What is WES Evaluation?

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Cyril Zachariah
Updated on May 10, 2023 07:37 PM IST

What is WES evaluation? It is a process of converting a student’s previously earned academic grades from their home university into the equivalent grading system accepted in countries like the USA and Canada. Find out more about WES evaluation for Indian students, documents required, validity, document-wise evaluation, processing time, WES evaluation process, and more below.

What is WES Evaluation?

WES Evaluation for Indian students: Since the education system in India differs substantially from that in the United States and Canada, there is an appetite for academic credential validation. Universities in the US and Canada rely on agencies like Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE), World Evaluation Services (WES), and Educational Perspective (EP) to address this non-uniformity and streamline the applications. As stated, the WES full form in education is World Education Services.

The WES is a nonprofit organisation established in 1974, that offers credential evaluation services to immigrants and international students who want to study or work in Canada or the US. Further, WES is an inaugural member of both the Alliance of Credential Evaluation Services of Canada (ACESC) and the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES), both of which have accredited WES.

Nearly 20,000 academic credentials are evaluated annually by WES, which also defines international education in terms of the US or Canada and performs auto-authentication. In the words of WES, its credential assessments are consultative judgements that are not legally enforceable. 

The exclusive WES database gathers and maintains data on 20,000 academic credentials, 45,000 institutions of higher learning, and academic certifications from over 200 countries. The retained certificates are submitted freely by applicants, and WES operates with ulterior objectives since it has no formal agreements with any nation's educational institutions. 

You must submit your GPA if you intend to apply to universities in the USA or Canada. It is necessary to adapt the scores offered by Indian universities because they must be calculated using American standards. In such situations, WES evaluation acts as a saviour and helps universities abroad recognise your relevant qualifications. In this article, we will discuss the WES evaluation process, documents required, validity, document-wise and course-wise evaluation, processing time, WES evaluation fees, and more.

WES Evaluation Meaning

By comparing an applicant's academic achievements to ethical educational standards in Canada or the US, WES evaluates their credentials. It converts your grades — either in percentage or CGPA form — to a four-point scale that is regarded as acceptable in the USA with respect to each subject you have studied. Organisations like immigration authorities, licencing boards, universities, or employers can better grasp educational qualifications in the US and Canada with the use of WES evaluation reports.

Remember that a WES evaluation performed for a US university cannot be utilised for a Canadian university, and the opposite is true. Therefore, if you are applying to universities in both Canada and the US, you must request two separate sets of reports, one for every country. Additionally, you will need to pay separate fees for each university you are sending a report. Therefore, to save part of the money you have spent, make sure to narrow down the institutions that best suit your educational and professional needs. In a nutshell, the WES report aims to achieve the following:

  • Make certain that the documents' veracity is assessed

  • Specify your credentials and submit them.

  • confirms the accuracy of your credentials

  • It might contain an equivalent grade point average (GPA)

When is the WES Evaluation Report Useful?

Your international higher education degree from a non-American university is validated and stamped once your WES credential evaluation is completed. It is important to keep in mind that not all Canadian or US universities need their overseas applicants to submit a WES evaluation report.

The WES evaluation is utilised not only for PhD and master's admissions, but it can also be helpful for foreign job seekers in Canada or the US. This is because a few businesses ask for your standardised college test scores when you apply for a job. Therefore, to make it transpire, you might need to submit a WES report.

Is WES Evaluation Required for Each Foreign University? 

Why do I Need WES Evaluation?

As stated above, many universities, including some of the top universities in Canada and the US universities, require applicants to send in their academic transcripts and reports properly evaluated and translated to US/Canadian equivalency, in order to select students from an equal playing field. Moreover, such translations or evaluations will help the universities and colleges to properly understand your skills, knowledge and potential after completing higher studies at their institution.

Therefore, before applying to any university in USA or Canada, it is important to check the eligibility criteria and admission requirements for your desired university and course and check the type of academic transcripts for admission purposes.

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WES Evaluation Process

The reputation of the World Education Services and its evaluation processes is the defined steps that the institution takes to ensure the end reports are as accurate as possible. With the help of reviews from the documentation and education system specialists, WES is able to ensure that their data/documentation collection, authentication and evaluation as well as the analysis and quality assurance standards remain consistent. As stated above, the WES evaluation process involves four major steps, as have been outlined below:

Document Imaging

The first step in the process is collecting, analysing and storing the documents that are received by WES. Documentation specialists review each page of the documents and scan them into the WES system for further processing. Currently, WES accepts digitised versions of the documents, provided they have been submitted directly from the international institution where you have received your qualifications and accolades. However, this provision is available for limited institutions.

