UK school reports and attendance letters translation into Turkish

What schools issue and what Türkiye reads

UK schools produce several papers that Turkish bodies treat as the equivalent of the Turkish report card (karne) and student certificate (öğrenci belgesi): the end-of-year report with attainment and effort grades by subject, the attendance certificate or letter showing sessions attended, a head teacher's letter confirming that a pupil is on roll in a named year group, and the leaver's letter or transfer form when a child leaves. Academies, maintained schools and independent schools all issue them on headed paper, signed by the head or a senior member of staff; there is no central authority behind them, which matters for legalisation.

Four Turkish uses

• MEB denklik for a school-age child. The London Education Counsellor's list for primary and secondary denklik asks for the reports of the last school year, or a statement of schooling, together with the diploma or evidence of entitlement to it. A child who leaves a UK school before GCSEs is placed in a Turkish year group on the basis of those reports. See MEB denklik for UK school qualifications.
• Enrolment in a Turkish school after kesin dönüş, where the school and the district education directorate read the reports to decide the class and any Turkish-language support.
• Student deferment (tecil). A pupil of military age still in secondary education is deferred on evidence of enrolment; the school letter is that evidence. Read military service deferment for students abroad.
• Turkish family courts. Custody, contact and relocation cases in which a parent shows where the child is educated and how the child is doing; attendance records are often exhibited.

English documents in London, Turkish documents in Türkiye

Applications made at the Education Counsellor's Office in London are read in English; its rule asks for a sworn Turkish translation only when a document is in another language. The translation is needed once the file is used in Türkiye: at the İl Millî Eğitim Müdürlüğü, the receiving school, the askerlik şubesi or a court. Those offices expect a translation certified by a Turkish notary, which is what we produce in Ankara. A translation certified in the UK is not the form they recognise.

Legalisation when a court or directorate insists

A school letter is a private document. If a Turkish court or directorate wants it legalised, a UK notary or solicitor certifies it first and the FCDO apostilles that certification; the e-Apostille (£35) is available for solicitor-certified documents, and our UK partner can arrange it for the FCDO fee plus £20 handling. Most schools and education directorates accept the notarised translation without an apostille; courts vary. We translate the letter or report, the certification and the apostille together, a translator sworn before an Ankara notary signs, and the notary attaches the translation to a copy of the document. If a court also wants the translation legalised, an apostille of the notary's certificate costs £15 at the Ankara kaymakamlık.

Grades, year groups and attendance figures

UK reports use school-specific scales: working towards, expected and greater depth in primary years, GCSE 9 to 1 target grades in secondary, effort grades from 1 to 4, attendance as a percentage of sessions. We translate the scale as the school prints it and add a short translator's note explaining it; we do not convert grades to Turkish marks, because the receiving school or MEB decides placement. Year groups are given with the UK number and the pupil's age band so that a Turkish reader can map Year 7 to the sixth grade without guessing. Teachers' comments are translated in full.

Cost and delivery

A head teacher's letter or attendance certificate is one page at £6.50. An end-of-year report is 2 to 4 pages of 1,000 characters, £13 to £26. The Ankara notary tariff is passed through at about £13.50 per page plus £5 handling; the apostille of a translation is £15. No UK VAT is charged. Translation takes 1 to 2 working days and the notary a further day. Scans arrive by e-mail; the wet-sealed originals, which the Turkish school or directorate keeps, follow by courier for £30 to the UK or at a lower rate within Türkiye. We do not offer collection.