Paper Certificates Are Becoming a Thing of the Past: What Will Change for Graduates 0 15

Currently, most general education documents are still issued in paper form, and the regulatory framework does not provide for their full issuance in electronic form. At the same time, amendments to the Education Law stipulate that in the future, the register of educational documents recognized by the state will become part of the Information System of State Examinations.

In the future, student certificates may be available in electronic form in a unified state register and signed with a secure electronic signature. The documents will also include a QR code that allows verification of their authenticity on a government-supported online resource.

Additionally, information about the education system of Latvia and the level of qualification will be added to the documents in Latvian and English, which will simplify their use abroad.

The transition to electronic documents is planned to be gradual. Starting from the 2026/2027 academic year, secondary education certificates will be issued only in electronic form, and from the 2027/2028 academic year, primary education certificates. Until that time, documents can still be obtained in paper form.

The draft regulations stipulate that duplicates of electronic documents will no longer be issued, as they will be constantly available in the register. If necessary, a paper copy can be requested. In turn, duplicates of documents issued in paper form will subsequently be issued electronically.

If the educational institution that originally issued the document no longer exists, the electronic document will be issued by another educational institution designated by the relevant municipality.

Currently, certificates for centralized exams are already issued in electronic form. The new procedure in this area does not foresee significant changes — the existing procedure for issuing copies and duplicates of these documents remains in place.

The changes are related to the creation of a unified register of educational documents, which will allow for the centralized storage of not only information about issued documents but also the documents themselves and their attachments.

It is planned that the register will provide information about the education received, academic performance, qualifications, as well as electronically signed documents and their attachments. They can be issued in Latvian and English, as well as in other official languages of the European Union upon request from educational institutions.

Residents will be able to access their educational documents on the "Latvija.gov.lv" portal and, if necessary, provide access to third parties, such as employers or higher education institutions, including those abroad.

Long-term storage of educational documents is planned, and their deletion or anonymization is not foreseen.