Here to support you
You'll always get support from the alumni team.
Below are answers to frequently asked questions about replacing degree parchments, transcripts and academic verifications, obtaining personal references and contacting your alumni peers.
As more frequently answered questions arise, we'll update this section with relevant information.
Do you need additional support or have another question?
We welcome all emails from alumni. Email us at alumni@port.ac.uk and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.
Award certificate
A coloured certificate showing your name, award title, classification and date of the award. Award classifications include first, upper second, lower second, third, merit and distinction.
Replacement certificates
If your original certificate is lost or damaged, we can replace it for a fee.
Replacements cost £35 for one parchment and £10 for each additional certificate of the same award ordered at the same time. The cost is inclusive of VAT and postage.
If you apply for a replacement parchment on behalf of someone else, you need written permission from the award holder.
Certified Documents
Some companies, educational institutions or government authorities may require you to supply certified award documents.
We are able to certify documents for graduates who were awarded after 1 September 1992 when the University received its awarding powers. Please place your order through our online store.
You will need to send a scanned copy of your original award certificate/transcript as required, this will be stamped, signed and emailed back to you as a pdf. If you need it to be sent to a third party, please include their contact details in your order. If you don’t have your original documents, you will need to purchase a replacement set and then add a certified copy to your order.
We aim to process your request in 10-15 working days; however at peak times (July and November) this may take longer. This service costs £10 per document.
If you studied at Portsmouth Polytechnic (CNAA) between 1969 and 1992 you will need to contact the Open University Validation Service who will provide a proforma certificate.
If you graduated prior to 1969, please email awards@port.ac.uk to check that we are able to fulfil your request before placing your order.
Credential Evaluations
If you are applying for a course of further study or employment in the United States of America or Canada, you will probably need to provide a credential evaluation report. This is a report that verifies what your UK award equates to in the USA or Canada.
The University has an arrangement with World Education Services (WES), please see below for further details, but there are a number of organisations which offer this service which you could choose to use instead.
World Education Services (WES)
World Education Services (WES) offer a credential evaluation service and you can find more information about the required documents here. Please send scanned copies of the original documents required by WES to academicverifications@port.ac.uk along with your WES reference number. Once we receive your documents we'll check your award and stamp and certify the copy before we upload it to the secure WES portal (please see the diagram below for how this works).
Apostille certificates
If you're an overseas student or a graduate wanting to live or work abroad you may need an Apostille certificate in addition to your parchment. Details on how to do this can be found on the Foreign and Commonwealth website. You will need to appoint a solicitor to legalise the documents on your behalf.
Visit the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website
Replacement Documents
We can provide replacement award documents for graduates who were awarded after 1 September 1992 when the University received its awarding powers. However, for graduates who completed their studies before 1999 we are unable to provide replacement transcripts as the University did not retain module marks prior to this date. Please place your order through our online store.
If you studied at Portsmouth Polytechnic (CNAA) between 1969 and 1992 you will need to contact the Open University Validation Service who will provide a proforma certificate.
If you graduated prior to 1969, please email awards@port.ac.uk to check that we are able to fulfil your request before placing your order.
We aim to process your request in 10-15 working days; however at peak times (July and November) this may take longer.
Personal reference
If you're looking for a personal or character reference from an academic, please email myport@port.ac.uk who will forward your request to the relevant member of staff to see whether this can be arranged.
Verification of award documents
There are a number of different verification services available. Please read the information below to decide which best fits your needs.
Letter of Academic Verification
You can get a letter of verification which acts as proof of your award for free. A letter of verification is different to a replacement parchment/transcript. The letter will be sent to you via email and will include information such as your award data and study dates. For details about your units you'll need a replacement transcript.
Looking for fellow alumni?
Our lives often lead us far the places we once called home, the social groups we once surrounded ourselves with and individuals who were so important to our university experience.
If you're looking for fellow alumni you may have lost contact with, we may be able to help you. We can't share individual details due to privacy regulations, but we may be able to contact alumni on your behalf, or put out a call out on social media.
Please email alumni@port.ac.uk with your enquiry, including individual names, courses studied, approximate dates and any other relevant information,. We'll see what we can do to help.
Looking for advice on reunions?
Explore our events page for more information.
Want to share your journey since Graduation?
Do you have a story to share, a success to celebrate or simply want to provide feedback about your university experience?
Get in touch with the team by emailing alumni@port.ac.uk to submit your career profile.
Let's stay in touch
Keep your details up to date so you don't miss out on alumni events, reunions and news.
You can also contact us by email at alumni@port.ac.uk or call us on +44 (0)23 9284 2705.
We'd love to hear from you.