Scholarships in 2024

Provisional Certificate Application Samples, Templates, and Ultimate Writing Guide

Procedure to Write a Provisional Certificate

Are you a fresh graduate enthusiastic to achieve your career aspirations? Or want to specialize in your field by continuing your studies for higher education? In either case, the institute (either the company or the university) you are applying to will require your former qualifications so as to help the recruiters or the admission panel to skim through your strengths and adjudge your eligibility.

Although your degree is one of the foremost documents required to get you through these scholarship selection processes, the need for a provisional certificate may arise when you are prompted to submit proof of your degree completion to a recruitment board or admission panel.

What is meant by a Provisional Certificate?

A provisional certificate can be defined as,

“A Provisional Certificate is a temporary document issued by a school, college or a university; stating the successful graduation news of the candidate; until the issuance of original degree”.

It is also known as a transitional certificate because it expires upon the issuance and provision of the actual degree or mark sheet. Candidates can apply for jobs with the help of this provisional certificate in hand.

How to get a Provisional Certificate?

Since universities and other educational institutions take from a month to six months to issue the actual valid mark sheet or degree, they themselves issue a provisional certificate to students to prevent any inconvenience. However, if the said document has not been issued by the institution but is required by a student, he can demand one by writing an application to the concerned authorities.

A formal letter in which a student request the issuance of a provisional certificate is called an application for a provisional certificate.

Format for writing an application for provisional certificate:- 

Since provisional certificates are demanded from the higher authorities upon the completion of a particular degree, the application demanding one should be composed under decorum. The standard format for constructing an application for a provisional certificate is as follows:

  • Date:-

The first component of an application for a provisional certificate is the date on which it is composed.

  • Recipient’s address:-

The details of the recipient body come next in the application. Its placement in the top left of the page by leaving a line after the date.

It contains the particulars as to the designation of the recipient body, the name of the institute, and the address of the institute along with the name of the city.

  • Subject line:-

Third, in line is the subject line which is a precise title of the actual application.

  • Salutation:-

Then comes the salutation. It serves as the opening of your letter and contains the words respected or honored succeeding the words Sir or Madam.

  • Main body:-

Here comes the real deal of the application. The body paragraph. It can be divided into 2 to 3 subparagraphs. The paragraphs contain the following information:

      1. The first paragraph: contains the addresser’s name, his course name, year of completion, and a polite request to be issued a provisional certificate.
      2. The second paragraph: comprises details on why the certificate is required. 
      3. The third paragraph: consists of the addresser’s contact information (optional).
  • Words of thankfulness:-

To show courtesy in the application, include a phrase depicting gratitude should be included after the main body.

  • Sender’s address:-

The details of the sender come next. The sender’s address is located on the bottom right corner of the page and contains the particulars as to the name, signature, and enrollment number of the sender.

  • Contact information:-

In case the contact details are not included in the body paragraph, they are mentioned after the sender’s address at the end of the application.

Sample Application Requesting a Provisional Certificate:-

Here is a cheat sheet of an application requesting a provisional certificate from the principal of a school. Feel free to use this template as your own with relevant modifications if you are still perplexed on how to compose one for yourself.

Date: July 15, 2023

To,
The Principal,
(name of school),
(address of school),
(name of the city).

From,
Candidate Name,
Candidate’s credentials.

Subject: Request for a provisional certificate.

Respected Sir/Madam,

This is to inform you that I, (name of sender) have given my matriculation exams in Computer Science from your reputed institute and am awaiting my board result.

It is stated with the utmost respect that I require my provisional certificate as it is an essential document to go along with my application form for college admission. Therefore, it is humbly requested to kindly issue me a provisional certificate as a transitional document until the final mark sheet is issued by the board to prevent any delay in my college admission.

Thanking you in anticipation.

 Yours Obediently,
(signature of the sender),
(name of sender).
Contact info:
Phone number: xxxx-xxxxxxx,
Email address: [email protected].

Summary of the Post

The above article provided you with a complete guide on how to write an effective application for a provisional certificate. We would love to hear your feedback on the quality of this article in the comments section. That brings the end of this article!

Yousaf Saeed

I'm Dr. Engr. Yousaf Saeed, founder of the AScholarship Education Portal. My academic path includes 3 prestigious international scholarships — Australia Awards, CSC, and HKPFS — for my higher studies. I am also an IChemE affiliate whereas I've also worked for companies like Aramco and BYCO oil refinery as an production engineer at the start of my career. I completed MS, and PhD with major research publications in leading SCI journals (details on my Researchgate Profile). This aScholarship.com reflects my commitment to educating and therefore i started it for the purpose to guide aspiring international students for find scholarships for their higher education dream. As an experienced educator and mentor, I specialize in navigating the intricacies of research and patent and write useful articles on these topics too.