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Information about Certificate

For other uses, see Digital certificate and certificate of deposit.


A certificate is an official document affirming some fact. For example, a birth certificate or death certificate testifies to basic facts regarding a person's birth or death. A certificate may also certify that a person has received specific education or has passed a test, and is considered below the standard of an academic degree.

Due to the low cost of production as compared to other awards like trophies or plaques, certificates are used to recognize most any minor achievement throughout many levels of society. For example, in U.S. schools certificates of attendance are given to students who miss less than a certain number of days of school. A matriculating elementary or secondary school student may receive a certificate stating he was most improved in science, mathematics, or a language. Certificates are often used as an inexpensive positive reinforcement to encourage desired behaviors in many contexts.

In computing and especially computer security and cryptography, the word certificate generally refers to a digital identity certificate, also known as a public key certificate. It also may be awarded as a necessary certification to validate that a student is considered competent in a certain specific networking skill area in today's ubiquitous and necessary information technology. Thus a computer engineer or computer science graduation most likely will have to obtain additional certificates on and pertaining to the specific technologies or equipments used by the hiring corporation; if not, such employer may suffer unwanted penalties like foregoing (voiding the contract) the protections of a certain level of customer service or warranties.

As an academic award

A certificate, in addition to certifying that someone has passed a test or reached a specific standard of knowledge, may also be the name of an actual award.

In many countries, certificate is a qualification attained in secondary education. For instance students in the Republic of Ireland sit the Junior Certificate and follow it with the Leaving Certificate. Similarly other countries have awards, for instance, in Australia the Higher School Certificate (HSC) in New South Wales, the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) in Victoria, etc., is the examination taken on completion of secondary education.

In many countries, certificates are qualifications in higher education, for example, in the Republic of Ireland, the National Certificate, which is soon to be replaced by the "Higher Certificate". These have the titles Certificate (at an undergraduate level), Graduate Certificate (at an undergraduate level, but requiring the completion of a prior undergraduate degree for admission) and Postgraduate Certificate (at a postgraduate level). In Hong Kong, form five students take the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination. Certificate is below the standard of the associate degree and higher diploma, which are below the bachelor degree. Postgraduate certificate are taken after the bachelor degree and are more vocational oriented than master's degree.

In Australia, a certificate is a qualification offered by a university or other higher education provider which is shorter than a degree or diploma. Certificates are generally provided by TAFE colleges or non-academic Registered Training Organizations (often workplaces). There are four ranks of Certificate in Australia, indicated by Roman Numeral, e.g. Cert. IV in Horticulture. The time spent varies, but in general a Certificate I will be granted after a course of only a few weeks, while a Cert. IV may take up to six months. A Diploma directly follows Cert. IV and may rightly be considered equivalent to a hypothetical Certificate V.

In the United Kingdom, a Certificate of Higher Education (CertHE) requires successful completion of 120 CATS Points at Level One. This is equivalent to one year of full time university education, at first year level. Each credit point takes about 10 hours to achieve, and as such the CertHE is 1, 200 hours of study. This compares with 360 Credit points for an undergraduate degree, and 240 credits for a Diploma of Higher Education.

In the State of Maryland, a Certificate of Merit was, until recently, issued to graduating high-school seniors who met certain academic requirements (such as completion of advanced courses and a cumulative GPA of 3.00); the statewide certificate has since been replaced by "endorsements" defined by each local school system.[1]

See also

References

In cryptography, a public key certificate (or identity certificate) is an electronic document which incorporates a digital signature to bind together a public key with an identity — information such as the name of a person or an organization, their address, and so
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certificate of deposit or CD is a time deposit, a financial product commonly offered to consumers by banks, thrift institutions, and credit unions.

