Certificates, award verification and transcripts

Oxford Brookes University is a higher education institution that is authorised by statute to award its own degrees, certificates and diplomas at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Oxford Brookes achieved its status of “University” from the Further and Higher Education Act 1992.

Student Central is responsible for the production and dispatch of award certificates for enrolled and registered students.

Certificates are posted to the students' Correspondence address on the University’s Personal Information Portal (PIP). If there is no Correspondence address registered on PIP, the Home address will be used. Certificates will be dispatched via recorded delivery, within three months of the date that the award was conferred (i.e. the examination committee date). It is the student's responsibility to ensure that the Correspondence/Home address is correct on their PIP prior to leaving the University.

Recorded Delivery requires a signature on delivery, otherwise it will be held by the postal service for a short period before being returned to sender.

There are a few exceptions to the general dispatching of certificates. In the case where a course leading to an Oxford Brookes University award is being managed by a host institution, there may be an agreement that the award certificates are sent to the host institution and they arrange for the award certificates to be dispatched to the graduates.

Certificates are normally posted out via recorded delivery or international signed for delivery within three months of the award date. If your certificate has not arrived within four months of your award date, please contact us.

We are unable to track postage after six months. If you contact us after six months of your award date, and your certificate has not been returned to Student Central, an application for a re-issued certificate will need to be made. This will incur a charge.

The University can reissue certificates to students who studied at Oxford Brookes University from 1992 onwards and who have lost their original certificate.

To request  and pay for a replacement certificate, please go to the Online Shop.

For information regarding Oxford Polytechnic awards prior to 1992 or for Westminster College please see below and look at Regulations in Related Links.

Student Central can certify photocopies of your original award certificate.

Student Central can certify photocopies of your original award certificate. The charge for certified copies is three copies for £5. Please place your order by going to the Online Shop.

Once you have paid you will need to send us a copy of your award certificate (we recommend you do not send your original certificate), along with your order number. Copies can be emailed, posted or faxed to us.

Student Central does not hold copies of your certificate - if you have lost your original you will need to request a re-issue certificate.

All requests for verification of awards and dates of attendance are now processed by Higher Education Degree Datacheck (HEDD). HEDD is UK Higher Education’s official service for candidate verification and university authentication. HEDD is for employers, agencies, universities, embassies and councils who wish to verify whether a candidate is a current or past student of a university or college, the award and grade they received, and their dates of attendance.

To create an account and submit a request for verification, please visit www.hedd.ac.uk.

Please note that any qualification achieved prior to 1992 must be verified by going to www.open.ac.uk/validate rather than using HEDD.

Student Central keep returned award certificates for one year before they are destroyed. We will not automatically resend certificates. Students who have not received an award certificate within the timescale detailed previously should contact Student Central. If the certificate has been returned, arrangements can be made to re-send the award certificate. This may incur a charge.

Oxford Brookes University issues one certificate for each award conferred on an individual student. 

The name used on the certificate will be the name recorded on the University's central student administration system at the time of conferment. This is usually the name the student used on their enrolment form, unless during their course of study the student has officially changed their name via the S170 form and submitted this to the Advice Team in Student Central.

The University strongly advises students to consider carefully how they enter their name on the enrolment form. A student's name cannot be amended on either the University's central student administration system or on the award certificate once the award has been conferred at the examination committee unless there are exceptional circumstances e.g. gender reassignment name changes.

If the name used on the enrolment form is different to the student's birth certificate, passport or other official documentation then the student may encounter problems in the future when all the documents do not correspond.

An award certificate is an official document, for the use of a third-party, to verify that an award has been conferred on an individual. Award certificates include a number of security measures in order to protect the value of the certificate.
Award certificates include the following information:

• Date award was conferred
• Name of student who has received the award
• Type of award, i.e. award, posthumous award, honorary award
• Title of the award (Inclusion of an oral distinction in the relevant language, if applicable)
• Classification if applicable

Award certificates do not include detailed information relating to individual subjects and marks or an overall mark. An award transcript provides this detailed information, which can be obtained from Student Central.

Oxford Polytechnic awards were validated by the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA). The CNAA no longer exist but their records are held by the Open University Validation Services. Students should go to the Validation Services website for information on how to proceed, and to download the appropriate forms.

Exceptions to the above are the Polytechnic Diplomas which were awarded by Oxford Polytechnic itself. Replica certificates are not available however the University can provide a verification of your award, subject to the availability of records, on a new certificate. Contact Student Central.

Applications for BTEC certificates awarded in 1992 and before must be made to Edexcel Foundation. Students should go to the Edexcel website and use the form on-line.

Please see the University Regulations for further details.

Westminster College, Oxford, merged with Oxford Brookes University in 2000 to create the Westminster Institute of Education. Awards made in 1978 and before were validated by the Oxford Delegacy who no longer exist. Replacement certificates are not available, however the University can provide a verification of your award subject to the availability of records. Contact Student Central.

Awards made between 1979 and 1992 were validated by the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA). The CNAA no longer exist but their records are held by the Open University Validation Services. Students should go to the Validation Services website (for link see Related Links) for information on how to proceed, and to download the appropriate forms.

Awards made in 1992 onwards were validated by the University of Oxford. Students should go to the Oxford University website and follow the directions on how to proceed. 

The BA Contemporary Studies degree which ran between 1995-2000 was validated by the Open University Validation Services. Students should go to the Validation Services website for information on how to proceed, and to download appropriate forms.

Please see the University Regulations for further details.

Within six weeks of the date that your award is conferred (i.e. the examination committee date) we will email you a link to your official transcript, so keep an eye on your Oxford Brookes email account for this link. If you wish to purchase a hard copy transcript you can do so via the Brookes Online Shop at the cost of £10.00.

If your transcript link has not arrived within six months of your award date, please contact us and we will arrange for the link to be resent to you.

You can request a physical, printed transcript at any time during or after your studies, which will incur a fee of £10. Please visit the online shop and follow the instructions. A guaranteed tracking service option will be available at an additional cost of £15.