MEB lise denklik: recognition of GCSEs and A-levels

What the equivalence certificate is for

A Turkish university, a public-sector employer, a vocational licence body and sometimes a Turkish school will ask a young person educated in the UK for a lise denklik belgesi: a certificate from the Ministry of National Education (MEB) stating that the UK qualifications amount to a Turkish secondary-school diploma. Without it, a student cannot register at a Turkish university even with an offer, and a child moving back mid-way through school cannot be placed in the right year. The ministry's Denklik Kılavuzu (equivalence guide) has a chapter for each country; the England chapter sets out which combinations of GCSE, AS and A-level results, or BTEC and similar vocational certificates, count as completion of secondary education. The counsellor's office in London lists those qualifications in its own words, quoted below.

Two offices grant it. The Education Counsellor's office at the Turkish Embassy in London (Londra Eğitim Müşavirliği) accepts applications by registered post or in person from families in the UK. The provincial education directorate (İl Millî Eğitim Müdürlüğü) in Türkiye handles applications from families who have already moved; several provinces now route them through MEB's online e-Denklik system.

What each office wants

The London office's list for graduates is short: the application form, a copy of both sides of the Turkish identity card, the reports or attendance certificate for the final school year together with the diploma, the original GCSE, AS and A-level certificates with two copies each, and a stamped, self-addressed envelope for the return of the certificate. It states that documents need a sworn Turkish translation only if they are in a language other than English, so a family applying in London with English documents sends nothing to us.

The picture changes in Türkiye. Provincial directorates work in Turkish, and their staff routinely ask for Turkish translations of the exam-board certificates and school reports, certified by a notary; some also ask for an FCDO apostille on the certificates, which requires a UK notary or solicitor to certify them first. Practice differs by province, so ask the directorate before ordering an apostille, but expect the translation.

Order of steps for an application in Türkiye

1. Obtain original certificates from the exam boards; a school's own results slip is not the board certificate.
2. If the directorate wants an apostille, have a UK notary or solicitor certify the certificates and send them to the FCDO (e-Apostille £35 for notarised copies).
3. Send us scans. We translate the certificates, the grades tables and the year-by-year reports, and a translator sworn before an Ankara notary signs each translation, which the notary certifies.
4. File at the directorate or upload to e-Denklik with the identity card and, for a child still at school, the current school's letter.

Documents you will need

• GCSE and A-level certificates from the boards
• School reports and attendance letters for the final year, and for each secondary year where a child is transferring mid-school
• BTEC and vocational certificates where they form part of the qualification set
• Turkish identity card copy; for a foreign national, the passport translated
• MEB application form, completed in Turkish

Common pitfalls

• Fewer subjects or lower grades than the England chapter of the guide requires; the office issues a lower-level equivalence or a refusal. Check the guide before applying.
• Sending statements of results or school printouts instead of exam-board certificates.
• Predicted grades: the certificate is issued on final results only.
• A name on the certificates that differs from the Turkish identity card; add a deed poll or marriage certificate and a translator's note.
• Translating before the apostille where a directorate wants one; the apostille has to be in the Turkish text.

How we help and what it costs

A typical set is one A-level certificate (1 page of 1,000 characters), one GCSE certificate (1 to 2 pages) and the final year's report (1 to 2 pages): £6.50 per page, so £20 to £35 for the translations, plus the Ankara notary tariff of about £13.50 per page and £5 handling per document at cost. A child transferring mid-school with five years of reports is nearer £50 to £80 before notary fees. Apostille of a notarised translation is £15 where a directorate asks. No UK VAT is charged. Scans arrive within 1 to 3 working days; the notarised originals, which the directorate keeps, go by courier for £30 to you in the UK or to your address in Türkiye. We have no UK office and no collection. For the university side of the process see applying to Turkish universities from the UK, and for degree-level recognition YÖK denklik.