Medical Certificate for School Absence
A doctor-signed letter confirming your child is unwell, delivered online by 9 AM next day. No waiting rooms, no appointment.
✅ Written and signed by a GMC-registered doctor, with the doctor's GMC number on the letter.
✅ For genuine illness where your child's school has asked you for supporting evidence.
✅ Schools decide whether an absence is authorised. A letter supports that decision, it does not make it.
Let's get started 
Accepted by most UK employers, universities and insurers, subject to their own policies. All consultations are subject to clinical assessment and certificates are issued only where clinically appropriate.
Consistently voted 5 stars
How It Works
Complete short online consult
No appointment required.
Complete a short medical questionnaire and upload any supporting evidence.
Doctor reviews your evidence
A GMC-registered doctor reviews your submission individually.
✔ Full refund if a certificate cannot be issued.
Receive your certificate
Most certificates are issued same day, almost all by 9AM the next morning. Delivered as a signed PDF. A doctor will email you if more evidence is needed.
Certificate security
Every MedicalCert certificate can be checked as genuine
Each certificate is issued with anti-tampering protection and its own verification reference. If your employer, university, airline or insurer wants to confirm the document came from a GMC-registered doctor, they can check it against MedicalCert records. Altered or copied documents do not pass that check.
Very happy, I ordered my Medical Certificate in the early morning hours and before noon time of same day I had it on my inbox. Speedy service and they present the health condition precisely, get to the point.
They meet the incredibly fast turnaround stated (certificate/letter sent before 9am the following morning if the doctor feels that a letter/certificate is appropriate) which is incredibly quick and I am really grateful for the help provided!
Very easy and quick to get my certificate. And the certificate was approved from the specific company to travel with my dog. I will use them again. Well done.
Second time using this company and they are fabulous! Always great, fast, friendly service. Highly recommend!
This was my second time using Medical Cert, and once again the service was exceptionally quick and professional. Everything was handled efficiently, with clear communication throughout.
I found the service very straight forward and quick. Exactly what I needed to get my Padi medical form signed before our holiday. Thank you very much.
Process was easy and responses were quick. I would recommend their service.
Fast efficient service for medical certificates. I used the not fit to fly service and was provided with a certificate the next day, the price is very reasonable and enabled a flight credit refund with my airline. Would recommend and would use again if needed.
A fast and efficient service. It wasn't complicated and the Fit-to-fly note was accepted by the Airport without any further questions. Thank you.
Ideal for me, I am looking to get a certificate for some medical issues I have. So this is the perfect solution for me, uploading docs was easy and the forms very straightforward to fill in. Will definitely use them again. Many thanks.
Excellent service. Easy to use and certificate issued in less than 24 hours. £39 as opposed to the £150 my GP charges. Highly recommended.
Quick and reasonably pain-free. Received their standard certificate as well as my requested bespoke certificate, by email, by 9am the following morning. Both completed properly, signed and stamped as required. More expensive than my GP, but infinitely quicker and easier.
One of the best experiences. It's easy to get a GP note.
Excellent. My GP refuses to issue DWP MED 3 Fit Notes to students. MedicalCert were excellent and extremely helpful in providing a necessary certificate. Highly recommended.
You were amazing, you kept me updated and replied promptly to any queries I had. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
They helped me, they were very professional and nice.
Very pleased. Quick service with very professional letter provided.
Great service, pretty straight forward and easy to use the website.
I was recommended Medical Cert by a friend and was so impressed with the service received. I would recommend using a laptop rather than a phone. Overall a fantastic and fast service.
Medical Certificate for School Absence: What the Rules Actually Say
If your child’s school has asked for a medical certificate to support an absence, you may already have found that NHS GPs do not routinely provide letters for school absence. That is not a local policy or an unhelpful practice. Writing a letter of this kind is not part of the NHS work a GP practice is contracted to do, so practices that provide one treat it as private work and charge a fee, and many decline the request altogether.
Before you buy anything, read the next section. Statutory guidance for schools in England says schools should not routinely ask parents for medical evidence, and where evidence is asked for, a letter from a doctor is only one of several forms a school may accept. Where a school has asked and you want a clinician’s letter, our GMC-registered doctors can issue one without a GP appointment, in the same way we issue a sick note for work for employment.
What the guidance says about medical evidence
The Department for Education’s statutory guidance Working together to improve school attendance applies to schools in England, and the current edition was published in July 2026. Paragraph 374 says schools are not expected to routinely request that parents provide medical evidence to support illness absences and should not have blanket rules requiring this. In the majority of cases a parent’s notification that their child is too ill to attend school can be accepted without question or concern.
