How to Get a Duplicate Ukrainian School Education Certificate After It Is Lost
Replace a lost Ukrainian basic or complete general secondary education certificate. Learn where to apply, how EDEBO helps and what displaced graduates should do.
UA Ukraine
Education ~ 10 min read
12 FAQ
Updated 2026-09-02
Helpydo structures practical guidance around official or public sources. For individual cases, confirm requirements with the responsible institution.
To replace a lost Ukrainian general secondary education document, apply to the school or other education institution that originally issued it. You may apply personally or through a legal representative such as a parent or guardian. If the issuing institution is now in a temporarily occupied territory or an area of hostilities, you can apply to any general secondary education institution of the appropriate level near your actual place of residence. There is no nationwide online service that directly issues the duplicate: EDEBO can provide official information or a digitally signed registry extract, but not the duplicate itself. If you know the document's series and number, registry information appears immediately and a qualified-electronic-signature extract is emailed within 3 working days. If you do not know the series and number, Inforresurs can provide the stored information within 30 calendar days after receiving a compliant request. For 2026 admission, the Ministry of Education advises that registry details, rather than a physical duplicate, are normally what matters when the document is in EDEBO; however, a lost complete general secondary education document issued before 2000 must be duplicated because those older documents are not in the register.
What you need
- An application requesting a duplicate of the lost general secondary education document, submitted to the institution that issued it or to the alternative school permitted for displaced graduates.
- Information that helps identify the graduate and the lost document, especially the education institution and year of graduation and, where known, the document series and number.
- If a legal representative applies, the representative must be entitled to act for the graduate under the applicable rules.
- If you do not know the document series and number and request the information through State Enterprise Inforresurs, submit the prescribed request together with a copy of the passport certified by the applicant; for a child under 14, the Ministry's 2026 guidance refers to the birth certificate instead.
- For an electronic personal-data request to Inforresurs, the application and passport copy must be signed with a qualified or advanced electronic signature.
- If the document was issued by an institution now located in a temporarily occupied territory or an area of hostilities and annual assessment records are unavailable, the receiving school may need to assess the graduate's knowledge under the special Ministry procedure applicable to such cases.
Eligibility
A person who previously obtained a Ukrainian basic secondary education or complete general secondary education document and has lost it may request a duplicate. The graduate can apply personally or through a legal representative. If the issuing institution is currently located in a temporarily occupied territory or an area of hostilities, the Ministry's current 2026 guidance allows the graduate or legal representative to apply to any general secondary education institution of the appropriate level at the person's actual place of residence.
How to do it
- Identify the school or other education institution that issued your lost general secondary education document.
- If the issuing institution is functioning and accessible, submit an application for a duplicate directly to that institution, personally or through a legal representative.
- If the issuing institution is currently in a temporarily occupied territory or an area of hostilities, apply instead to any general secondary education institution of the appropriate level near your actual place of residence.
- If you know the document series and number, check the EDEBO Education Documents Register. Information can be displayed immediately, and you can request a registry extract signed with the technical administrator's qualified electronic signature.
- If you do not know the series and number, use the official Inforresurs personal-data procedure or, where available to you, the EDEBO personal-information service. Prepare the required identification documents and electronic signature if filing electronically.
- If Inforresurs receives a compliant request for unknown document details, wait for the official response, which is provided within 30 calendar days.
- Provide the recovered document details or available education records to the school processing the duplicate.
- If the school records needed for a graduate from an occupied or hostilities-affected institution are unavailable, complete any knowledge assessment required under the special Ministry procedure.
- Receive the duplicate from the education institution after it completes the applicable ordering and issuance process.
- If you need the document for 2026 admission, first check whether the document's registry details already satisfy the admission process before ordering a duplicate, because the Ministry warns that starting a duplicate order can cancel the old registry entry before the new one is created.
Where do you request the duplicate?
The normal route is straightforward: contact the education institution that issued the original document and submit an application for a duplicate.
The Ministry of Education and Science confirmed this procedure again in its 18 June 2026 guidance for applicants who lost a general secondary education document.
You can apply personally or through a legal representative such as a parent or guardian.
What if the issuing school is in an occupied or combat area?
