Step daughter's surname on exam results is different from legal name

[howfartospar]

My DH has a daughter and son from a previous relationship. His daughter had her exam results over the Summer and proudly sent a photo of the results. At the top of the exam results was her name with the family surname of his ex partner.

My DH is quite chilled and understands their desire for her to have the same name as their family, but he also feels he would like to identify with his daughter. The main concern is that will having a different surname to what’s on her passport impact when she applies for university / jobs etc?

Clearly a conversation with the ex partner will be an appropriate way forward at some point, but has anyone been in a similar situation and did it cause any issues or do you have any adivce?

You never said on exams you said 'Schools should not use "known as" names.'.

I didn't make the comment re schools use of 'known as' names.
However, the thread title is about exam certificates.

There is a big difference between what a child is called day to,day, informally at school and what name appears on an official document such as an examination certificate. In some jobs this can cause an issue where those certificates must be shown to prove you have achieved the right level of education.

That was me, not Qilin. And the government guidance on the subject is clear, as are the courts. Schools should not use "known as" names for any purpose. A shortened first name is fine. A "known as" surname is not.

Yes, the 'known as' names at my school are only for first names, and are usually a shorted version of their first name or the use of a middle name rather than the official first name.

Not had an occurrence of a 'known as' surname in 25+ years of teaching.

I've had several 'known as' surnames in mine including my own niece.

But not for any legal documents! Just to clear that up. Exams etc still in legal surname.

Your experience is your experience not the ops. Its only a fact for you.

Also are we reading the same post?

Op literally says in the original post

"The main concern is that will having a different surname to what’s on her passport impact when she applies for university / jobs etc?"

This is a valid question and one I understand them considering.

Government guidance for schools, which reflects decisions of the courts, is that a "known as" surname cannot be used for a child under 16 under any circumstances unless everyone with parental responsibility consents.

Sounds like it needs to be checked. I had a look at ds' print-offs for his GCSEs and A levels and they were in his legal name. He has a long first name with a common abbreviation (eg Michael and Mike) and both print-offs had "Michael" on, although he was known as "Mike" in school.

I had to show my GCSE certificates for a job when I was 40 (even though I have a degree) and I can't actually remember if they wanted my marriage certificate or not.

My adult kids all changed their name so they didn't have any links with their father (I cannot say the D bit). All their surnames are different.

My grandson's name is my daughter's chosen surname, she had a different choice before settling on this one, and not her exHs name (the father).

It's just a name. It feels somewhat patriarchal to insist that someone's "family name" is the father's.

Have you got a link to this guidance? I wasn’t aware of that. Does this only apply to surnames? We have loads of kids who come to us from year 7 with “preferred” names that have no relation whatsoever to their legal names. We’re a diverse school and lots of kids have an “English” name that has no link whatsoever to their legal name.

A lot also use a preferred surname rather than their full legal double-barrelled surname.

Exam certificates use legal name, but preferred names are on results slips.

@prh47bridge I’ve searched on gov.uk and can’t find anything. So I would be really grateful if you could send a link to this. Government guidance is not always as easy to find as you might think if you don’t know what you’re looking for. I checked the census guidance, but can’t think where else that sort of thing would be if it’s not in there.

You will find it at Understanding and dealing with issues relating to parental responsibility - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). It goes into a bit more detail than I have here.

I changed my name between school and university. No deed poll. Occasionally have to mention it on forms such as DBS checks so both names can be checked. I knew that I planned to change it when I left school after A levels so applied for my NI number under the new name.

So I have O'level and A'level results in one name and degree and various other certificates (LCCI secretarial diploma and a collection of RSA certificates in typing etc) in another. Occasionally I need to put on forms that I have had another surname, eg for DBS checks for a management committee and as a school governor and I think I've just put that I changed at 18 and use my mum's surname. I've declared it to be clear I'm not hiding a past criminal career or anything. It's never been questioned and I've never had to present evidence like a deed poll.

My mum's other kids have everything in their surnames used since they were 15 and 12.

OP and others, I've noticed there is a question of "parental responsibility" - that dates back to 1990 and I changed my name before that. My siblings might have had parental consent from their father. He might not have been happy but I don't think in the circumstances he would have withheld his consent, as he would have wanted to maintain a positive relationship with his daughter and hope to rebuild one with his son (who was very angry about his dad leaving our mum for someone else).

Not all parents automatically have parental responsibility. From when I registered my children, married fathers do, but I wasn't married to their father (and we are still together but not married). DP had to attend their registration (and sign the forms?) to have parental responsibility - that was what we both wanted and the simplest way to do it, and there are other ways it can be given or taken away.

Thanks so much. That’s really helpful. Looks like we don’t have to ask questions about preferred names given when they join us in year 7 but any subsequent changes to preferred surname before they are 16 are an issue if we don’t have consent from both parents. Most of the time preferred names are there right from when they join us in year 7, so I think this is less likely to be an issue for us than I thought at first.

I’m shocked that some people think you can mess around with a childs identity. Always use your childs legal name on official documents.

No, they are not invalid. If you can prove that they relate to you, the exam board should be able to reissue the certificates with the correct name or give you a Certified Statement of Results.

Your results were not invalid and you were given terrible advice if you had to retake.

In school yes.
But for exam entry they are asked to provide their legal name.

With the onset of mutiple name changes and the trans /non binary movement, it has become quite important to verify which name is going down as their exam entry.

I know of 2 teens who pushed through a legal name change (deed poll) in order to have that on their exam results.
It was then a huge job to change their name on everything else, eg NHS, bank etc.

The minute the daughter was named, her name belonged to her. It is part of her identity and changing or keeping it should be entirely her choice.

@JusthereforXmas Wow, a lot of projecting going on there!

They are not invalid, they are your results. Your 'link' to that name is your mother and your step father. My GCSE results were in my step fathers name. They are still my results and still valid. This was 2004. Most married women who change their name on marriage don't have the same name as their certificates and they are still able to use them. I don't think you've been advised correctly.