Replacement certificates should not be allowed to be this expensive

They are taking the absolute piss, asking for £47 per exam, and £67 per exam if it's urgent.

I have a digital PDF copy of my certificates, and if I didn't, I would not be able to survive.

Somebody needs to do something about this because that price is extortionate. People lose things! Why are we being heavily taxed on a few papers that we can easily lose over something we completed a whole decade ago?

Don't know where to put this, but thought GCSE was most applicable as universities/new workplace ask for GCSE Maths and English certificates.

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Reply 1

username5789349

Might sound stupid but can't you print the PDFs onto card paper so they look and feel like the actual certificates?

Reply 2

0le

Original post by 14x14

Might sound stupid but can't you print the PDFs onto card paper so they look and feel like the actual certificates?

It is a good idea but unfortunately it will not have the security markings.

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 3

martin7

Original post by AnharM

There's obviously going to be a cost involved in the staff time and infrastructure required to retrieve your exam results, produce new certificates and get them verified for accuracy before sending them out.

It's a life lesson -- important documents need to be treated as important documents and be looked after appropriately.

If you lose your passport or your driving licence it costs money to replace those too.

Reply 4

StriderHort

Think of it as an investment in your future :colondollar:

Reply 5

AnharM

Original post by martin7

Having to pay is fine...having to pay £47 for each exam that you sat for that exam board, is ridiculous. I've sat 10 GCSE exam, 4 A-Levels, that's 14 x £47...you do the math. It's extortionate.

More to the point, they don't send you individual certificates back...they send you a Certified Statement Of Results.

Having to pay is fine, but £47 per exam is far too much, when I have the PDF file, including all the details of my exams, on the file.

They say the fee is to cover for the location of the record, ordering, printing and dispatching the document. How is it at all applicable here when the PDF provides all the data needed to get my records? All they need to do is ordering it, printing it (just one sheet, not individual sheets for each exam), and dispatching it.

It's unbelievably extortionate. I didn't even lose my certificates, it was my elderly mother who has huge memory problems. She lost it some time in the last 6-7 years.

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 6

Admit-One

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by AnharM

Somebody needs to do something about this because that price is extortionate.

So what are you going to do about it? A formal complaint would probably be your best option, but the most likely outcome is they'll provide a breakdown as to how the cost is determined.

Original post by AnharM

All they need to do is ordering it, printing it (just one sheet, not individual sheets for each exam), and dispatching it.

I think the problem is that you are associating the cost with printing a single piece of paper, rather than providing an authenticated set of 14 exam results from a decade or more ago. You already have a piece of paper with your results on but it is meaningless, you are paying to have verified set of results that employers etc. will accept.

Reply 7

0le

I would have thought the £47 covers a statement which lists all your qualifications with that exam board? If they are charging instead £47 per qualification (e.g. say £470 total for 10 qualifications with Edexcel), just to print out one statement of results, I do find that a bit silly.

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 8

Compost

Original post by AnharM

Having to pay is fine...having to pay £47 for each exam that you sat for that exam board, is ridiculous. I've sat 10 GCSE exam, 4 A-Levels, that's 14 x £47...you do the math. It's extortionate.

I'm fairly sure that they charge you per certificate - so 4 A levels obtained at the same time from the same exam board would all be on the same certificate.. It's certainly not per exam, though it might be per subject

Reply 9

AnharM

Original post by 0le

Extremely silly, exactly.

Think about it...it costs more to get your education record from 10 years ago (which I already have details of), than to renew your passport.

Original post by Compost

I meant per subject, so 10 GCSE's and 4 A Levels = 14 subjects x £47...it's extremely extortionate.

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 10

0le

Original post by Compost

I think this is the issue. The website does not make it clear whether it is per subject or not. For example, for three A-Levels all from Edexcel, do you pay a total of £47 or do you pay £141 (£47*3) and I think this is what the OP wants to know.

Reply 11

Compost

Original post by 0le

As I said, I'm fairly sure that the charge is per certificate, not per subject. Certificates normally cover all subjects taken in an exam season of the same type, e.g. GCSE for Summer 2013, GCE (i.e. AS and A level) for Summer 2015. The OP may only have to pay for 2 certificates.

Reply 12

0le

Original post by Compost

Yup, I agree, that does sound more reasonable, but you never know these days! OP, I do agree with Compost here, I think the total you will have to pay is probably £94 if you did everything with Edexcel. This assumes that you did all your GCSE exams in one summer (£47) and all your A-Level exams in another summer (£47). It is still a bit of money, but much less than paying per subject.

Reply 13

AnharM

Original post by 0le

Okay...I may have read wrong.

It may NOT be £47 per subject.

I think it's £47 per exam board, per year.

For eg, I sat 4 GCSE's for Edexcel in 2011, 2 A-Levels in 2013...so that's £47*2?

That helps a lot I guess, but I still think it's massively extortionate.

I have to check if this applies for all exam boards.

Reply 14

0le

OP, if you do not need the certificates urgently, it might be worth having a good look through the house/flat where your mother lives. Check inside folders, books and also inside cupboards. It may even be behind A4 picture frames etc. It reads like she probably just misplaced them somewhere in her home, which means they could probably be found again with a deep search.

Reply 15

AnharM

Original post by 0le

I am so conflicted and confused right now, because I asked Edexcel if I have to pay £47 per subject....

They said to me "That is £47 per application, please note that an application can only cater one qualification."

Does that mean I have to pay £47 each for my Maths and Further Maths A-Level in 2014???

Edit: I've just gone to the website and re-checked again, THANK GOD IT SAYS ONE APPLICATION WILL COVER ALL SUBJECTS I TOOK THAT MONTH/YEAR YAAAAAS

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 16

0le

Original post by AnharM

I did have a look for you on various places and a few others, admittedly from 2013, seem to confirm this as well:
https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/1657458-AQA-EXAM-BOARD-Theyre-the-unreasonable-ones

You are right to be confused. Their website is pretty unclear and the application form is also unclear too.

Reply 17

AnharM

Original post by 0le

I'm applying for a Teacher Training course.

I only need my Degree Certificate (which I have) and my GCSE Maths (Edexcel) and English (AQA).

Do you think I should just invest in all of my GCSE's and A Level certificates (if in the future, it ever comes up), or should I just invest in the GCSE Maths and English certificates?

As in, I pay for all of it now, it'll cost £250. If I just focus on the GCSE English and Maths, it'll only cost me £90.