When applying to a UK University, particularly for distance learning, most applications ask for an original version of your previous degree. This can be a little worrying for students who are concerned about sending their degrees in the mail internationally. We are happy to provide certified copies of your original academic documents so that you can avoid sending originals to the UK.

To have your documents certified, please provide us with your original documents (transcripts or degrees from Canada or the UK) as well as a photocopy, with a note of how many copies you require. It is especially important to provide your own photocopies of oversized degrees (larger than 8.5X11') as we do not have the facilities on site to do this. The documents can be dropped off in person at our Ottawa office or mailed in. We will check the documents and certify true copies with a stamp and signature. These certified photocopies can then be sent to the UK and are perfectly acceptable.

The charge for this service is $15 per signature (please note that each photocopy will need one signature). Acceptable forms of payment are certified cheque or money order payable to the British Council or cash (do not sent cash in the mail).

Please enclose a prepaid envelope if you would like the items returned by courier, otherwise they will be sent by regular mail. Please do not use Purolator. The processing time is generally one to two days.

Our mailing address is: The British Council 80 Elgin Street Ottawa, ON K1P 5K7.

Please mark them 'Certification of documents'.

Document validation

Please note that we certify documents only. This means that we certify true copies of original educational documents with a British Council stamp and signature. Information on validated UK degrees can be found on the Department for Education and Skills website.