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How long do schools keep unclaimed exam certificates for?
noelphobic
Posts: 2,297 Forumite
Not sure this is on the correct board but not sure where else to put it!
My son left school in 2006 and went to uni soon afterwards. He didn't collect his A Level certificates and they weren't posted to him. He is now applying to do a Masters (already has an undergraduate degree) and has been told he has to provide his original exam certificates. He contacted the school but they told him they don't have any certificates for him. He can apply to the exam board for copies but he will have to pay and they can take up to a month.
Just wondered if anyone knows how long a school would normally keep certificates for and what they would do if they weren't claimed. Surely they wouldn't just destroy them without either posting them to the last known address or phoning to ask what should be done with them.
He's phoning the school again tomorrow but thought I'd see if I could find anything out in the meantime. So if anyone has had this problem or works for a school I'd love to hear from them. Thanks in advance.
My son left school in 2006 and went to uni soon afterwards. He didn't collect his A Level certificates and they weren't posted to him. He is now applying to do a Masters (already has an undergraduate degree) and has been told he has to provide his original exam certificates. He contacted the school but they told him they don't have any certificates for him. He can apply to the exam board for copies but he will have to pay and they can take up to a month.
Just wondered if anyone knows how long a school would normally keep certificates for and what they would do if they weren't claimed. Surely they wouldn't just destroy them without either posting them to the last known address or phoning to ask what should be done with them.
He's phoning the school again tomorrow but thought I'd see if I could find anything out in the meantime. So if anyone has had this problem or works for a school I'd love to hear from them. Thanks in advance.
3 stone down, 3 more to go
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noelphobic wrote: »My son left school in 2006 and went to uni soon afterwards. He didn't collect his A Level certificates and they weren't posted to him.
If he didn't collect them in 8 years why should the school keep them for him?0 -
Ours are posted. We don't keep them.
If the school say that they don't have them, then I'm not sure what phoning again will achieve. You're talking about 8 years ago.
If the university are interested in him, they will wait a month for the duplicates. It's just paperwork."One day I realised that when you are lying in your grave, it's no good saying, "I was too shy, too frightened."
Because by then you've blown your chances. That's it."0 -
If he didn't collect them in 8 years why should the school keep them for him?
I didn't say they should keep them for him. I did think they would post them out though. It seems odd that they would just destroy them.
Yes, he should have collected them long ago but he didn't. I don't need that to be pointed out.3 stone down, 3 more to go0 -
Ours are posted. We don't keep them.
If the school say that they don't have them, then I'm not sure what phoning again will achieve. You're talking about 8 years ago.
If the university are interested in him, they will wait a month for the duplicates. It's just paperwork.
I am surprised that his school didn't post them. One of his friends got his certificates from them a while ago so they must have held on to them for a while. The school are providing a letter which states all his qualifications so hopefully all will be OK. Thanks for your advice.3 stone down, 3 more to go0 -
noelphobic wrote: »I didn't say they should keep them for him. I did think they would post them out though. It seems odd that they would just destroy them.
Well as he obviously wasn't bothered by not having them...noelphobic wrote: »Yes, he should have collected them long ago but he didn't. I don't need that to be pointed out.
That's OK then.
Though, don't have him phone the school again tomorrow. It will be a waste of time as they've already stated they don't have them.
Time to pay for the duplicates from the exam board.0 -
It is the responsibility of the student to collect certificates or provide pre-paid envelopes to have them posted to them, within a reasonable length of time.
Schools don't have the space to store certificates forever - some schools are hundreds of years old, imagine if they had to store all the uncollected certificates! Nor do they have the manpower to telephone the hundreds of students every year who do not collect their certificates. Our school keep them for five years and then dispose of them.
Did your son collect his GCSE certificates? Schools spend a lot of time reminding sixth-formers about this issue......[0 -
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Well as he obviously wasn't bothered by not having them...
That's OK then.
Though, don't have him phone the school again tomorrow. It will be a waste of time as they've already stated they don't have them.
Time to pay for the duplicates from the exam board.
He has never needed them before. Thanks to the other people who have posted helpful replies. I don't see any need for the sarcasm.3 stone down, 3 more to go0 -
noelphobic wrote: »Yes he did. And his AS certificates.
So he knew he was supposed to collect them then......
It is annoying that he didn't, I'm sure, and he's far from alone, but he'll probably now have to pay for replacements from the exam boards. Universities have their procedures, too.[0 -
What actually happens I don't know but we were told (a few years before your son would have done his exams) that we had a year to collect them or they'd be returned to the exam board.0
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