Lost my GCSE certificate From Years Ago

I think I’m screwed. Three years ago, I finished my A Levels, and applied to a Uni with UCAS through the support of the College I went to. My UCAS application was accepted. But I deferred the degree and then decided to withdraw. Then, I was self-employed for a few years: I didn’t need GCSEs to show an employer. Flash forward to now, I’ve been trying to apply to a new course at the same University. Tried logging into my two/three old UCAS Track account, with no luck. Have my Personal ID and I’ve already messaged UCAS about what they can do. Now, I’m realising that I’ve been out of college for years: I don’t have a written reference so I can’t really apply for a Course. Also, messaged the university asking if a reference is required as I’ve been out of school. Then, came the realisation that I don’t have my GCSE certificate. I’m not sure how I managed to send my UCAS application without my GCSE certificate; but my guess is that the College I went to knew because I needed my GCSEs to go to that College. Now, I’m stuck. I have my A Level results letter so I’m going to be checking to see if I have a “ULN” on it. If it’s not there, I will probably need to contact my old College. And if it’s still not there, I am screwed. Then I have to go through the process of contacting my old Secondary School which I left 6 years ago, asking them if they have any record of my past GCSE results… if not, ask them what the Exams were under (AQA, Pearson) for each GCSE I did. There goes about a £100 probably. So what do I do? I have my A Level results and no GCSE results. Do you think my old College could still have my GCSE results? I mean, they did have to see it in order to accept me in. I’m absolutely wrecked right now. Any help is greatly appreciated.

You can contact each of the exam boards, and ask them for copies of any GCSE certificates they hold for you. For examples, Pearson Edexcel say here that "For General Qualifications e.g. GCSE, if you state the qualification and do not list subjects we will send all subjects that we have on record for that qualification."

This page is a good starting point for the different exam boards' replacement certificate pages.

Not that they will likely provide a document called a "Certifying Statement of Results" rather that copies of individual certificates.

You don't need to delay applying to uni whilst you wait for these certificates / statements to arrive. Apply with your best memory of the grades / exam boards involved and then use this form to update those details after you've applied. For each qualification, It allows you to "change the awarding body/exam board" and "change qualification grades that you received prior to submitting your application". Note that if you change your grade for a GCSE subject that might impact your application (e.g. for Maths or English Language), then make sure you know the university know directly too.

Finally, you've said that you've "messaged the university asking if a reference is required as I’ve been out of school." Are you still awaiting a reply?

My problem is, what if I don’t know what exam board was use for Maths, Science (thankfully it was only Double Science for me), English Lang and Lit? Also Art, Drama and Food Tech. I did mostly all Higher Tier papers, will that change anything? Or should I just ask every exam board, hey I think I have a qualification under this exam board and I’ve lost it, can you check?

You can contact each of the exam boards, and ask them for copies of any GCSE certificates they hold for you.

And how do I contact the exam boards exactly? Is it by email, or using a form online?? Doesn’t it usually cost money?

This page is a good starting point for the different exam boards' replacement certificate pages.

...can’t I just ask UCAS to give my prior qualifications that I had before with the UCAS application?? Like, ask them for all my education history.

I seriously have zero idea what my GCSE grades were like, plus any information I need about them.

Also, I am waiting for UCAS to reply too, as I gave them my Personal ID. I basically asked them for my personal statement, written reference, education history, etc… But I’m not sure if they can give my education history. I’m hoping they can?

I'll quote myself back at you if that's OK, but highlighting the bits which you missed.

It's clearly a brute-force approach, and if you can establish the correct exam boards by another means (e.g. contacting your previous school), then that would likely be better.


Again, quoting the link I provided above:

Yes it will cost you money. You've lost something valuable; it can't be replaced for free. Each exam board's web site (links available via the above) will tell you how much they charge.


You can ask them. But I'd be very surprised if they'd tell you. (But see GDPR below.)


