Degree certificate FAQ

You have to apply for your degree certificate. It is issued upon your request. You can apply through Ladok or use an application form. Follow the instructions on the 'Apply for your degree certificate' page.

How to apply for a degree certificate

The degree certificate is a document that shows the title of the degree and the major that you have completed at Lund University and the courses included. It is a proof that you have assimilated the knowledge and skills that the degree requires. You may need it when you apply for a job and/or continue with higher-level studies.

No, the degree certificate is issued free of charge.

Processing times vary throughout the year, depending on the nature of the case and the workload of the Degree Office. Normally the processing time is no more than 60 days. This is based on the assumption that your application is complete and that you have finished all the courses required for your degree.

Note that the Degree Office is very busy from June to September due to the high volume of applications and enquiries.

No. We process the applications strictly according to their date of arrival.

No. The degree must include the exact number of credits specified for that particular degree (180 credits for Bachelor's degree, 60 credits for a one-year Master's degree, 120 credits for a two-year Master's degree), no more, no less.

An exception is made when no combination of the applicant’s courses can be added up to the even number required: in these cases, the degree can include a few extra credits. Otherwise, courses exceeding the number of credits required must be left out of the degree. However, it is possible to get a transcript through Ladok or from your department showing all courses studied, including those not included in the degree.

Generate and print a verifiable transcript of records in Ladok

The Degree Office processes applications in chronological order according to the date of receipt. When you log in to Ladok for students/alumni, you can see that your application has been received under the 'Cases' option. You will see 

• your case number for the application
• the date the application was received and 
• who the administrator is (later, when your application is being processed) 

If anything is unclear or needs to be added, we will contact you by email or phone. When the degree certificate is ready, a message will be sent to the email address you provided in Ladok when you applied.

You will be notified by email when your degree is awarded. That is why it is important that you provide your current email address in your application. Once you have received the notification that your degree has been awarded, you can retrieve it from Ladok for students/alumni.

The degree certificate is issued digitally, and you can download your e-stamped certificate document (PDF) from Ladok as often as you like. The degree certificate is issued in both Swedish and English in a single document. It consists of a diploma page showing the degree you have obtained and the main field of study and/or specialisation.

It also includes a transcript of the courses you have chosen to include in your degree and a diploma supplement. This describes the programme in English and its place in the education system so that it can be compared internationally, for example when applying to study/work abroad. Please note that the diploma supplement complements rather than replaces your degree certificate.

If you need a separate document in English listing your studies at Lund University, you can print a Ladok certificate from Ladok for students/alumni or contact the International Desk

Transcript of records from Ladok

If you are experiencing problems logging in to Ladok for students/alumni and are unable to access your diploma, please contact servicedesk [at] lu [dot] se (servicedesk[at]lu[dot]se).

If you are applying for a doctoral degree, you must check that the decision 'All courses for doctoral degree passed' has been registered in Ladok. 

If you are applying for a licentiate degree, you must check that the decision 'All courses for licentiate degree passed' has been registered in Ladok. 

If this is not the case, contact your supervisor.

The doctoral or licentiate thesis must have been registered by the faculty/department. Sometimes it is not possible for you to mark the licentiate thesis in the application in Ladok, if it is entered as a module of the doctoral thesis, but it will be visible to us when we process your application. 

You select the courses and individual undertakings that are to be included in the degree in accordance with your individual study plan and the general syllabus. Check this with your supervisor. You can choose to have more than 240/120 credits (doctoral degree/licentiate degree) if these are included in your third-cycle studies. 

In the application, select the degree in the subject to which you are admitted.

A diploma supplement is:

• an appendix to a degree certificate, issued by a state higher education institution
• an instrument for information regarding the Swedish higher education system, intended to make it easier for people with higher education to study and work in Europe
• a precise and simple source of information which increases the understanding of individual degrees and documents
• always issued in English.

The diploma supplement is not:

• a substitute for the degree certificate – it is instead an appendix to the degree certificate
• a guarantee that a programme will be recognised, or
• a curriculum vitae (CV).

Ladok obtains personal data from the population register. The name registered in the population register at the time your application is processed is printed on the certificate.

You cannot add or remove courses from an issued degree. Nor can the name be changed afterwards if you later change your name. This applies unless your personal identity number is also changed. In that case, you can get a new original certificate issued with the new personal identity number and the name registered on the new number.

Contact examen [at] stu [dot] lu [dot] se or call us during our telephone hours (see contact information on this webpage) and we will help you with the process. Please note that you cannot get a new degree certificate if you have only changed your name, for example if you got married.

Paper degree certificates can only be issued once (certificates issued before 15 April 2024). We do not issue duplicates. If you have lost your original, you can order a certified copy of your degree certificate by emailing us at examen [at] stu [dot] lu [dot] se (examen[at]stu[dot]lu[dot]se). If your degree was issued in December 2021 or earlier, contact universitetsarkivet [at] legal [dot] lu [dot] se (universitetsarkivet[at]legal[dot]lu[dot]se).

If you have a digital degree certificate, you can print an e-stamped document by logging in to Ladok for students/alumni.

Your digital degree can be verified using the e-stamp found on the document. See the bottom of the document for information on how verification works.

If you have a digital degree certificate, you can print an e-stamped document yourself. To do this, log in to Ladok for students/alumni.

If you need a certified copy of your paper degree certificate, you can email us at examen [at] stu [dot] lu [dot] se. If your degree was issued before or in December 2021, please contact the University Record Management and Archives at legal.lu.se instead.

If you have a degree from a Swedish higher education institution, you can share information about your degree with any recipient, such as an employer. You do this by logging in to Ladok for students/alumni and obtaining a control code that you can give to the recipient.

The code allows the recipient to see the details of your degree and the courses it includes. It is valid for 6 months and can be used multiple times for multiple recipients.

You can share your degree certificate by:

• Logging in to Ladok for students and going to 'Degrees and certificates'.
• Selecting 'Share certificate'
• Sharing the verification code with a recipient of your choice.

More about sharing your degree certificate on ladok.se

If you do not have an active student account:

If your student account is no longer active, you can log in to Ladok using eduID. This is a digital ID that can be used to log in to certain digital services both at Lund University and other higher education institutions, as well as Ladok.

However, for the login to work, your account must be verified. You can do this by confirming your personal identity number with a digital ID card (for example, Freja eID+), by post or by a phone number (Swedish mobile phone subscription) registered in your name. To check if your account has been verified, click on the 'Swedish personal identity number' tab under point 2, 'Confirm your personal identity number'.

Your degree certificate is issued in both English and Swedish within the same document.

If you need a separate document in English, you can print out an official transcript of records from Ladok.

Transcript of records from Ladok

If you need a translation of your degree certificate into a language other than English, you need to contact an authorised translator.

If you need to have your degree certificate legalised, for example to present it to a foreign authority, you should contact the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

More about the Ministry for Foreign Affairs' legalisation of valuable documents on government.se

In Sweden, it is the notary public who issues the 'apostille' (a certification of accuracy and originality). Once a document has been apostilled, it is exempt from any form of authentication, meaning that no further approval/legalisation is required.

No. However, some faculties have a graduation ceremony for students finishing their studies. The certificate you get at this ceremony is not an official degree certificate. Please contact your faculty for information about such a ceremony.

Joint degrees, within specific joint programmes, cannot currently be issued digitally. These degrees are currently issued as paper certificates.