Spelling Mistake in a Degree Certificate: How to Get It Corrected

Reviewed on: 2026-06-12.

Before you apply for anything, sort your situation into one of these. The remedy, the fee and the proof are completely different for each.

The single most important question is this: does the degree differ from your own admission and mark-sheet records, or does it match them while differing from what you now want? If the degree contradicts the university's own records, it is the university's mistake and the correction should be free. If the degree faithfully copies your records and you want something different, that is a name change, and you must change the underlying records first through affidavit and gazette.

This guide is about wrong spelling and name data. If the degree is physically damaged, see degree certificate damaged in dispatch. If verification of your degree is stuck, see degree verification delayed.

This is the easy case and should not cost you. The degree disagrees with the admission form, the examination records and the mark sheets that the university itself holds.

1. Collect your admission form copy, all mark sheets, the migration or provisional certificate and your photo ID, all showing the correct spelling.
2. Write to the examination or degree section pointing to the exact error and the records that prove the correct spelling.
3. Surrender the wrong original when asked, and ask for a corrected certificate against it.
4. Ask in writing for the correction without fee, since the error is the university's.
5. Get an acknowledgement with a reference number and an expected date.

Here the degree is correct against old records, but you want a different name or spelling, perhaps after marriage, a chosen change, or to match a passport. The university will not simply reprint, because its record still shows the old name. You change the record first.

1. Swear an affidavit before a notary or executive magistrate stating the old and new name.
2. Publish the change in the Official Gazette of your state or the Government of India, through the gazette portal or the controller of publications.
3. Publish a newspaper notice, where required.
4. Submit the affidavit, the gazette notification and the newspaper notice to the university with your application to update records and issue a corrected certificate.

A degree is a permanent academic record of the name you held when you qualified. Many universities therefore record a name change as an updated certificate or an annexure rather than pretending the old name never existed. Ask the university which form it uses, so your degree, mark sheets and ID line up for employers and visa checks.

A date-of-birth error on a degree is corrected against the Class 10 board certificate, which is the standard date-of-birth proof across Indian education. Provide the Class 10 certificate and ask the university to align the degree to it. If the admission record itself carries the wrong date, you may first need the admission record corrected against the Class 10 certificate.

A public university holds your admission form, the result records and the file on any correction. These are records under the RTI Act, 2005. RTI does not order a correction, but it surfaces the record that proves the error is the university's.

To: The Public Information Officer, [University name]
[Examination / Degree Section]

Subject: Application under the RTI Act, 2005 regarding my academic
record and degree correction

For Enrolment No. [number], [course], passed in [year]:

1. Please provide a certified copy of the name and date of birth as
   recorded in my admission form and in the examination records.
2. Please state the procedure and fee for correcting a printing error in
   a degree certificate where the error is on the university's part.
3. Please state the procedure for recording a name change supported by
   an affidavit and gazette notification.
4. Please provide the status of my correction application no. [number]
   dated [date], if already filed, with the date-wise file movement.

I enclose the application fee of Rs 10 by [mode].

[Name, address, mobile, email, date]

A certified copy of your admission record settles the argument. If it shows the correct spelling, the degree error is plainly the university's, and a fee demand or delay is hard to justify.

The worst time to discover a misspelt degree is the week a foreign university or an employer's verification cell asks for it. Corrections take weeks, gazette notifications take longer, and an overseas verification or visa file will not wait. If you have spotted an error, fix it now, not when a deadline forces your hand. Keep the corrected degree, the gazette page and the affidavit together for future checks.

• Treating a name change as a printing error, or the reverse. The proof and fee differ entirely.
• Paying a correction fee for the university's own printing mistake without contesting it.
• Skipping the gazette step for a genuine name change, leaving records inconsistent.
• Letting the degree, mark sheets and ID carry different spellings, which trips up verification.
• Waiting until a visa or job deadline to start a weeks-long correction.

• Degree certificate damaged in dispatch
• Degree verification delayed
• Convocation certificate missing
• Practical Guides hub

See how to file RTI online and why RTI gets rejected.

If the degree disagrees with the university's own admission and mark-sheet records, it is a printing error and the correction should be free. Point to those records and ask for correction without fee.

That is a name change, not an error. Swear an affidavit, publish a gazette notification, then apply to the university to update records and issue a corrected or updated certificate.

For a genuine name change, yes, most universities and verifiers expect an affidavit plus gazette notification. For a pure printing error against existing records, you do not, since the records already carry the correct name.

It is corrected against your Class 10 board certificate, the standard date-of-birth proof. Provide it and ask the university to align the degree, correcting the admission record first if needed.

Often yes. A degree records the name you held when you qualified, so many universities issue an updated certificate or annexure rather than erasing the old name. Ask which form your university uses.

No. RTI gives you a certified copy of your admission record and the correction procedure. That record proves whether the error is the university's, which strengthens your correction request.

Download the degree name-correction checklist (PDF).