Alumni Records

Award certificates are usually issued within eight weeks of the award being made by the Assessment Board. This will also include a copy of your transcript, if applicable.

Following your award confirmation, you will receive a digital copy of your award letter and/or transcript to your Bath Spa email address and personal email address. This email will also confirm your full name and home address and give you a deadline to change this information. Your certificate will then be posted to you within approximately six weeks of that deadline.

Your award certificate is a unique document; we do not keep copies. Please store it carefully - should you lose or destroy it, you will be charged for its replacement. The certificate is produced on award certificate paper, embossed with the University stamp.

Increasingly, employers and other higher education institutions will require more detail about your programme of studies. It is advised that you retain copies of course, subject and module handbooks. Please note that the Alumni Records Office does not hold these documents so they will not be able to provide them to you if later required.

Please note that the University does not keep copies of certificates as only one degree certificate may be in circulation at any one time. Replacement certificates can therefore only be re-issued or purchased if your original certificate has been lost, returned to the University, or destroyed. The applicant must make a written declaration setting out fully the circumstances in which the certificate was lost or destroyed including an undertaking that, should a replacement be issued, it will be returned if the original is subsequently found.

We will need to verify your details before we produce the certificate. Please note that replacements, while having precisely the same standing as the originals they replace, are produced in the current format and may not therefore be an exact copy of the original. The University takes fraudulent applications very seriously and will normally report any such instances to the relevant authorities.

Replacement certificates for awards made by Bath Spa University cost £45 (plus postage). If you still have your certificate and require additional copies, then you can order a certified copy of the certificate which costs £25 (plus postage). Additional copies of certificates ordered at the same time cost £5 each.

Replacement certificates for awards prior to August 2005 will have been made by Bath Spa University College or Bath College of Higher Education, and therefore they will be certified copies and cost £25 (plus postage).

Prior to 1992, your certificate may have been awarded by the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA), University of Bath or University of Bristol, in which case you would need to contact the relevant institution for a new certificate.

If you are unsure who awarded your certificate, please contact us before sending payment so we can confirm the awarding body for your qualification, by emailing alumnirecords@bathspa.ac.uk.  

Please note that if we do not hold an electronic student record for you (i.e., your record pre-dates the introduction of the University's electronic database system), it may not be possible to provide a replacement transcript or certificate to you.

If we hold an electronic student record for you, we can provide a digital (pdf) copy of your transcript at no cost. Hard copies of transcripts cost £5, and there may be an additional cost for postage.

If we do not hold an electronic student record for you, then we may not be able to create a transcript. If we can create a transcript then it will cost £20 (for a digital or physical copy), and there may be an additional cost for postage. This document will confirm all available information for your course including: the award you obtained, dates of enrolment, awarding body, the modules/units and any marks/grades achieved, and any available information about the syllabus/content of the course.

The student's name on the certificate should match the student's official record as held by the University. This is the definitive record of the student and their achievement. This information is used for the production of graduation proceedings and degree certificates and names are not normally changed after graduation unless a spelling or administrative error has been made.

However, the University is aware of its responsibilities under the Gender Recognition Act 2004 and Equality Act 2010. In circumstances where an individual has changed their name as a result of a change in their gender presentation, and the individual asks the University to reissue a certificate in their new name, this request will be granted upon production of proof of name change.

Individuals will also be asked how they want their official University record to be reflected for the future and the record will be updated accordingly. Individuals will be required to return their original degree certificate before a new degree certificate will be issued. Changes of name on a degree certificate post-graduation in other circumstances will not be permitted.

Personal/character references

If you require a personal reference, then you should contact a member of staff whom you feel knows you well enough. You should ask for their consent prior to providing their contact details.

Standard references

If you just require a standard reference which confirms your dates of attendance, qualification achieved, and ranking within your cohort (where applicable), then you can contact the University.

Current students:

If you are a current student you should contact the Student Information team via MyServices.

Former students:

If you are a former student you can contact the Alumni Records office via email (alumnirecords@bathspa.ac.uk).

PGCE

For all PGCE graduates, a reference is held by the School of Education; please contact the Reference Administration Team:

Primary courses: primarypgceref@bathspa.ac.uk

Middle and Secondary courses: mspgceref@bathspa.ac.uk 

Employers and other third parties

Please contact the Alumni Records office by email, making sure to include proof of consent from your candidate.