Translating Kurdish Academic Transcripts for Credential Evaluation

What a Kurdish Academic Transcript Contains

A standard secondary‑school academic transcript from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq carries the student’s personal details, the school’s full name and stamp, the academic year, the grade level (typically tenth grade in the examples we have processed from Duhok governorate), and the study stream, most often the science stream. The body of the document lists individual subjects and the scores the student obtained in the first‑round and second‑round examinations, followed by an overall average or total. The transcript usually ends with the emblem or seal of the local General Directorate of Education, such as the directorate covering Duhok or Telkif, and a reference to the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Education. Understanding these sections before you start the translation helps you spot the marks and administrative details that credential evaluators focus on.

Common Kurdish Terms on Academic Transcripts

Kurdish (Sorani)	Romanisation	English
ناوی قوتابی	Nawi qutabî	Student’s name
پۆل	Pol	Grade / Class
بەشی زانستی	Beşî zanistî	Science stream
ساڵی خوێندن	Salî xwêndin	Academic year
خولی یەکەم	Xolî yekem	First round (first semester)
خولی دووەم	Xolî duwem	Second round (second semester)
نمرە	Nimre	Grade / Score
کۆی گشتی	Koy giştî	Total / Overall
وەزارەتی پەروەردە	Wezarati perwerde	Ministry of Education
بەڕێوەبەرایەتی گشتیی پەروەردە	Berêveberayetî giştî perwerde	General Directorate of Education

Why Translate a Kurdish Transcript for Credential Evaluation

Credential evaluation bodies ‑‑ from World Education Services to national ENIC‑NARIC centres ‑‑ operate almost entirely in English or the language of the destination country. A Sorani‑Arabic‑script transcript is inaccessible to evaluators who cannot read Kurdish, so a complete, faithful English translation is a mandatory part of the credential evaluation packet. The translation must reproduce every grade, every subject name, the academic‑year stamp, and the issuing authority’s details without interpretation or omission. That is the starting point whether the reader only needs to understand the document for personal use or is preparing a formal application to a university or a professional licensing body.

AI Translation vs Official Requirements: Which Path Fits Your Credential Evaluation?

Instant AI translation gives you a clean English DOCX of the transcript in minutes, ideal for previewing the record, checking if the grades meet a programme’s threshold, or attaching a working translation while you wait for official processing. The output mirrors the source layout and preserves all marks, subjects, and institutional names.

Some evaluation bodies or universities explicitly ask for a certified translation. For those cases Lekhak also offers certified translation on‑demand, arranged after the instant AI step, without any self‑serve workflow. Notarisation, apostille, or embassy legalisation are separate government acts the reader organises directly with the relevant authorities, they are not part of the translation service. For most credential‑evaluation checklists, the instant AI output gives you a fast, inexpensive draft that lets you move ahead; a certified version is only required when the receiving organisation makes it a formal condition.

What Lekhak’s AI Translation Produces

When you upload a scanned or photographed Kurdish transcript, the platform’s OCR‑and‑translation pipeline reads the Sorani text and returns a formatted English DOCX. The file keeps the original table structure: subject names appear in the left column, first‑round scores in the centre, second‑round scores in the right column, all in clean English romanisation. The school name (for instance, Nasrin Mixed Secondary School), the grade level, the academic‑year heading, and the stamps of the General Directorate of Education in Duhok or Telkif are preserved in the document header and footer. Marks are not altered, so the evaluator sees the same numeric grades that appear on the Kurdish original. The process completes in minutes; the DOCX is ready to download immediately, without any human intermediary. No signed certificate accompanies the instant output, it is a self‑serve AI translation, but it matches the source faithfully enough for a pre‑submission review or an initial credential‑evaluation scan.

Understanding Notarisation, Apostille, and Embassy Legalisation

If a credential evaluation or a host‑country immigration office requires the translation to be authenticated, the chain usually runs: translation → notarisation (optional in some jurisdictions) → apostille (for countries in the Hague Apostille Convention) or full embassy legalisation (for non‑Hague destinations). Lekhak’s certified translation on‑demand can supply a version that meets the documentary step, but notarisation, apostille, and legalisation are separate administrative acts that the document owner attends to with the appropriate issuing authority, typically the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Iraq or the Kurdistan Region, followed by the destination country’s embassy or consulate. These steps sit outside the translation service and do not affect how the AI engine processes the transcript.

