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Changing your child’s name at school

Schools have to keep your child’s full legal name on the admission register, and exam boards print certificates in the name the school enters. So a ‘known as’ name only goes so far. Here’s what schools ask for, what they’ll check with the other parent, and why it pays to sort the deed poll before exam entries.

Start a child’s deed pollRead the guide
What schools ask for
‘Known as’ names explained
Exam certificates in the right name
What schools and exam boards actually do

Checked against Department for Education guidance, AQA and JCQ, Coram Children’s Legal Centre and council guidance. Sources are listed at the end.

Updated: 30 October 2026
On this pageQuick answerWhat schools ask for‘Known as’ namesExam certificatesIf parents disagreeTeenagersFAQs

The quick answer

Schools must record your child’s full legal name on the admission register, not a name they’re known by. To change it, they’ll want proof of the new legal name, such as a deed poll, and for a new surname the Department for Education tells schools to get written evidence that the other parent agrees, independently of the parent asking.

Exam boards print certificates in the legal name the school enters, and AQA says it can’t amend certificates for a deed poll name change once results are issued. A child’s deed poll before the entries go in avoids that. Ours is £14.95 with free tracked delivery.

The school office

What schools ask for

The Department for Education says schools must record the full name of every pupil in the admission register, and that this means the child’s full legal name, not any other name they’re known by. DfE: parental responsibility guidance for schools

Proof of the new name

A deed poll is the legal document that proves a change of name. Councils such as Central Bedfordshire check that everyone with parental responsibility has consented, or that there’s a court order, before changing a child’s legal name on their records.

The other parent’s agreement

For a new surname, the Department for Education tells schools not to make the change without written evidence that the other parent agrees, and to get that evidence themselves rather than from the parent asking.

Any court orders

Under a child arrangements order or a special guardianship order, nobody can give a child a new surname without the written consent of everyone with parental responsibility or the court’s permission. The Department for Education tells schools to decline a special guardian’s request that doesn’t meet that.

A child’s deed poll that both parents have already signed answers the school’s question before it’s asked. Central Bedfordshire Council: name change guidance

Day to day

‘Known as’ names, and their limits

Many schools will use a ‘known as’ name day to day, in class and on less formal paperwork, while the legal name stays on the official records. Coram Children’s Legal Centre says the legal name is still the one used on school and medical records. Coram Children’s Legal Centre: changing a child’s surname

There are limits. Under a child arrangements order or a special guardianship order, a child usually can’t be known by a different surname at all without everyone’s written consent or the court’s permission. And where an informal change has already happened, the Department for Education says the school decides what to do, with the child’s best interests coming first.

GCSEs and A levels

Exam certificates: the one that catches families out

AQA asks schools to enter students with their full legal name, and says the name entered is the name printed on the certificate. For summer GCSEs and A levels, schools have to submit entries by late February. AQA: student name JCQ: key dates

Afterwards, it’s hard to put right. AQA says it’s unable to amend name changes made by deed poll after the results of the exam have been issued. AQA: amendments to certificates

When the deed poll reaches the schoolThe name on AQA certificates
Before the exam entries go inThe new name
After the results are issuedThe old name, as AQA won’t amend it for a deed poll

Exams coming up?

Get the deed poll signed and to the school before the entries go in. Order by 6pm, Monday to Friday, for same-day processing.

Start a child’s deed pollWhat’s included
Disputes

If parents disagree

Schools are told to avoid becoming involved in disputes between parents. Where a school can’t resolve one, the Department for Education says it should advise the unhappy parent to go to the family court.

Our guides to changing a child’s name without consent and stopping an ex changing your child’s surname cover both sides.

Sixth form and college

Teenagers changing their own name

From 16, a young person can make their own deed poll without anyone’s consent. HM Passport Office won’t accept objections to a change of name a young person makes after turning 16, and Central Bedfordshire Council says children who are 16 or above can change their name without first getting anyone’s consent. HM Passport Office: change of name applications

A 16 or 17 year old orders a standard deed poll in their own name for the same £14.95. Our guide to changing your name at 16 or 17 explains how.

Your questions answered

Frequently asked questions

A school can use a ‘known as’ name day to day, but it has to keep the full legal name on the admission register. To change the legal name, it will want proof such as a deed poll.

For a new surname, yes. The Department for Education tells schools not to change it without written evidence that the other parent agrees.

The legal name the school enters. AQA asks schools to enter students with their full legal name and prints certificates in the name entered.

AQA says it can’t amend certificates for name changes made by deed poll after the results are issued, so change the name before the school makes the entries.

For summer GCSEs and A levels, schools have to submit entries by late February, so aim to give the school the deed poll before then.

Often, as a ‘known as’ name. But under a child arrangements order or a special guardianship order, a new surname usually needs everyone’s written consent or the court’s permission first.

Check the detail

Sources for this guide

Guidance and reference pages

The official rules this guide is based on, checked in October 2026.

Continue your name change

Related guides

Changing a child’s name

How a child’s deed poll works.

Changing your name at 16 or 17

Your own deed poll, without parental consent.

Who has parental responsibility?

Who has to sign a child’s deed poll.

Ready when you are

The right name on every certificate.

A child’s deed poll with a signature space for both parents, prepared from your details, checked by a person and posted free for £14.95.

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