The same paragraph sets out the two situations in which a school may ask for reasonable evidence: where it has genuine and reasonable doubt about the authenticity of the illness, and where it is seeking to support a pupil with a prolonged or repeated pattern of illness. Paragraph 375 adds that schools should not be rigid about the form of evidence, should start with a conversation with the family, and should consider prescriptions, medication and evidence of appointments. Letters from medical professionals are mentioned there for children with an ongoing condition that is being clinically managed.
So a doctor’s letter is not the evidence a school is expected to ask for first, and no parent is obliged to buy one. Where your school has asked for written evidence and you would rather not wait for a practice appointment, a letter from a GMC-registered doctor is one of the forms a school may accept, and ours is issued the same day.
When Is a Medical Certificate for School Absence Actually Needed?
Schools in England should not be asking for a medical certificate for every illness, and the statutory guidance tells them not to have blanket rules requiring one. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own school attendance systems, so the paragraphs quoted on this page do not apply there. A letter is worth obtaining only in the narrower situations set out below.
Short absences of a few days
A phone call or note from you is normally all the school needs, and the guidance tells schools not to request medical evidence routinely. A purchased letter does not replace the notification the school is asking you for, and in most cases you do not need one at all.
Extended or recurring absence
Where a school has asked for evidence on one of the two grounds in paragraph 374, genuine and reasonable doubt about the illness, or support for a prolonged or repeated pattern of illness, a clinician’s letter is one of the forms it may accept. This is the situation this service is for.
Situations Where This Certificate Is Most Useful
Extended illness lasting more than a week
For absences extending beyond a week, whether a persistent acute illness, surgery recovery, or a significant health episode, a medical certificate provides meaningful clinical confirmation of the cause and expected duration.
Repeated short-term absences from a chronic condition
Where a child has a diagnosed or recurring condition causing repeated absences, migraines, asthma, IBS, anxiety, or similar, a medical certificate documenting the condition provides the school with context for an attendance pattern that would otherwise appear problematic.
Missed exams or assessments
A special consideration application is made by the school or college, not by you. JCQ’s A guide to the special consideration process says at 6.10 that where the centre knows the candidate was unwell, a statement produced by the centre can support the application and there is no need for formal medical evidence. Speak to the exams officer first. A clinician’s letter is worth obtaining only if the centre asks you for one.
Absence recorded as unauthorised
The absence code is the school’s decision and there is no statutory appeal against it. If you are asking the school to look again at an unauthorised code, evidence that the illness was genuine is what that request rests on, and a clinician’s letter is one form that evidence can take.
Post-hospitalisation or post-surgical return
Where a child has been hospitalised and is returning to school after a significant health event, a medical letter confirming the illness and current recovery status helps the school plan appropriate support and manage the child’s return sensitively. For students returning to university after hospitalisation, see our fitness for study certificate.
Mental health absence
Absence caused by anxiety, depression or school-related anxiety is recorded as illness in the same way as physical illness, and schools are not expected to ask for medical evidence routinely here either. Where the absence is prolonged or repeated, a letter describing the condition can help the school understand what support is needed, which is one of the grounds in paragraph 374.
Conditions Supported
Our GMC-registered doctors can issue school absence certificates for a wide range of conditions in children and young people, subject to clinical assessment based on the evidence submitted.
What the Certificate Contains
Child’s name and date of birth
Full identification as provided at consultation.
Nature of illness or condition
Clinical description of the condition causing absence, at the appropriate level of detail.
Dates of absence covered
The period of absence confirmed by the medical evidence submitted.
Expected recovery or return timeline
Where clinically appropriate, a note on expected return to school and any ongoing considerations.
Issuing doctor’s details
Full name, GMC registration number, and signature confirming clinical legitimacy.
Unique verification reference
Allows the school to verify the certificate’s authenticity at verify@medicalcert.co.uk free of charge.
How to Get a Medical Certificate for Your Child’s School Absence
Complete the questionnaire as parent or guardian
Provide details about your child’s illness, when it started, symptoms, how long they have been absent from school, and why the school has requested documentation. Include the name and year group of your child and the school’s specific request if known.
Upload evidence of the illness
A short video or photograph showing your child’s symptoms, prescription records, pharmacy receipts, or any other medical evidence supporting the nature of the illness. The doctor bases their assessment on this evidence, the quality and detail of what you submit directly affects the letter.
GMC-registered doctor reviews and issues the certificate
One of our experienced GPs reviews your submission the same day and, where the clinical evidence supports it, issues a medical letter suitable for school purposes. The doctor may contact you for additional information.
Submit to the school
Your signed PDF letter is delivered to your inbox same day or by 9AM next morning. Forward it to the school’s attendance office or head of year. A full refund is provided if a certificate cannot be issued based on the evidence submitted.
