Graduation Graduation Forms and Documents

Graduation Forms and Documents

Students graduating from an award course at James Cook University (JCU) Australia will be provided with:

  • A digital copy of their Testamur and Australian Higher Education Graduation Statement (AHEGS) within a week of their conferral date. These documents can be accessed and shared via My eQuals.
  • A hard copy of their Testamur to their postal address following conferral.  At this time postal service can take up to 6 weeks, so please wait until after this time before following up on documents.

A Testamur is the legal certification of a degree that is presented upon conferral of an award from James Cook University. A Testamur will be printed and sealed with the University Seal in accordance with the University Seal Procedure. Once the award has been conferred, the Testamur will be made available in digital format and will be posted or made available for collection. A Testamur will include the full legal name of the student, the conferral date and the award title.

Please be aware that a Digital Testamur can only be provided if your award was conferred after 1 December 2018. For all awards conferred prior to this date only a hard copy Testamur can be provided.

If you have lost, misplaced or your Testamur has been destroyed  you may apply for a replacement.

A Statutory Declaration must be attached to this form unless a damaged testamur is returned. The Statutory Declaration must outline the reason/s for the loss or destruction of the original testamur. Your application cannot be processed without a Statutory Declaration signed by a Justice of the Peace or Commissioner for Declarations.

Please allow a minimum of 1 to 2 weeks to process.

The Australian Higher Education Graduation Statement (AHEGS) describes a higher education qualification in an easily understandable way, relating it to the system in which it was issued and describing qualifications in a clear and consistent way to potential employers and other higher education institutions.  It is intended to make Australian awards better understood internationally, and to thereby enhance the mobility of Australian graduates and Australia’s competitiveness in the international higher education market.

The AHEGS presents all graduate’s academic achievements related to a particular award, in addition to details on the type of award, the awarding institution and a description of the Australian higher education system.

Graduation Statements are award specific, therefore students who graduate with more than one award will receive a separate AHEGS for each award.

Graduation Statements issued by JCU comply with the requirements of Australian government’s Guidelines for the presentation of Australian Higher Education Graduation Statements.

Further information about the Australian Higher Education Graduation Statement can be found on the Australian Government’s web page.

If graduated from an award course from 25 October 2019

Graduates receive a complimentary digital AHEGS via My eQuals. Please complete this application form to purchase hard copies after graduation.

If graduated from an award course between 18 December 2010 and 12 September 2019

Graduates received a complimentary hardcopy AHEGS at graduation. Please complete this application form to purchase replacement or additional copies after graduation.

A Completion Letter is an official University letter verifying that you have completed the requirement of your course. It details:

  • Your Full Name
  • Student ID Number
  • Degree Admitted including major if applicable
  • Commencement Date
  • Completion Date
  • Language of Instruction

The letter is officially stamped and signed and it will be emailed to your nominated email address. Order your Completion Letter here.

If your course has not yet been officially completed, e.g., you are awaiting your final subject results, you may be eligible to receive a 'potentially complete' letter. In this case, you will be contacted on receipt of your order form to complete requirements.

An official academic record is the official record of your JCU enrolment. It details:

If you have graduated, it will also include the date your award was conferred.

Academic Records are produced according to your current academic status and will include all courses and subjects that you are or have been enrolled in.

If you want your results and/or graduation conferral details to appear on your record, please check your My Results and Graduations tab in eStudent to confirm that the desired details have been released before submitting your application.

Complete and pay via the Application for Academic Record form.

You will need to submit a Change of Name request online if you wish to update your Formal Name displayed on the Testamur and Australian Higher Education Graduation Statement (AHEGS).

If you are submitting the request prior to graduation, please email graduations@jcu.edu.au to ensure that you graduation documents display the correct name.

If you are requesting a replacement copy of your Testamur or AHEGS and wish it to reflect a new formal name, please ensure your name change has been processed before submitting your request for the graduation documents.

If you are an international student and require a letter inviting family members and friends to your graduation, please apply here.

If you are not an international student but have family and friends overseas that wish to attend your graduation, please email graduations@jcu.edu.au.

Countries that are members of the Apostille Convention require Australian educational documents to be legalised by the Australia Government before they can be used overseas. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) provides this specific type of certification, known as Apostille Certificate.

An Apostille verifies the authenticity of the document’s signature, seal, or stamp and the authority of the person or organisation that issues the document and issues an ‘Apostille’ stamp once verified. You can find information regarding the legalisation of Documents in Australia by DFAT here.

Please refer to the below instructions on how to organise an Apostille Certificate.

Document Authentication Process

  1. Complete the relevant form to request the hard copy documents that you require to be authenticated (if you are not mailing in the original).
  2. Complete a Verify JCU Documents form
  3. Complete a Document Legalisation Request form if you need your document legalised by DFAT.
  4. Mail the documents to be authenticated and the Document Legalisation Request (if you wish us to forward the authenticated documents to DFAT for Apostille) to:

James Cook University
Examinations and Graduations Office
1 James Cook Drive,
Bld 133, Rm 102
Townsville, Qld, 4811
Australia

  1. Student Service will place a stamp on your original graduation documents (e.g., testamur or Academic Record) to verify that it is a ‘true and accurate record’.
  2. Students Services will mail the documents to the address specified in the Verify JCU Documents form.