Instructions & fees

1. 1Sign in to your institution portal (your institution must be accredited before issuing).
2. 2Enter the graduate's details and qualification, then issue the credential.
3. 3Submit the credential to ZAQA for national validation.
4. 4Collect the validation fee from the graduate on behalf of ZAQA according to the fee schedule below, and remit it under your ZAQA billing arrangement.
5. 5Once ZAQA validates, the graduate can download the signed validation certificate.

If your institution has not yet uploaded your credential, you can apply for validation yourself from your graduate portal:

1. 1Create a graduate account (or sign in) and open “My credentials”.
2. 2Under Apply for validation of qualification, select your awarding institution.
3. 3Enter the qualification details exactly as they appear on your certificate.
4. 4Upload a clear scan or photo of the certificate (PDF or image, up to 6 MB).
5. 5Pay the applicable validation fee (below) to the awarding institution, which collects it on behalf of ZAQA.
6. 6The institution verifies your document and forwards it to ZAQA for national validation.
7. 7You are notified at each step; once validated, download your signed ZAQA certificate.

Note: the system automatically checks for existing records first — if your qualification has already been uploaded and validated, your request is linked to the existing record and no new application is needed.