A degree from elsewhere: who converts it into Britain's language of qualifications, and what that costs

You arrive with a degree that meant a great deal at home, and find the British employer looking at it blankly. This is not distrust: the employer simply does not know what your qualification is, or which level here it matches. That is what the process exists for.

Who handles it

UK ENIC is the official UK body for recognising and comparing international qualifications. It was formerly UK NARIC. It works with the Department for Education and is run by Ecctis on behalf of the UK government.

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What they issue

The document is a Statement of Comparability. It compares an international qualification to the UK education system and states which UK level it corresponds to.

It is not a translation and not recognition in the sense many arrivals expect. It is a statement you show to an employer, a university or an organisation, which renders your qualification in the language of levels used here.

Cost and timing

• £69.60 for the service, which includes an e-Statement.
• Up to 15 working days from the point ENIC has all necessary documents and full payment.
• £12.60 for a paper copy with UK delivery, £75.60 with international delivery. It must be requested within 3 months of the e-Statement being issued.

A Fast Track Service and a Translation Waiver Service exist separately; ENIC publishes their terms on its own pages.

One detail about the money: the service is non-refundable once ENIC has started reviewing your application. Changing your mind afterwards does not bring the £69.60 back.

What the statement does NOT do

This is where most of the confusion sits. A Statement of Comparability speaks to the level of education, and nothing else. It does not grant the right to practise a regulated profession. Doctors, nurses, teachers, lawyers and architects go through their own regulators, and the ENIC statement does not stand in for that. Teachers, for instance, have a separate route for recognition of an overseas qualification.

The practical order is this: first establish whether your profession is regulated. If it is, go to its regulator, where the ENIC statement will at best be one attachment among several. If it is not, the ENIC statement is the thing the employer is asking for.

Is it needed at all

Not always. Many employers in unregulated fields judge on experience and the interview rather than on paper. The statement matters where a level has to be shown formally: a post with a qualification requirement, a university application, membership of a professional body. Paying £69.60 "just in case" is rarely worth it — it is cheaper to ask whoever is requesting the document what form they expect it in.