21 March, 2025
Diploma verification to ensure authenticity
Staff integrity is of great value to organisations. In fact, the cost of a mishire is the equivalent of about 30% of that applicant’s annual salary, according to U.S. Department of Labor research. This is a reason to verify the candidate’s degree in advance. Conducting such checks offers organisations security as their diplomas prove that they are suitable for the role and hold the right knowledge.
How do you recognise a diploma by its authentic features
Diplomas are verifiable for authenticity to a certain extent when looking at the technical characteristics of a diploma. Note that this is not a guarantee of 100% authenticity. Some diplomas are counterfeit 1:1. The required technical characteristics include signatures, watermarks, legalisation stamps, copy protection, ultraviolet elements and holograms. In addition, you can also pay attention to the fonts and sizes, manually made changes, use of correction fluid, dates diploma in combination with resume, and spelling or grammar errors.
Want to be sure about the authenticity of a candidate’s degree? Read on below.
Verification at the source will ensure a solid guarantee
Some organisations verify education history by asking an applicant for their diploma. Applicants may share the original document or download an extract from Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs (DUO). This is a form of screening, but prone to error because it is still up to the employer to manually check the document for authenticity. Therefore one cannot ensure with full certainty that this is correct.
Besides, authentic features are hard to distinguish and over time people are getting better at forging documents. It can be helpful to outsource this fragmented process to a professional screening organisation that works with partners to verify data.
To be certain that a diploma is real is a complicated process with much involved. Authentic marks are often difficult to spot, but outsourcing to a professional screening organisation can make a difference.
How does DISA's diploma check work?
DISA has partnered up with DUO, meaning we can directly consult DUO’s database to verify whether a Dutch diploma has been obtained or not. As the applicant’s data is verified at the source, you can be sure of the outcome.
With a diploma check, you can be sure that applicants have the right knowledge to properly fulfill the job specifications. DISA has partnered up with DUO to verify diplomas at the highest level of education. DUO is an executive agency of the central government and they check and manage diplomas obtained at Dutch educational institutions storing them in a central diploma register.
If the diploma is not registered in DUO’s diploma register, DISA contacts the educational institution concerned. By doing so, DISA checks educational data directly at the source.
Checking international diplomas
DISA also checks international diplomas in cooperation with data partners Nuffic and Qualification Check.
- Nuffic is a Dutch non-profit organisation that focuses on internationalisation of education. In addition to the verification of diplomas, Nuffic also checks whether the educational institution is accredited in the country of origin. Please note, Nuffic does not conduct source verification.
- Qualification Check provides access to international registers that verify foreign diplomas. Our cooperation enables us to verify a person’s education at various accredited educational institutions around the world. In contrast to Nuffic, they do verify educational data directly at the source.
Validating foreign diplomas is a more complicated process because we are dependent on feedback from our data partners and educational institutions. Please be aware that checking international diplomas in most cases requires more time than our average turnaround time.
Why conduct a diploma check with DISA?
Unburden your HR department from a fragmented and complicated process
Verification at the source
Specialised in employment screening
Check more than just a diploma
DISA recommends checking candidates other information in addition to diplomas. DISA offers several checks to provide employers with a safer and more integral working environment. Among other things, DISA can conduct a check on referees, identity, integrity, criminal background, credibility.