Certification Service | British Council

The British Council in the Philippines provides a certification service of academic documents from the UK, which is the confirmation that a photocopy is a true copy of an original document.

Please note that this is not a confirmation of the authenticity of the original certificate. At the moment we do not provide authentication services.

Please check with the institution you are applying to if they are agreeable to this before making an appointment with us. The institution you are applying to may not accept a certified document due to their requirements and processes.

This service is available only at the British Council office from Monday to Friday, 9.00 am to 4.00 pm, except on public holidays.

To have your documents certified, please follow these steps.

Step 1: bring your original academic documents to the office and give them to the customer service representative at the front desk, please include your email address and mobile or telephone number, and indicate how many certified copies you require, if you are sending somebody else to bring the documents, please provide an authorisation letter with your signature and a photo copy of your valid identification card

Step 2: sign the fair collection notice provided by the customer service representative

Step 3: leave the original academic documents and the signed fair collection notice at the office, the length of the certification process depends on the availability of the signatory, you will be notified via email or phone call once the documents are ready

Step 4: collect the original and certified academic documents at the British Council office, if you are sending somebody else to collect the documents, please provide an authorisation letter with your signature and a photo copy of your valid identification card

Step 5: payment should be made after the certification process is completed, the fee is PH₱ 300.00 per single sided copy receipt will be issued.

What are the documents that cannot be certified?

The British Council in the Philippines cannot certify the following documents:

Non-academic documents
Academic documents from the Philippines
Photocopies or certified photocopies
Scanned images

If you have further queries, please email us at britishcouncil@britishcouncil.org.ph.

What is the difference between certification and authentication?

Certification: Certification is confirmation that a photocopy is a true copy of an original document. The British Council will not be responsible for confirming the authenticity of the original certificate.

Verification: Verification is the process of ensuring that original documents are genuine. The verifying authority is confirming the validity of the document to the person/organisation relying on the verified document (e.g. an employer, an educational institution, etc.).

If you need this, it is best to write directly to the awarding institution so they can provide a letter to confirm the qualification or student record.

Please read our Fair Collection Notice.

We will require your original documents to provide this service. We will hold these securely until the service is complete and the documents can be returned to you. We will retain a copy for our records. We will also record your name, type of document, the date of transaction and any other relevant details for our records. This will be kept securely and will not be provided to any other parties unless we are legally required to do so.

We will certify that we have seen the original version of your document and that the certified copy is a true version of the original.

The British Council does not accept any responsibility for confirming the authenticity of the original document.