Your degree certificate
As part of our commitment to embedding sustainability in all that we do and to improve certification access for our graduates, we work with Advanced Secure Technologies to provide digital versions of graduation certificates to our students.
Digital credentials are a safe, secure, and convenient way for you to share your official documents with prospective employers, other learning providers, and third parties. It keeps you in control of who you share this with, and for how long, and allows the recipient to follow a secure link to verify a qualification’s authenticity.
You can still request a physical copy of your graduation certificate if you have not yet received one. If you graduate in July 2025 or later, you will be able to access a digital copy via our online portal.
There are four key benefits to having a digital certificate:
Security - Digital certificates are more secure and can be shared easily with potential employers or other education providers.
Access - You will have access to your certificate wherever you are in the world and be able to provide this quickly and securely when requested. You can also limit the timeframe people have to access the link and remove access rights instantly.
Flexibility – You can access your credentials much quicker.
Efficiency - Easier for employers to verify your qualifications by simply following the link you provide.
For a one-off payment of £18, you will have lifetime access to your digital credential. You can share this freely and as many times as you wish through our secure portal. There are no further costs to third parties you share this with, making it easier for potential employers or higher education providers to verify your credentials.
You will be sent a registration email within two weeks of your award being conferred by Senate. When you receive your registration email you will need your 8-digit student number.
It is important that you wait for your registration email to come through otherwise your registration will not work. If you have not received a registration email and it is more than two weeks since your award was conferred, please register using the following link: Keele University - Student | Account - Login or contact us at studentrecords@certificates.keele.ac.uk
It is important that you register with an email address you have long-term access to so please do not use your Keele student email account.
All students who achieved their award from June 2025 onwards will have access to a digital certificate and can register on the portal. As part of our future work plans we will be exploring options to extend the service to alumni who achieved an award prior to June 2025 and will contact them if this offer becomes available.
No - once you have purchased your digital certificate you can share this as many times as you wish, with no additional charges for third parties to verify your award.
You have full control over who you share your credential with and for how long, whilst also being able to withdraw access at any point. This will allow you to verify your credentials to future employers or education providers quicker and more securely.
Yes – students can still order a physical version of their certificate free of charge through the online portal.
Please note that you will need to place an order for this as it will not be sent to you automatically. When you receive your registration email, follow the steps to order your physical certificate free of charge.
Please ensure that you place your order by midnight the day before the print run to ensure your order is included.
Keele operates a digital-first approach to award certificates. On completion of your programme of study, and once your award has been confirmed, you will be sent an invitation to register with our online digital certification portal. From there you will have the opportunity to purchase a digital version of your certificate which you can access immediately.
You can also request a physical version of your certificate free of charge through the online portal. This will be posted by Royal Mail second class. All delivery timeframes are from the next scheduled print run.
Please ensure that you place your order by midnight the day before the print run to ensure your order is included.
Individual print runs are not possible so it is important to read your registration email to know when you need to place your order to ensure it is printed and sent. If you place an order after this date your order will be printed in the next available run.
If you achieved your award prior to July 2025 and have lost your certificate, you can obtain a replacement by completing a duplicate certificate request form.
On receipt of your request the Student Records team will respond detailing any further information we require and if you will need to make a payment.
Please note that only one certificate can be in print at any time and we are unable to provide electronic copies of certificates.
Upcoming Print Schedule:
Monday 3 August 2026
We hope that by introducing digital certificates which can be shared online, there will be less risk to your physical copy being damaged or lost. However, if you do lose your physical certificate, you will still be able to order a replacement through the online portal. To further protect you, your old certificate will be cancelled online, meaning it will no longer be verified if the QR code is scanned.