Such CDs are similar to savings accounts in that they are insured and thus virtually risk-free; they are "money in
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document (noun) is a bounded physical representation of body of information designed with the capacity (and usually intent) to communicate. A document may manifest symbolic, diagrammatic or sensory-representational information.
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birth certificate is a vital record that documents the birth of a child. The certificate itself usually includes most of the following information:
  • Birth name
  • Date and time of birth
  • Sex of the child
  • Place and/or location of birth

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Death Certificate may refer to:
  • Death certificate, a document concerning a person's death
  • Death Certificate (album), an album by rapper Ice Cube
  • "Death Certificate for a Beauty Queen", a single by metal band I Killed the Prom Queen

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Education encompasses teaching and learning specific skills, and also something less tangible but more profound: the imparting of knowledge, positive judgment and well-developed wisdom.
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A test or an examination (or "exam") is an assessment, often administered on paper or on the computer, intended to measure the test-takers' or respondents' (often a student) knowledge, skills, aptitudes or many other topics (e.g., beliefs).
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A degree is any of a wide range of status levels conferred by institutions of higher education, such as universities, normally as the result of successfully completing a program of study.
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award is something given to a person or group of people to recognize excellence in a certain field. Awards are often signified by trophies, titles, certificates, commemorative plaques, medals, badges, pins or ribbons.
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trophy is a reward for a specific accomplishment, and usually afterwards serves as proof of merit. They are most often awarded with sporting events. These range from youth sports through professional level athletics.
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commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other vertical surface, and bearing text in memory of an important figure or event.
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computing is synonymous with counting and calculating. Originally, people that performed these functions were known as computers. Today it refers to a science and technology that deals with the computation and the manipulation of symbols.
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Computer security is a branch of information security applied to both theoretical and actual computer systems. Computer security is a branch of computer science that addresses enforcement of 'secure' behavior on the operation of computers.
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Cryptography (or cryptology; derived from Greek κρυπτός kryptós "hidden," and the verb γράφω gráfo "write" or λεγειν legein
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In cryptography, a public key certificate (or identity certificate) is an electronic document which incorporates a digital signature to bind together a public key with an identity — information such as the name of a person or an organization, their address, and so
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Information technology (IT), as defined by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), is "the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware.
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Computer engineering (also called Electronic and Computer engineering) is a discipline that combines elements of both electrical engineering and computer science.[1]
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Computer science, or computing science, is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their implementation and application in computer systems.
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Secondary education is the final stage of compulsory education, preceded by primary education and followed by higher education. It is characterised by transition from the typically compulsory, comprehensive primary education for minors to the optional, selective tertiary,
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Anthem
Amhrán na bhFiann  
The Soldier's Song


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Junior Certificate (Irish: An Teastas Sóisearach), commonly known as the Junior Cert, is a second-level course and examination accredited by the State Examinations Commission of the Republic of Ireland; the Junior Certificate course is formally called the
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The Leaving Certificate (Irish: Ardteistiméireacht), commonly referred to as the Leaving Cert (Irish: Ardteist) is the final course in the Irish secondary school system and culminates with the Leaving Certificate Examination.
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Anthem
Advance Australia Fair [1]


Capital Canberra

Largest city Sydney
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Higher School Certificate, or HSC, is the credential awarded to secondary school students who successfully complete senior high school level studies (years 11 and 12 or equivalent) in New South Wales, Australia.
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New South Wales

Flag Coat of Arms
Slogan or Nickname: First State, Premier State
Motto(s): "Orta Recens Quam Pura Nites"
(Newly Risen, How Brightly You Shine)

Other Australian states and territories
Capital Sydney
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The Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) is the credential given to students who have completed Year 11 and Year 12 of their secondary schooling, in the state of Victoria, Australia.
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Victoria

Flag Coat of Arms
Slogan or Nickname: "Garden State", "The Place to Be"
Motto(s): "Peace and Prosperity"

Other Australian states and territories
Capital Melbourne
Government Constitutional monarchy
Governor David de Kretser
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This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling.
You can assist by [ editing it] now. A how-to guide is available, as is general .
This article has been tagged since April 2007.
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The Higher Certificate (Ardteastas in Irish) is an award that will replace the National Certificate in the Republic of Ireland of the Higher Education and Training Awards Council and a number of Dublin Institute of Technology certificates.
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Anthem
March of the Volunteers[1]



Capital None[2]
Largest district (population) Sha Tin District
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