Academic Verification Requests for Third Parties
How to request academic verification documents for current and former students as a third party, such as a prospective employer or Higher Education Institution.
- What the letter includes
- Current Students
- Commercial Organisations
- Non-Commercial Organisations
- Required Information
- Personal Character References
- Processing Time
- Delivery and Collection
What the letter includes
An academic verification letter outlines a current or former students':
- award
- course of study
- dates of attendance
- degree classification
Current Students
You do not need an Academic Verification Letter to prove your student status.
You can request a Certificate of Student Status from SSiD in person or online.
Request Certificate of Student Status
Commercial Organisations
If you are a commercial organisation, such as an employer, Employment Agency or Screening Agency, you can request a current or former student’s academic verification letter via the Online Store.
There is an administration fee of £10 per verification.
Once you have placed your order, you must email a scanned copy of signed consent from the student authorising the release of information to a third party to the email below.
Please include the student’s full name and your order number in the subject line.
Non-Commercial Organisations
If you are a non-commercial organisation, such as a Higher Education Institution, Local Authority or UK and overseas governmental body, you can request a current or former student’s academic verification by emailing:
Within the email, you must:
- verify your own identity and relationship with the student
- include a scanned copy of signed consent from the student authorising the release of information to a third party
This service is free for non-commercial organisations.
Required Information
To avoid delays when processing your order please provide the following information about the student, where possible:
- Full name
- Date of birth
- Date of award
- Dates of study
- Location of study
- Full title of subject studied
Personal Character References
We cannot provide personal (character) references for current or former students.
This should be requested from the academic department in which they studied.
Processing Time
Once we have received your order and the student’s signed consent, your request will be processed within three working days.
Your request may take up to six weeks if:
- the student graduated before 1998
- we need to query requests where data is incomplete
- we need to query requests if the data does not match our records
Delivery and Collection
Most documents for current students can be printed on request when you visit SSiD.
You can also order your documents for delivery or collection.
If you have any further queries please contact SSiD in person or via email.