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Original poster

School won't send certificates

197 replies

rosieposie233 · 21/05/2024 20:03

My son’s school is refusing to post his A level certificates to him even though we have moved out of the area and I have offered to pay for recorded postage. They insist he has to collect them in person or send someone to collect them for him.
It is a 2 hour drive away and it is mad to expect one of us to drive there and back when they could just send them by post. They are being such a jobs worth about it.
Is there any legal action I can take to force them to send them?
They will only keep them for 5 years and do not say what they do with them after that.

OP posts:
RitzyMcFee · 21/05/2024 22:22

I'd just forget about it if the person whose certificates they are can't be arsed to collect them.

They can pay for new ones if they ever need them.

longdistanceclaraclara · 21/05/2024 22:22

Mine were faxed through back in the day when we moved abroad after GCSEs. Why on earth can't they post them?

Riversideandrelax · 21/05/2024 22:22

NeverDropYourMooncup · 21/05/2024 22:16

Apart from the cost and having to get somebody to travel to a post office, pay in advance and then claim the money back and potential damage in transit - they still go missing when recorded. And then the parent demands the school funds the replacement documentation. And the cost of delivery for those.

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My DS and friends all got their certificates through the post without any fuss. Maybe they just have a system as they send them all?

WittiestUsernameEver · 21/05/2024 22:24

Bumblebeeinatree · 21/05/2024 20:11

Just go and get them, make it an overnight bit of a holiday. You don't want to lose them. If they were posted and got lost what would be your options?

Ask for replacements from the exam boards 🤷‍♀️

Riversideandrelax · 21/05/2024 22:24

Linnet · 21/05/2024 20:45

No we don’t pay for them to be sent. They are sent out by the SQA. I’m not actually sure what happens if they don’t arrive. I personally don’t know anyone that has happened to, they just always arrive by post.

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Same here, my DS and all his friends had their GCSE certificates posted to them. Everyone received them.

Riversideandrelax · 21/05/2024 22:25

Riversideandrelax · 21/05/2024 22:24

Same here, my DS and all his friends had their GCSE certificates posted to them. Everyone received them.

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We're in England, though.

Sahara123 · 21/05/2024 22:28

leftkneeonbackwards · 21/05/2024 20:34

Who in a school is going to have the time to take your son's certificates to the post office during opening hours? You are expecting the impossible- just drive down and get them, or use a currier service.

Also in our school we no longer take or use cash so couldn’t pay for it .

Linnet · 21/05/2024 22:28

JaffavsCookie · 21/05/2024 21:46

@Linnet, what happens if you want to appeal the results? Do they send another certificate, or are appeals not permitted. Sorry, just interested.

Yes they do. One year my daughter got a better result in her prelim in one subject than the exam. The school appealed and they upped the mark to the prelim result and the SQA sent out a whole new set of certificates.

Screamingabdabz · 21/05/2024 22:29

2 years getting A levels and neither of you can be bothered to go and get the certificates which are something he’ll need for any educational
institution or job for the rest of his life… 2 hours away is not that big a deal!

WestAtlantic · 21/05/2024 22:36

I love the surprise that Scottish teenagers get results by post. It was very frustrating for those late on the postie's round! I've always found it strange that English children have to go into school. I presume it's because Scotland is so sparsely populated so lots of children live very far away (perhaps over the sea) from school.

Vimtoad · 21/05/2024 22:37

This is the norm. Go collect

BIossomtoes · 21/05/2024 22:47

Lougle · 21/05/2024 20:14

Because they are official documents, highly sought after for fraud, and he'll need them for the rest of his working life.

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I’ve never needed mine, not even for my university applications. I haven’t seen them for decades. No employer has ever asked to see my degree certificate either.

LuluBlakey1 · 21/05/2024 22:47

You'd be amazed how many teenagers never collect exam certificates. We had them from years earlier when I taught in a school- the exams officer did give them out if the person turned up with proof of identification more than 5 years later (and a few did) but lots didn't, mainly GCSE rather than A level. It was always those who had bad results that didn't bother. It was a shame.

Pepsiisbetterthancoke · 21/05/2024 22:48

TeaandScandal · 21/05/2024 21:05

I can't force my adult children to get their certificates it's just as inconvenient for them as it is for me
They’re adults, let them work it out!

This. If someone who has completed their A Levels can’t be bothered with the effort to collect them, knowing that they will likely need them at some point (plus the celebratory even of picking them up) then that’s their issue

I am saying that knowing that this way is the system in some parts of the country. All my exam results arrived via Royal Mail and not even recorded delivery so the whole going to pick them up seems a bit daft to me, but if that’s what it is for your DC then they need to find a way to get them

the2andahalfmillion · 21/05/2024 22:48

It's also very dodgy that exam boards charge large fees for replacement certs. What can possibly be the justification for that? Quick ID check (which can be automated, as it is for financial institutions), hit print, mail definitely not £50 or more per cert. Exam boards in Englad are profit making. In Scotland, not.

LuluBlakey1 · 21/05/2024 22:48

BIossomtoes · 21/05/2024 22:47

I’ve never needed mine, not even for my university applications. I haven’t seen them for decades. No employer has ever asked to see my degree certificate either.

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I have needed mine for every course and job I have ever done- except bar maid during uni holidays and nanny in London.
Oh and an evening class in French.

Abouttimeforanamechange · 21/05/2024 22:49

I've always found it strange that English children have to go into school.

We didn't when I did exams. We got printed slips through the post. We got our certificates at a later date. I can't remember how now.

I assume there must be some means of getting results these days other than going into school. There must always be some who can't be there on results day.

Pepsiisbetterthancoke · 21/05/2024 22:50

BIossomtoes · 21/05/2024 22:47

I’ve never needed mine, not even for my university applications. I haven’t seen them for decades. No employer has ever asked to see my degree certificate either.

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Really? I have had to submit copies of my university degree for every job I have had post uni.

One asked for school too which meant dusting off that lovely burgundy National Record of Achievement folder that we all got at school

MumofSpud · 21/05/2024 22:51

Surely you mean his results?
Certificates will be issued later in the year?

thaegumathteth · 21/05/2024 22:51

Well then your adult son can't be bothered so why should the school? Bizarre attitude from you OP.

Your son can't be bothered so he goes without 🤷🏻‍♀️

BIossomtoes · 21/05/2024 22:52

Pepsiisbetterthancoke · 21/05/2024 22:50

Really? I have had to submit copies of my university degree for every job I have had post uni.

One asked for school too which meant dusting off that lovely burgundy National Record of Achievement folder that we all got at school

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Yes really. Never been asked for it.

TeaKitten · 21/05/2024 22:52

MumofSpud · 21/05/2024 22:51

Surely you mean his results?
Certificates will be issued later in the year?

Presumably he got his results last august… and now later in the year he has moved and the certificates are at his old school.

SonicTheHodgeheg · 21/05/2024 22:53

This happened to ds and they posted them free of charge.

StormingNorman · 21/05/2024 22:57

rosieposie233 · 21/05/2024 20:08

Courier? Really?

It’s a more reasonable course of action than taking bloody legal action, which you suggested.

Unexpectedlysinglemum · 21/05/2024 23:19

Would threatening a subject access request work?