Tall image of student with parchment

Degree certificates (parchments)

Your degree certificate is often referred to as a parchment and will have the University seal affixed.

The certificate you receive contains:

  • your primary name, as recorded in your student record
  • the type of award (certificate, diploma, degree)
  • the classification of the award (if appropriate)

Tall image of student with parchment

Name on parchment

Your degree certificate will be printed with your name shown in the following format:

  • First/given name(s)
  • Middle name(s), then
  • Family name/surname unless you ask us to have your family name/surname shown first (you can do this when you enrol to graduate) 

If you request your family name/surname to be shown first, your name will be shown in the following format:

  • Family name/surname
  • First/given name(s), then
  • Middle name(s)

Your parchment will print your primary name as recorded in your student record.    

Your primary name

Please ensure that your primary name is correctly recorded in your student record.

To make any changes to your primary name: you must contact the Student Services Enquiry Team (SSET) before the enrolment deadline as you are unable to amend this via your MyCampus record.

Your primary name in your student record should be the same as that on an officially recognised form of identification document such as:

  • Your birth, adoption or marriage certificate
  • Passport
  • Driving licence
  • National identity card
  • Other legal document

Using a different version of your name may cause you difficulty in the future in proving that the certificate is yours.

Changing your name on a parchment (after graduation)

Once you receive your certificate it is not possible to amend your name. The only retrospective changes that can be made are where:

  • an administrative error has occurred and is notified to Registry Graduation Team within three calendar months of your graduation date, or
  • a change is required under the Gender Reassignment provisions of the Equality Act 2010.  In this case please email us at Graduation@glasgow.ac.uk.  To verify your identity, we will ask for identification in your new chosen name, such as deed poll, passport, or driver's licence.  For doctorates or if you have a dissertation stored at the library, we will notify them of any changes to names to ensure that this change can be reflected to ensure consistency of records.  When contacting us to request your new parchment, please specifically state if you do not want us to do this.


If you have changed your name following completion of your course of study (for example, through marriage, or by Deed Poll), and wish to demonstrate to a prospective employer or educational institution that your degree certificate belongs to you, supporting documentation showing the name change should accompany the certificate.

Replacement parchments

Change to normal service

We sincerely regret that due to current exceptional circumstances and the limitations and challenges of staff working out of office we are currently unable to produce replacement degree parchments.

The Student Services Enquiry Team may be able to provide you with a certified letter confirming your award.  

We will provide any update to this service as soon as possible.

General Replacement Parchment Information

If your degree parchment is lost, stolen or damaged and you graduated in academic session 1988/89 onwards, you may obtain a replacement when we are able to issue replacement parchments again. If you graduated before this date and require confirmation of your degree you should apply for a Certifying Letter.

Parchment design - On 21st October 2019, the design of our degree parchments, diplomas and certificates changed.  From this date onwards, we are no longer able to issue A3 sized degree parchments.  All documents issued will be in the newly designed A4 format.