A verification of award letter confirms your qualification and classification. It may be required for employers, prospective employers, voluntary organisations or educational institutions as proof of a former student's attainment. It is not an academic transcript, and does not show marks for individual units.

A verification of award confirms:

• full name
• date of birth (where we hold this information) 
• student number (where we hold this information) 
• mode of attendance (for example, full time) 
• the award title (for example, Economics, History of Art) Please note we can provide a PhD programme letter that states the students programme name for PhD awards, but not the dissertation title. Please contact award-verification@bristol.ac.uk to request this letter. 
• the level of award (for example MSc/BSc)
• the class (grade) of award (for example first class, merit) 
• the start date of study (where we hold this information) 
• the award date (this is the date the award was confirmed) 
• the degree congregation date (where applicable, we do not provide these as standard for degrees pre-2008. This is the graduation ceremony date. Once a student has been awarded their degree, he student will attend the next available ceremony, which can be several months after the award date) 

Verification letters can be sent by email or by post. If sent by post, the document is printed on headed paper. and is marked with the University of Bristol seal. A verification of award letter is usually accepted by institutions/employers in place of a certificate. They are sometimes requested in addition to the original certificate, as a further form of verification.

Requests are usually completed within 10 working days, although in busy periods and during university closure dates they may take longer. We aim to complete requests as soon as possible. 

Verification Cost 

A full refund will be given if the University is unable to provide a verification for any reason.

Posting Verifications

• Award verification letters requested by post are sent by Royal Mail Signed For First Class. You will be notified by email when your order is posted. A signature may be required on delivery. Signed For First Class delivery usually takes:
  • 1–2 working days to arrive in the UK
  • Up to 14 days to arrive in countries outside UK

We are only able to post items once a week, this may increase the processing time for your order. Please allow up to two weeks for items to be delivered to UK addresses and one month for overseas addresses before contacting us.

Request an Award Verification - Request from Former Students 

Award verification letters can be requested at any point after an award has been received. If you request an award verification after you have received your results but before you have attended a graduation ceremony. The congregation date will state "The degree will be conferred by the University at a Degree Congregation in due course."All award verification letters are free before the graduation ceremony takes place. After the ceremony, the first request is free and subsequent copies cost £10.

Prospective employers must request verification from us directly, using the button labeled Private Sector Companies and Agencies further down this page. There is a fee for third parties of £15.

Request a verification

You will receive an order confirmation email to acknowledge receipt of the verification request. Requests are usually completed within 10 working days, although in busy periods and during university closure dates they may take longer. We will endeavor to complete requests as soon as possible. 

Request an Award Verification - Request from 3rd Party Organisation, HEI and Government Bodies

Consent: 

• A consent form signed by the former student must be provided along with any request for verification of award to a third party. This should be emailed to award-verification@bristol.ac.uk. Please use our Consent to disclose information to a third party form (PDF, 327kB)
• We are only able to accept consent forms which explicitly name the third party organisation i.e. education institute, or private sector company and will only release the information to the organisation named on the form.
• Consent forms must include a signature. If hand-written, please scan or photograph the consent form and email it to us. We do accept digital signatures but they cannot just be typed.

Please select the appropriate link through to our online shop:

HEI or Government Body

Private Sector Companies and Agencies

You will receive an order confirmation email to acknowledge receipt of the verification request. Requests are usually completed within 10 working days, although in busy periods and during university closure dates they may take longer. We will try to complete requests as soon as possible.