You do not have to return to the original institution. If it is currently located in a temporarily occupied territory or a territory of hostilities, the Ministry allows you to apply to any general secondary education institution of the appropriate level at your actual place of residence.
This makes the recovery route usable for displaced graduates even when the original school or its archive is inaccessible.
If your displacement also requires formal IDP registration, Helpydo separately explains how to apply for IDP status in Ukraine.
Can EDEBO issue the duplicate online?
No. EDEBO can provide official information about an education document and a digitally signed extract from the Education Documents Register, but State Enterprise Inforresurs expressly states that it does not issue duplicate education documents.
The duplicate itself is handled through the relevant education institution.
What if you know the series and number?
If you know the series and number of the lost document, you can use the official EDEBO Education Documents Register to retrieve its details.
The register can show information such as:
- the document name;
- series and number;
- date of issue;
- the graduate's name;
- the education institution;
- the year of graduation.
Information on screen appears immediately. If you request an official extract carrying the technical administrator's qualified electronic signature, it is sent to the email address you provide within 3 working days.
What if you do not know the series or number?
During martial law, a person who completed basic or complete general secondary education in Ukraine but no longer has the document or its series and number can request the stored information from State Enterprise Inforresurs.
The request may be submitted by the graduate or legal representative. The official Inforresurs procedure requires a passport copy certified by the applicant for a paper request. For an electronic request, both the application and passport copy must be signed using a qualified or advanced electronic signature.
The Ministry's 2026 recovery guidance states that for a person under 14, a birth certificate is used instead of the passport for this information-recovery step.
Inforresurs provides the requested information within 30 calendar days from receipt of the request.
Can you retrieve your data with Diia.Signature or another e-signature?
Yes, where your personal card exists in EDEBO with the necessary identifying information. The Ministry specifically points to the EDEBO service showing information about a natural person contained in the database and notes that it can be accessed with a qualified electronic signature, including Diia.Signature.
This can help you recover document details before asking the school to produce the duplicate.
Are old school certificates in the EDEBO register?
The current EDEBO registry page states that the Education Documents Register contains education-document data for documents produced from 2000 onward, subject to the specific exclusions stated by the register.
This distinction matters particularly for older complete general secondary education certificates.
What if the certificate was issued before 2000?
The Ministry's 2026 admission guidance states that if a lost document confirming complete general secondary education was issued before 2000, obtaining a duplicate is necessary for admission because the required document details are not available through the modern registry in the same way.
For later documents whose details are already recorded, the physical duplicate may not always be needed immediately for admission.
Do you need the duplicate before applying to university or college?
Not necessarily. For 2026 admission, the Ministry emphasizes that the decisive point is the availability of the education document details in the education register, rather than possession of a newly printed duplicate in every case.
If your existing document details are known or visible in Diia or EDEBO, the Ministry recommends considering recovery of the physical duplicate after enrollment.
The reason is important: when a duplicate is ordered, the registry record for the lost original may be cancelled while the replacement record has not yet been generated. During that gap, the admission system may not find a valid document record.
What if the school's academic records were lost?
For graduates of schools affected by occupation or hostilities, the receiving institution may also face missing annual-assessment records.
The Ministry's 2026 guidance states that when the required certificate showing annual assessment results is unavailable, the school conducts an assessment of the graduate's knowledge under the special procedure established by Ministry Order No. 570 of 12 May 2014.
This is not required simply because a document was lost; it becomes relevant where the underlying educational results cannot be confirmed through the necessary records.
How long does the duplicate take?
The Ministry's current 2026 recovery algorithm does not state one nationwide deadline for the education institution to complete and hand over the duplicate. Processing can depend on the institution's access to records and whether additional verification or assessment is required.
Do not confuse that with the deadlines for supporting EDEBO services:
- registry information shown on screen: immediately;
- official EDEBO extract with qualified electronic signature: within 3 working days;
- Inforresurs response when document details are unknown: within 30 calendar days.
How much does a duplicate school certificate cost?
The Ministry's current 2026 lost-document guidance does not publish a single nationwide applicant fee for producing the duplicate.