Regional Variations in Kurdish Academic Documents

Transcripts from the Kurdistan Region share a common template, but the way the school name, the issuing directorate, and even the script are presented can differ slightly from one governorate to another. Our experience with documents from Duhok and its sub‑district Telkif shows that small formatting variations, such as whether the ministry stamp appears in the header or the footer, do not change the core data, but they influence how faithfully a machine‑translation engine can preserve the layout. Recognising these regional traits helps you spot any alignment issues when you first open the translated DOCX.

Sorani vs. Kurmanji Scripts

School‑leaving records issued inside the Kurdistan Region are virtually always written in the Sorani script, an Arabic‑based writing system adapted for the Kurdish language. Kurmanji‑script documents (using a Latin‑based alphabet) appear in Kurdish‑majority areas of Syria and Turkey and are extremely rare in the Iraqi‑government school system. If your transcript is in Sorani, the AI engine handles the script natively; the occasional Kurmanji‑script certificate you might encounter from outside the KRG would follow a different character‑mapping path but is still supported through the platform’s 70‑plus global language library.

Issuing Bodies: KRG Ministry of Education vs. General Directorates

In the education system of the Kurdistan Region, the Ministry of Education sets the national curriculum and examination frameworks, while the local General Directorates of Education, such as the one in Duhok, administer the examinations and issue the final transcripts. Most transcripts therefore bear both the ministry’s emblem and the directorate’s stamp. A credential evaluator may specifically look for the directorate’s name to verify that the school is accredited; keeping that local stamp clearly legible in the translation is important. The AI DOCX preserves both elements, so the evaluator can cross‑reference the issuing body exactly as it appears on the original.

How to Obtain a Duplicate Academic Transcript

If the original transcript has been lost or damaged, the student or a family member normally contacts the secondary school attended, for example, the school where the record was generated, and asks the administration for a duplicate. When the school no longer exists or the student is abroad, the request goes to the General Directorate of Education in the governorate where the school was located, such as the Duhok directorate for schools in Duhok and Telkif. The applicant usually needs to supply the full name, year of graduation, and, if available, the original seat number. Processing times vary, and most directorates issue replacements free of charge or for a small administrative fee payable in Iraqi dinar. Once the duplicate arrives, it can be uploaded to Lekhak for instant AI translation just like an original.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Lekhak read Sorani (Arabic‑script Kurdish) on a scanned transcript?

Yes. The platform’s OCR engine is trained on Sorani script and begins the pipeline by converting the image into machine‑readable Kurdish text before translating it into English. The process handles clear scans and well‑lit photos from phones reliably.

Does the AI translation preserve the exact marks and grades?

It does. Numeric scores, subject‑by‑subject marks, and the overall total or average are transferred without alteration. The DOCX mirrors the tabular arrangement so the evaluator can verify each grade against the original.

Will WES or a university accept the instant AI translation?

Many credential‑evaluation bodies prefer a certified translation for final submission. The instant AI output is excellent for pre‑assessment, self‑review, or supporting an application that does not explicitly require a certified copy. When a certified version is needed, Lekhak provides that on‑demand.

How long does the AI translation take?

A standard Kurdish secondary‑school transcript is typically translated in under two minutes, and the DOCX file is available for download immediately. The speed is the same during weekends and holidays because no human translator is involved.

What does the DOCX look like?

It is a clean Microsoft Word document with the student’s details, school name, academic year, class, stream, and a table of subjects with first‑round and second‑round scores in English. The header and footer retain the school’s stamp and the directorate’s seal in text form.

Do I need notarisation or an apostille for my translated transcript?

Not for the translation itself. If your receiving institution asks for authenticated documents, notarisation and apostille or embassy legalisation are separate steps you arrange with the Iraqi or KRG Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the relevant embassy. Lekhak’s certified translation on‑demand can satisfy the translation requirement of that chain.

What if my transcript uses Kurmanji script instead of Sorani?

Kurmanji‑script documents appear almost exclusively outside the Iraqi‑administered system. If you have a Kurmanji‑Latin certificate, you can still upload it; the platform supports Kurdish in both scripts under its 125‑language engine.

Can I translate a transcript that names a specific school like Nasrin Mixed Secondary School?

Absolutely. The AI engine reads the school name as it is written in Sorani and renders it in English, preserving the exact institutional identity so that the evaluator can map it to the accredited school list.

How do I get a certified translation if I need one?

After you use the instant AI translation to confirm the transcript is complete, you can request the certified service through Lekhak’s on‑demand route. The team arranges the certified version without asking you to deal with third‑party agencies.

Is the DOCX ready to send to an evaluation body immediately?

You can download the instant DOCX and attach it to your application right away for internal review or preliminary assessment. For official submission checklists, verify whether the body requires a certified translation, and if so, request that version on‑demand before sending the final packet.

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