Document Review and Authentication

While the documents are reviewed at the time of collection, WES takes a second step into authenticating the documents. Here, ‘document examiners’ compare the physical and scanned documents, ensuring that the file or document is complete and scanned according to the parameters defined by WES.

Analysis and Evaluation

WES employs a team of analysts with country-specific knowledge and expertise to handle the analysis and evaluation process of scanned documents. The team is responsible for analysing the documents for completeness and accuracy.

It is during this stage that applicants will be contacted by WES if they require additional documentation or information to help facilitate the evaluation process. If the documents require verification, WES will directly connect with the institution conferring the academic documents. While in case additional documents are required, WES will connect with the applicants. In both cases, the document evaluation and analysis process will be put on hold until further information or verification is completed by the respective parties.

Evaluation Report Quality Assurance

Once all the evaluations have been completed, an evaluation report draft will be created which will subsequently be reviewed by specialists who will make necessary changes if needed. Once reviewed, the report will be sent in for printing and mailing or sent via electronic modes to the selected recipients.

What is the Ideal Time to Get Your Credentials Evaluated by WES?

From the moment you ascertain that you want to pursue higher education abroad, you can have WES credential evaluation. As discussed, you can use the WES evaluation to support both your admissions and employment applications. Since you must upload all the necessary paperwork for your admission application, submit your WES application at least 10 to 15 days beforehand. Similar to this, request a WES evaluation 10 to 15 days before submitting a job application.

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List of WES Documents Required

Since World Education Services (WES) is an international academic credential evaluation institution, all applicants are required to submit appropriate information regarding their academic transcripts and reports. Depending upon where you are planning to study in Canada or the USA, the documents you need to submit will vary. Additionally, the document checklist will vary depending on the purpose of your evaluations. The following is a list of documents that international students must submit if they wish to have their academic transcripts and reports evaluated as per Canadian and US standards.

List of WES USA Required Documents

Students who are interested in pursuing higher studies in the USA and wish to have their documents evaluated must first determine the level of education they aim to study, i.e. freshmen admissions, graduate admissions or transfer admissions. Listed below are some of the documents that you will need to submit for WES evaluations to study in the USA.

  • Copy of the Degree Certificate (Final or Provisional); and

  • Statement of Marks issued by the university and attested.

Note: WES has partnered with thousands of universities, even some from India. You can request your previous university to send the reports directly to WES or send it to you in a sealed envelope with a signature or stamp across the back flap.

List of WES Canada Required Documents

Similar to applying to US universities, Indian students applying to various universities in Canada must also have their academic transcripts evaluated by WES. Check out the following list of documents that must be submitted to complete the WES verification.

  • Copy of Degree Certificate

  • Copy of Marksheets and Transcripts

Note: When searching for the perfect university in Canada, make sure you also check the admission requirements of the shortlisted universities. This will allow you to be prepared with the right documents within the specified timeline.

Types of WES Evaluation for Indian Students

The World Education Services offers aspiring international students, immigrants and refugees several services to help them transition to living, studying and working in the USA and Canada. In this article, we will focus primarily on the education aspect of WES Evaluations and fees. Listed below are some of the WES evaluation services and fees that will be applicable to aspiring international students.

WES Document By Document Evaluation

The World Education Services suggests international students applying for freshmen admissions in the USA select the Document-by-Document evaluation. A Document-by-document evaluation would usually contain the following:

  • The credential name

  • The entry requirements

  • The length of the programme

  • The equivalency of the credential according to US education standards

Note: When choosing the evaluation process, it is advisable to check whether your desired university accepts the document-by-document evaluation.

WES Course By Course Evaluation

Students applying for graduate admissions in the USA are suggested to choose the Course-by-Course evaluation, allowing them to apply to their desired university and programme. Here is what the Course-by-Course evaluation identifies and contains.

  • The credential name

  • The entry requirements

  • The length of the programme

  • The equivalency of the credentials as per US education standards

  • List of all courses that have been completed at the post-secondary level

  • A GPA on a scale of 4.0 according to US education standards

  • A semester credit and grade equivalent for each course as per US education standards.

  • A designation of the level of each undergraduate course.

Note: Similar to the document-by-document evaluations, it is important to check with the respective higher education institutions with regard to the type of report that needs to be submitted.

WES Evaluation Fees

To receive the WES services, applicants will be required to pay a fee depending on the services and packages they wish to receive. On the WES website, the organisation offers two packages, i.e. WES Basic and WES International Credential Advantage Package (ICAP). These options are available for both the document-by-document and course-by-course evaluation options offered by WES. Check out the tables below to find out the WES evaluation cost applicable to international students.

Basic WES Evaluation Fees (in USD)

Document-by-Document Evaluation

102

Course-by-Course Evaluation

163

WES Evaluation ICAP Fees (in USD)

Document-by-Document

147

Course-by-Course

208

Apart from the primary fees chargeable to all applicants, they may also be required to pay the following additional fees for WES evaluations.

