Transfer certificate

Is a transfer certificate the same as a migration certificate?

No. A transfer certificate comes from the school a student is leaving. A migration certificate comes from CBSE, at the request of a candidate who has passed the Class X or XII board examination and wants to join another board or university.^[1] From the 2025 examinations CBSE no longer issues a hard copy of the migration certificate. Students use the digital copy, which is in DigiLocker, for admission elsewhere, and can request a hard copy through CBSE's Duplicate Academic Document System during the transition.^[4] That notice doesn't mention the school's transfer certificate.

Does a school have to issue a TC?

For a child aged 6 to 14, the RTE Act says yes, and without delay. Section 5(3) says the head-teacher or in-charge of the school where the child was last admitted “shall immediately issue the transfer certificate”. Delay in producing it is no ground for delaying or denying admission in the new school, and a head-teacher who delays is liable to disciplinary action. The transfer right in section 5 is to any school other than a specified-category school (such as a Kendriya Vidyalaya) or an unaided private school.^[3]

Unpaid fees are where the sources conflict. An old CBSE bye-law ties the TC to dues; the RTE Act and the court rulings we found don't. Here they are in date order.

• 1995, CBSE Examination Bye-Laws. Clause 8(vi) of the bye-laws in force from 31 January 1995 says a student leaving “on a payment of all dues” receives an authenticated copy of the TC.^[2] We found this in CBSE's archive folder and couldn't confirm it is still in force.
• 2009, RTE Act. Section 5(3), quoted above, says the TC is issued “immediately” and says nothing about dues.^[3]
• 2018, CBSE Affiliation Bye-Laws. Clause 7.4 says that, unless the appropriate government provides otherwise, a student who leaves owes dues only up to the month of discontinuance or migration, not up to the month the TC is applied for.^[5] It limits what the school can charge. It doesn't say whether a TC can be held back.
• 11 July 2019, Delhi High Court. An order quoted in a Directorate of Education circular held that under the Delhi School Education Act and Rules, 1973 the school in that case could not withhold the School Leaving Certificate because fees were unpaid, and noted the school could have sued to recover them.^[6] In October 2020, and again for 2021-22, the Directorate cited it in telling Delhi government schools to give provisional admission to students who couldn't produce a TC.^[6]
• 2024, Madras High Court. A Division Bench said a TC is not a tool for collecting fee arrears, that entries about unpaid fees on a TC are “humiliation for the child” and attract section 17 of the RTE Act, and that producing a TC is not mandatory for admission. It told the state to issue circulars to all schools in Tamil Nadu.^[7]
• 30 April 2025, Delhi High Court. Reading section 5(3), the court said a school cannot deny the TC to a child who has sought admission in another school. That case was a dispute between parents, not about fees.^[8]

Check your board's and your state education department's current instructions, and ask your lawyer before you hold back any TC over dues. For fee reminders that don't involve the TC, see our parent communication playbook.

Does a TC from another board need countersigning?

Sometimes. CBSE's 2019 circular on admission to Class IX or XI says a TC from a school recognised by another board should be countersigned by that board's educational authorities, and that CBSE-affiliated schools should not send their TCs to CBSE for verification or countersignature.^[9] The archived Examination Bye-Laws also ask for a countersigned TC when a student comes from an institution that isn't affiliated to CBSE.^[2]

How does ProEMS handle transfer certificates?

On the Gold plan, ProEMS issues a TC as a PDF in its own numbered layout. It fills the student's details, subjects, class last studied and result from the record, and the office completes entries such as the date struck off, conduct and the reason for leaving. One entry asks whether the pupil has paid all dues to the school, so read it against the rulings above. Check the layout against your board's or state's current form before you adopt it, and ask to see it in the demo.

Sources

Every fact on this page about rules, prices or other products comes from one of these. We read each one on the date shown and will update this page when they change.

1. Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). Examination Bye-Laws: Short Title and Definitions (cbse.gov.in). Examination Bye-Laws effective 31 January 1995. Read 21 October 2026.From CBSE's archive folder of Examination Bye-Laws. We could not confirm this is the current text.
2. Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). Examination Bye-Laws: Admission of Students to a School, Transfer/Migration of Students (cbse.gov.in). Examination Bye-Laws effective 31 January 1995. Read 21 October 2026.From CBSE's archive folder of Examination Bye-Laws. We could not confirm this is the current text, and clause 8(vi) conflicts with the RTE Act and the court rulings cited here.
3. Government of India (Gazette copy hosted by the Delhi Directorate of Education). The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (No. 35 of 2009) (edudel.nic.in). 2009. Read 21 October 2026.A scanned copy of the Act as gazetted. The Act covers children aged 6 to 14.
4. Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). Doing away with the hard copy of the Migration Certificate for both classes X & XII (cbse.gov.in). Notification of 4 September 2024. Read 21 October 2026.
5. Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). Affiliation Bye-Laws 2018, Chapter 7: School Fees (cbse.gov.in). Affiliation Bye-Laws 2018. Read 21 October 2026.A scanned PDF. We could not check whether later amendments changed clause 7.4.
6. Directorate of Education, Government of NCT of Delhi. Circular on provisional admissions in Delhi government schools without TC/SLC, extending the circular of 16 October 2020 (edudel.nic.in). Circular of 15 July 2021, enclosing the circular of 16 October 2020. Read 21 October 2026.A scanned, COVID-era circular. We cite it only for the quoted Delhi High Court order of 11 July 2019 in W.P.(C) 6658/2019.
7. SCC Online (law publisher). Transfer certificate cannot form basis for denying admission in school or to collect arrear of fees from parents: Madras High Court (scconline.com). 22 July 2024. Read 21 October 2026.A law publisher's report of a Division Bench ruling (S.M. Subramaniam and C. Kumarappan JJ.). We could not find the judgment text. It is one High Court's ruling.
8. High Court of Delhi. Saisha Chhillar (minor) v. The Directorate of Education & Ors., W.P.(C) 5614/2025 (delhihighcourt.nic.in). Order of 30 April 2025 (Vikas Mahajan J.). Read 21 October 2026.An order disposing of a petition in a dispute between a child's parents. It quotes section 5(3) of the RTE Act and does not deal with fees.
9. Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). Admission to Class IX or Class XI on account of change of school (cbse.gov.in). Circular of 18 July 2019. Read 21 October 2026.