Application for Character Certificate

What is an Application for Character Certificate?

An application for a character certificate is a short letter from a student or former student asking the Principal to certify their conduct while they studied at the institution. Colleges, employers and scholarship bodies often ask for this certificate, and the office needs a written request that says whose record to check and what the certificate is for. Leave those details out and the application waits at the counter, or you get a certificate the receiving office rejects. Fill in the form on this page, or adapt one of the sample applications below.

Students ask for a character certificate, also called a conduct certificate, when they move on: for admission to a college or university course, for a job, for a scholarship or for an apprenticeship. Many schools hand one over with the transfer certificate at the end of Class X or XII, but a student who did not receive one, or who needs a fresh copy for a new purpose, applies by letter. Former students apply years later too, when a recruiter or a college asks for a character certificate from the last institution they attended.

Who signs the certificate and how you apply are set by each institution. In schools it is usually the Principal; colleges and universities may route requests through the Principal, the Head of Department or the Registrar, and some accept them only on their own form or student portal, sometimes with a fee or a no-dues clearance. The body that asked for the certificate may add conditions of its own, such as a set format, a recently issued certificate, or one from the institution you last attended. Check with the institution’s office or website, and read the admission prospectus, recruitment notification or scholarship guidelines before you apply.

This is a request, not the certificate, and the institution decides what to write. It can speak only about your conduct while you were its student, and if its records show disciplinary action, it may decline or word the certificate carefully. A character certificate from a school or college is not a police clearance or police verification certificate; if you need one of those, apply to the police or the passport authority, which issue them. Nor is it a transfer certificate, a bonafide certificate or a mark sheet, each of which needs its own application.

What to put in an Application for Character Certificate

These are the details this template asks for. Anything left blank is marked in red on the preview so you can see what is still missing.

How to write an application for a character certificate

1. Address it to the Principal

   Write to the Principal of the school or college you studied at, with the institution’s full name and address as they appear on its letterhead. Use the designation rather than a person’s name, because the post holder may have changed since you left. If the office tells you that another officer signs these certificates, such as the Registrar or a Head of Department in a university, change the addressee to match.

2. Identify yourself from the records

   Give your class or course, your roll or register number and the year you passed out, exactly as they appear on your mark sheet or transfer certificate. Write the course the way the institution does, for example ‘Class XII (Science)’ or ‘B.Com (Computers)’. The office finds your file from these details, so a wrong year or number sends the clerk to the wrong register and your application waits.

3. Say what the certificate is for

   Choose the purpose: admission to a college or a university course, a job application, a scholarship or an apprenticeship. The purpose tells the office what kind of certificate to prepare, and some institutions word it differently for each. If the college, employer or scholarship body has its own format, attach a copy and ask for the certificate on that format. If you need more than one copy, ask at the counter.

4. Date it and sign with your full name

   Put the date you hand the application in; it is the date you will quote if you need to follow up. Sign above your full name exactly as it appears in the institution’s records, not a nickname or a shortened form. If your name has changed since you left, for example after marriage, add the earlier name in brackets so the office can match you to your file.

5. Hand it in with copies and check the result

   Attach a photocopy of your mark sheet or transfer certificate and, if the office asks, your identity card and the fee receipt. Ask when the certificate will be ready and whether you can collect it in person. Before you leave the counter, check the spelling of your name, the course, the years of study, the date, the signature and the seal, because errors are far easier to correct there than at an admission desk.

Sample application for character certificate

Two sample applications you can adapt: one from a school leaver who needs the certificate for a scholarship, and one from a graduate who needs it for a job. Change every detail to match your own records.

Common mistakes

• Quoting a roll number or passing year that does not match the institution’s records, so the office cannot find your file and the application waits until you return with the right details.
• Leaving the purpose out, which produces a general certificate that a college, employer or scholarship body may refuse because it does not follow the format they asked for.
• Applying to a school you attended earlier when the recruiter or college asked for a certificate from the institution you last attended, which means a second application and lost time.
• Signing with a nickname or a shortened name instead of the name in the institution’s records, so the certificate does not match your other documents and has to be issued again.
• Walking away from the counter without checking the name, dates, seal and signature, then discovering the error at the admission desk or the interview.

Frequently asked questions

This page explains general practice and is not legal advice. Requirements differ between countries and, in some cases, between states — check what applies where the document will be used.

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