Zero? Zero? So you don't even know if you meet the GCSE entry requirements for the course(s) for which you'll be applying? (The requirements may have changed since your first applied.)


The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which was retained in UK law after the UK left the EU, provides you the legal right to all the information which UCAS hold about you. To exercise this right, you should email [email protected], or write to: Data Protection Officer, UCAS, Rosehill, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL52 3LZ.

If you contact your school, they can give you a print out of your results - this isnt in anyway 'proof' of you qualifications, and you cant use it as a certificate - but you can then use the info to complete your UCAS form.

I'll quote myself back at you if that's OK, but highlighting the bits which you missed.

It's clearly a brute-force approach, and if you can establish the correct exam boards by another means (e.g. contacting your previous school), then that would likely be better.


Again, quoting the link I provided above:

Yes it will cost you money. You've lost something valuable; it can't be replaced for free. Each exam board's web site (links available via the above) will tell you how much they charge.


You can ask them. But I'd be very surprised if they'd tell you. (But see GDPR below.)


Zero? Zero? So you don't even know if you meet the GCSE entry requirements for the course(s) for which you'll be applying? (The requirements may have changed since your first applied.)


The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which was retained in UK law after the UK left the EU, provides you the legal right to all the information which UCAS hold about you. To exercise this right, you should email [email protected], or write to: Data Protection Officer, UCAS, Rosehill, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL52 3LZ.

Also, another question, is there anyone I contact to help me with this, like government assistance? Social services? This is such a brutal task for me, as I'm chasing my old College, UCAS Track, and Secondary School about my certificate/results. I'm emailing so many different people. I have no idea if I'm looking up the right thing, asking the right person, or if I'm going to get a response back (it is a Weekend so I don't expect a response any time soon).

I don't know of any "official" source of assistance, I'm afraid. It shouldn't really be "a brutal task". You think of the people who might know this information (your old school, your old college, UCAS) and contact each of them. It's s "scatter gun" approach, but hopefully one of them will respond with some useful information.

Have you included yourself amongst the people who might know this information? Do you not have any old e-mails from your school days, or any letters, exam schedules, GCSE options booklets, or anything which might point you in the right direction? How about your parents? Might they have something useful?

Haha, I should clarify it’s a brutal task for me as I have ADHD and my medication I take is currently in shortage in the UK. Recently, I’ve moved and I think that’s how I’ve lost all my A Level/GCSE certificates.

I have been up all night looking past hundreds of my emails, and have found some information about my A Level certificate.

Currently I have,
• emailed the exam team of my old College asking for the examination boards of my 3 A Levels.
• emailed the Admissions team of my College asking for help/examination board/my ULN.
• emailed AQA asking if they can confirm I’m in their database, but I’m pretty sure they’ll say “you have to apply for a check” anyway, which costs a fee.
• emailed my old secondary school, asking if they can confirm that they have all the awarding bodies of the GCSE subjects I took. I also asked for a copy of my GCSE results, because why not. If they have still have it six years from now, I’ll be eternally grateful.

Do you think this is a good start?
I’ve given them my full name and DoB.
I haven’t given any proof of my identity yet,
I want them to get back to me first. Hopefully confirming that they can give me information…
I know I’m overthinking it, but if my secondary school can’t give me any information regarding my old GCSE certificate and results, what do I do? Like what if they can’t find me in their database, and have no information about the awarding bodies?

Thank you. I’ll be contacting my College about this for my A Level results, and hopefully ask them if they have my ULN (Unique Learner Number) too. I have lost both of my A Levels and GCSEs results slips. Do you think my Secondary School still has a print out of my results from 6 years ago?

That all sounds like the right steps to be taking. If it gets you nowhere, then you have no choice but to accept that it's going to cost you some money (and time) to contact each exam board and use their "replacement certificate" services, asking each for whatever they have (which might be nothing).

They will probably still have this on your student record and just need to print it out.