Because no uniform current amount could be confirmed in the official recovery guidance, do not rely on unofficial websites quoting a fixed price. Ask the institution processing your duplicate whether any production, delivery or other permitted charge applies in your particular case.
What should you tell the school?
Provide enough information for the institution to identify your education record. Useful details include the institution where you studied, your graduation year, your name as recorded when the document was issued and, if known, the document series and number.
If those details are missing, recover them through EDEBO or Inforresurs before or during the duplicate process.
What should you do after the duplicate is issued?
Check that the replacement correctly reflects your identity and education details before using it for admission, employment or another official purpose.
If you later need to use the Ukrainian education document abroad and an apostille is required by the destination procedure, that is a separate step. Helpydo explains how to check the Ukrainian apostille procedure; note that the competent apostille authority depends on the type of document, so do not assume the justice-sector route applies to an education certificate.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Trying to obtain the actual duplicate from EDEBO or Inforresurs; they provide information and extracts, not the duplicate school document.
- Assuming you must contact an inaccessible school in occupied territory instead of using the alternative school route allowed by the Ministry.
- Ordering a duplicate immediately during the 2026 admission campaign without first checking whether the existing registry record is sufficient.
- Forgetting that a pre-2000 complete general secondary education document generally requires a duplicate for admission because those older records are outside the normal EDEBO coverage.
- Waiting for an EDEBO search when you do not know the series and number instead of using the Inforresurs personal-data request or EDEBO personal-information service.
- Assuming the 3-working-day EDEBO extract period is also the deadline for issuing the physical duplicate.
- Relying on an unofficial fixed fee or guaranteed duplicate-processing time that is not stated in the current Ministry guidance.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I apply if I lost my Ukrainian school certificate?
Apply to the education institution that issued the original document. You may apply personally or through a legal representative.
What if my old school is now in an occupied territory?
The Ministry's current guidance allows you to apply to any general secondary education institution of the appropriate level at your actual place of residence if the issuing institution is in a temporarily occupied territory or an area of hostilities.
Can I get a duplicate school certificate online through EDEBO?
No. EDEBO can provide document information and an official digitally signed registry extract, but it does not issue the duplicate itself.
How fast can I get an EDEBO extract?
Registry information is displayed immediately when the document can be found. An extract with a qualified electronic signature is emailed within 3 working days.
What if I do not know the series or number of my lost certificate?
You can request the stored information from State Enterprise Inforresurs or use the EDEBO personal-information service if your data are available there and you can authenticate electronically.
How long does Inforresurs take if I do not know my document number?
Inforresurs provides the requested personal-data information within 30 calendar days after receiving the compliant request.
Can my parent or guardian request the duplicate for me?
Yes. The Ministry's 2026 guidance expressly allows the graduate's legal representative, including a parent or guardian, to apply.
Do I need a duplicate for Ukrainian university admission in 2026?
Not always. The Ministry says admission generally depends on the document details being present in the education register. If those details are already available, it may be better to order the duplicate after enrollment.
Why can ordering a duplicate before admission cause a problem?
The Ministry warns that the lost document's registry record may be cancelled when the duplicate process begins before the replacement record has been created, temporarily leaving no usable document record for admission.
What if my complete secondary education certificate was issued before 2000?
The Ministry states that a lost complete general secondary education document issued before 2000 must be duplicated for admission because those older documents are outside the normal registry coverage.
Is there a fixed national fee for a duplicate school certificate?
The current 2026 Ministry recovery guidance does not publish one nationwide applicant fee. Confirm any applicable production or delivery charge with the education institution processing your duplicate.
How long does the school take to issue the physical duplicate?
The current 2026 Ministry recovery algorithm does not state one nationwide issuance deadline. The time can depend on verification of records and whether additional assessment is necessary.
Official sources
Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine - 2026 procedure for obtaining a lost education documentMinistry of Education and Science of Ukraine - Procedure for obtaining a duplicate general secondary education documentVerkhovna Rada of Ukraine - Ministry of Education Order No. 811 on ordering and issuing basic and complete general secondary education documentsEDEBO - Education Documents RegisterEDEBO - Personal information contained in EDEBOState Enterprise Inforresurs - Access to personal data and recovery of general secondary education document detailsRelated procedures
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