Students across the world face a lot of confusion while transitioning from one educational institution to another because of the numerous documents they need to gather. Academic documents, such as matriculation certificate, migration certificate, bonafide certificate, TC, etc, which act as proof of their study, are the most crucial documents that students need to submit to the university/ college to which they apply for admission.
Mark sheets and academic transcripts play an essential role in getting admission granted to a particular university as they let the admission board understand the past academic performance of the students. Hence, students must have a proper understanding of what academic transcripts are and how they are different from mark sheets. So, let’s understand everything around academic transcripts and mark sheets in detail.
What is Academic Transcript, and is it different from transcripts of record?
Just like a Bonafide Certificate for class 10 confirms the authenticity of a student and helps him while changing schools, an academic transcript is proof that a student has successfully completed his/her study in a particular course, and it is issued by the university or school in which the student finished a particular score. This academic transcript has several names like record of achievement, transcript of record, etc. This document consists of some crucial information, like all the subjects a student studied and the grades they obtained in each of those subjects. It’s mandatory to obtain the academic transcript along with the stamp from the institution that issues it.
A transcript of record is the same as an academic transcript, and the information provided can be different from institution to institution. In a transcript of record, we can expect things like all the subjects that a student has studied along with the year and the grades or marks obtained against each column.
What are Mark Sheets?
Mark sheets also contain information related to the academic excellence of a student, but the key difference between mark sheets and academic transcripts is that mark sheets are not a compilation of all the scores obtained across the course. Instead, it’s awarded for every individual semester and the grades obtained by the student in every subject in that particular semester. Mark sheets are not considered as authentic as academic transcripts, and with mark sheets alone, students may not be able to apply for admission into higher education. So, along with mark sheets, it’s crucial to get academic transcripts as well before applying for admission to your higher education.
Understanding the key differences between academic transcripts and mark sheets
| S.No | Mark Sheet | Academic Transcript |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | It is awarded for a particular semester or year. | It is awarded for the entire course of study |
| 2 | It consists of scores or grades in individual subjects for each semester. | It is a compilation of all the grades/ scores obtained in the entire course. |
| 3 | Students obtain multiple mark sheets by the end of the course. | Only one Academic transcript will be given at the end of the course. |
| 4 | It is also referred to as a marks memo by some educational boards | Academic Transcript is also known as Cumulative Record File, Statement of Learning, Transcript of Records (ToR), or Permanent record, etc. |
| 5 | Mark Sheet may or may not be required during study abroad admissions. | Academic Transcripts are mandatory for getting admission into foreign universities. |
| 6 | Example: For a four-year Engineering program, a student receives individual mark sheets for each semester with grades against the columns of each subject. | Example: In a four-year engineering program, a student receives one academic transcript, which is the summary of the performance across all the semesters. |
How to obtain the CBSE class 10th and 12th marksheet using Digilocker?
Students can get their mark sheets from their school itself after they successfully clear all the subjects in the board examinations. However, let’s look at how students can download the soft copy of their CBSE class 10th and class 12th mark sheets using Digilocker, which is a free platform provided by the government of India.
- Step-1: Login to your Digilocker account using your login credentials.
- Step-2: Next, click on browse documents.
- Step-3: Now, select “Central Board of secondary education.” in the education category.
- Step-4: Here, you will find different documents to download, like mark sheets, migration certificates, passing certificates, etc. Select the “Mark Sheet” option.
- Step-5: Enter the required details like year and roll number, and you will be able to access and download your CBSE Class X or Class XII mark sheet using Digilocker.
How to obtain the Telangana class 10th mark sheet/ marks memo?
- Step-1: Visit the official website of the Board of Secondary Education, Telangana.
- Step-2: Search for the marks memo page on the website.
- Step-3: Enter the required details like roll number, date of birth, year of examination, and stream of examination.
- Step-4: Now click the submit button, and then you will be able to download your TS class 10th marks memo.
How to download TS intermediate mark sheet/ marks memo?
- Step-1: Visit https://results.cgg.gov.in/ website.
- Step-2: Enter the required details like results year, and choose one of the options from the intermediate first or second year. Select Category and enter the hall ticket number.
- Step-3: After clicking submit, you will be able to download your TS intermediate mark sheets.
The Use of Transcripts in overseas education
Academic Transcripts are the most important documents that students need to submit as part of their admission process into universities abroad or admission into Indian universities for higher education. These documents will act as a testament to the student’s performance in his/her academics and help the members of the admission board assess if the applicant fulfills the entry criteria for the course the applicant is seeking admission for.
Academic Transcripts and Consolidated Marksheets. What is the difference?
A consolidated Marksheet is also a compilation of the grades obtained by a student in all the semesters for a particular course. However, an academic transcript is a more authentic piece of document that is valid across the world by different universities as it’s attested by the university from which you are receiving that transcript. In most universities around the world, it’s mandatory to submit academic transcripts for successful admission into various courses. Although the content and the purpose of both Consolidated mark sheets and Academic transcripts are almost identical, the difference lies in the comprehensiveness of the information and authenticity of the documents.
What is a provisional transcript, and how to get it?
Students who are planning to apply for admission into higher education while in the last year of school/college need to have specific documentation handy for the application process. But the final transcript will be given by the institutions only after the completion of the course. In such a case, students can request a provisional transcript from their current institution and show it as proof of their academic achievements so far to the university in which they are seeking admission.
FAQs:
No, neither in comprehensiveness nor for authentication purposes, they are not at all the same. For higher education, it’s important to have mark academic transcripts handy for the smooth admission process, and mark sheets may not work in such cases.
An academic transcript consists of comprehensive information about the classes the student attended, exams he/she had given, and the grades obtained. A degree certificate tells in which particular program a student specializes.
No, you can’t obtain your academic transcript before graduation. If, in a particular case, like admission into higher education, you can request the school/college to issue a provisional transcript that might help you temporarily.
If your college is closed, consider contacting the university with which it’s affiliated and raise your concern there. If you can’t find a solution there, try reaching out to the respective government department that monitors the educational institutions in your state and request a copy of your academic transcript there.
It’s highly advised to keep the academic transcript safe as it’s a tedious process to obtain a duplicate in case you lose them. However, in case you lost them, contact the board of education and request the higher authorities to issue a duplicate copy of your transcript.
