)
https://enic.org.uk/Default.aspx

[2] Higher Education Degree Datacheck (HEDD)
https://hedd.ac.uk/search

[3] The Open University – Online Application for CNAA Verification
https://www.open.ac.uk/about/validation-partnerships/awards-and-aftercare/cnaa-students

[4] 85 bogus UK universities shut down
https://www.jisc.ac.uk/news/85-bogus-uk-universities-shut-down-19-feb-2021#

[5] Hague Convention Countries – HCCH members
https://apostillelondon.com/hague-convention-countries/

[6] Same-day apostille service in London (only)
https://apostillelondon.com/apostille-services/same-day-apostilles-service/

[7] About bachelor’s degrees – from Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor%27s_degree

[8] Bachelor’s degrees: BA, BSc, MB and more
https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/bachelors-degrees