Certified Transcript Translation for High School, College and University Records

What Is a Certified Transcript Translation?

A certified transcript translation is a complete and accurate translation of an academic transcript, including courses, grades, credits, and GPA, accompanied by a signed statement confirming accuracy.

Universities around the world are enrolling an increasing number of international students, making certified transcript translation an essential step in the study abroad application process. Educational institutions typically require accurate translations of all academic documents from your home country, including academic transcripts, records, credentials evaluation, and diplomas. Learn how TheWordPoint supports student applications to colleges and universities, ensuring their academic transcript translated accurately and reflect the grades obtained in the original document. Explore our College and University Admission Use Case for higher education admissions.

When Do You Need an Academic Transcript Certified Translation by Professional Translators?

You typically need certified transcript translation for:

• University or college admissions
• Credential evaluation services
• Immigration and visa applications
• Professional licensing

Choosing a reliable academic document translation service is very important, as even minor errors in the certified translation of academic documents can lead to serious consequences. Educational institutions may delay the review process, requiring you to redo the translation of your academic transcript and resubmit all documents for credential evaluation. This can result in missed deadlines and lost opportunities to enroll in a foreign university on time, putting your academic plans on hold.

To avoid these risks, it is important to rely on qualified professionals who specialize in accurate and compliant translations. Entrusting your USCIS translations to certified experts ensures that your documents meet official requirements and are accepted without unnecessary delays. Our certified translation service helps translate academic transcripts for any educational institution you are applying to.

What Academic Records We Translate

We provide certified translations for the full range of immigration documents and academic records needed for university applications, immigration processes, professional licensing, and official submissions:

• High school records: High school transcripts, diploma certificates, mark sheets, school-leaving certificates, secondary education records, and equivalent documents from any country.
• University and college records: Undergraduate and graduate transcripts, degree certificates, bachelor's and master's diplomas, academic records, course completion letters, syllabi for credit transfer evaluation, and letters of academic standing.
• Other academic documents: Letters of recommendation from academic institutions, enrollment verification letters, academic awards and honors, conference or lecture transcripts submitted as part of professional applications.

All documents are translated word for word — grades, subject names, institutional information, dates, and grading scale descriptors are rendered exactly as they appear in the original. We do not convert, interpret, or adjust grades or GPA scales, as this falls within the scope of credential evaluation, not translation. For university degree certificates, theses and research papers, see our academic translation services.

When You Need a Certified Transcript Translation

• Applying to a US College or University. International students applying to US undergraduate or graduate programs must submit foreign-language academic transcripts in both the original language and a certified English translation. Most admissions offices require translations from a professional, independent service, as self-translations and machine translations are not accepted. Many universities specifically require ATA-certified translations or translations that meet NACES standards.

• WES and NACES Credential Evaluation. Organizations like World Education Services (WES), Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE), and other NACES members generally require applicants to submit certified English translations of foreign-language transcripts alongside the original documents. TheWordPoint's translations are complete, accurate, and include all elements these organizations require: a signed certification statement, translator credentials and contact details, and faithful reproduction of the original document's content and structure.

• USCIS Immigration Applications. Foreign nationals submitting academic records as part of a USCIS application — for example, to demonstrate educational qualifications for an H-1B petition, EB-2 NIW, or other employment-based visa category — must provide certified English translations of all foreign-language documents. Our translations are formatted to meet USCIS requirements and carry our guarantee of acceptance.

• F-1 Student Visa Applications. Applying for an F-1 student visa requires proof of academic qualification and acceptance to a SEVP-certified institution. Your foreign-language transcripts must be accompanied by certified English translations when submitted to the admitting university.

• Professional Licensing and Certification. Many US professional licensing boards (including those for medicine, nursing, engineering, law, and education) require certified translations of foreign academic credentials as part of the licensure application. We are experienced in producing translations that meet the specific documentation requirements of these bodies.

• Employment and Professional Advancement. Employers verifying international candidates' academic qualifications, or sponsoring employees for work visas, frequently request certified translations of foreign transcripts and diplomas. This is especially common for roles requiring specific educational credentials, or for H-1B and EB-2 visa sponsorship.

Pricing for Certified Transcript Translation

Transcript translations are usually priced per page, as they require precise formatting and structured data such as grades and credits.

What Affects the Cost of Certified Transcript Translation

Translation cost depends on the language pair, number of pages, document complexity, formatting requirements, and delivery speed. Volume discounts apply when ordering multiple documents.

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Why Certified Translation Accuracy Matters for Academic Applications

Errors in an academic transcript translation carry serious consequences. Admissions offices cross-check translated transcripts against original-language documents and against credential evaluations. Discrepancies, even minor ones such as a misspelled subject name or an incorrectly rendered grade, can trigger requests for re-submission, delay your application cycle, or result in outright rejection. We provide certified translation online with a two-stage review process: the primary translator produces the translation, and an independent second reviewer checks it for accuracy, terminology, and formatting before the certificate of accuracy is signed. 

How We Translate Grades, Grading Scales and Credits

Every country grades differently, and your transcript has to make sense to an admissions officer or credential evaluator who has never seen your school’s system. Our translators keep your grades exactly as they appear and translate everything that explains them:

• Grades and marks stay in their original form. A 1.3 on a German transcript stays 1.3, 16/20 on a French transcript stays 16/20, and a percentage or CGPA on an Indian mark sheet stays as written.
• The grading key printed on the transcript, such as “1 = very good” or “Pass / Merit / Distinction”, is translated in full, so the reader can see how your school’s scale works.
• Credit hours, ECTS credits, contact hours and semester or year labels are kept as written.
• Course titles are translated literally, even when there is no direct US equivalent.
• Honors and degree classifications, such as a UK First-Class or 2:1, or Latin honors such as cum laude, are translated, not converted.

We never convert your grades to a US GPA. That is the job of a credential evaluator such as WES or ECE, which uses our translation to work out the US equivalent. Evaluators can reject a translation that changes grades.

How We Protect Your Data and Check Quality

A transcript holds personal data: your name, date of birth, student ID and full academic record. We protect it at every step:

• You upload your transcript over an encrypted connection through our secure order form, or send it to our support team.
• Only authorized staff working on your order can open your files, and we never share them with third parties.
• We comply with data protection laws. Read our privacy policy for details.
• Our translators sign confidentiality agreements.

Our translators are trained not to “interpret” or “improve” grades or content. A certified translation must say exactly what the original says, nothing more and nothing less, which is the standard USCIS, NACES credential evaluators and academic institutions require.

Transcript Translation vs. Diploma Translation — What's the Difference?

These two document types serve related but distinct purposes, and applicants often need both:

A transcript (also called an academic record, mark sheet, or grade report) lists the individual courses or subjects studied, the grades or marks received, and sometimes the credit hours or contact hours for each. It provides a detailed breakdown of academic performance over time.

A diploma or degree certificate is a formal document confirming that a degree or qualification has been awarded. It typically states the graduate's name, the institution, the field of study, the level of award, and the date.

Most US university admissions and credential evaluation processes require certified translations of both documents. USCIS similarly may request both, depending on the nature of the immigration petition. TheWordPoint provides professional services to translate high school diplomas, as well as transcripts and other essential documents. If you need both, ordering them together reduces the per-page cost.

 We Translate High School Transcripts From

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Reviewed and updated  on October 12, 2026, by

Christakis Christodoulou,
Managing Director
Head of the Certified Translation Department