Category

Fees (in USD)

Delivery

Standard

10

Courier Delivery (International Courier Services)

75

Sealed Envelope

5

Duplicate Reports (Ordered at the time of application)

30

Update Completed Evaluation

Updated Completed Evaluation

80

Upgrade to ICAP

80

Duplicate Reports After Completed Evaluation

WES Basic First Report - 50

WES ICAP First Report - 30

Additional WES Evaluation Reports - 30

Note: The fees mentioned above are subject to change at the discretion of the organisation. Additionally, the charges mentioned above only cover evaluations for US universities. If you are interested in applying for a basic WES evaluation in Canada, then you will be charged a fee of CAD 347, which will further vary between different universities.

WES Evaluation Tools for International Students

Being a highly reputable and recognised institution for international credential evaluation, the World Education Services offers a number of services as well as a number of WES evaluation tools, that international students can use for their benefit. Some of these WES evaluation tools for international students have been mentioned below.

  • Required Documents: One of the free tools that WES offers its applicants is the “Required Documents” tool. With the help of this WES Evaluation tool, you will be able to check the list of documents needed for WES evaluations from you and your institution. It should be noted that this tool will just give you a preview of the required documents.

  • WES iGPA Calculator: Another free tool by WES, the iGPA calculator is designed to convert your academic scores into a US grade point average on a scale of 4.0. This will allow you to gauge your potential in applying to top universities in the US.

  • WES Degree Equivalency Tool: Similar to the WES iGPA tool, the WES Degree Equivalency tool allows you to compare your degree to an equivalent offered in the USA.

Note: The benefits, services and tools available to international students expand drastically if they choose the WES ICAP evaluation package. Nonetheless, the WES basic package will cover all the basic necessities to study in USA or Canada.

WES Evaluation for Indian Students: Points to Keep in Mind

As was previously said, you have to strictly adhere to all application-related guidelines or requirements mentioned to successfully go through the WES evaluation process. In simple terms, there are three essential steps: applying for a WES reference number, making sure the appropriate documents have been sent to WES through your college or school with the WES reference number you have received, and then, following verification and confirmation, collecting the WES report. Listed below are some key points to keep in mind about the WES evaluation for Indian students:

  • Verify that WES scrutinises your research paper, certificate course, or university or college degree. With 20,000 academic credentials and equivalencies, 40,000 educational institutions, and 1,600 grading scales, WES operates across more than 200 countries and jurisdictions. This guarantees that the evaluation is accurate and up to date.

  • Find out what type of documents are needed for the WES evaluation. On its website, WES includes a list of documents required by the country for which you need the evaluation to be conducted.

  • You must submit exact word-for-word English translations of your documents in case they are not in English in tandem with your foreign-language originals. This is because there are no translation services offered by WES. It is allowed for translations to be generated by the educational institution you attended or by qualified translators in the country where you studied recently.

  • You receive a digital credential from the WES evaluation that you may use on LinkedIn and other beneficial platforms to verify consumers. 

  • WES provides one of the most efficient and precise transcript evaluations. Further, the time it takes to provide an evaluation report is around one month. 

  • WES strictly adheres to the format specified on its website and only accepts documents that have been delivered to them directly by the pertinent institution in a sealed envelope. Documents supplied by students, independent contractors, or anybody else are not accepted by WES. They adhere strictly to these criteria and make no exceptions to them.

  • Your documents are verified by WES; WES assessors go over all your documents until they have reviewed them and have no more queries. The right to check each document submitted for evaluation is reserved by WES. To validate your documents, WES contacts your college or other recognised authorities. Following receipt of a response, WES moves forward with your evaluation. Several academic institutions, licencing agencies, and immigration officials rely on WES transcript critiques because of their stringent procedures. On the WES website, document prerequisites are described in depth for various nations and purposes.

We hope this article has helped you in understanding the WES evaluation process adequately. Remember that not all international universities require you to have your documents or academic credentials evaluated. It varies depending on the prerequisites set by each university and the specifics of each degree it offers to international students. You can always review an institution's admission norms to see if they require you to have your results validated. You can always get in touch with a professional from your preferred university's admissions office if you are still unsure about whether you need to have your academic credentials evaluated.   

If you are still confused about WES required documents for either Canada or the USA, or want to know more about the WES evaluation process, then drop us a line at abroad@collegdekho.com for clarification!

Explore WES Recognised Universities List With Our Experts’ Help! 

FAQs

What is the WES evaluation process?

The entire WES evaluation process of your documents will be completed in four simple steps which include document imaging, review and authentication of the documents, analysis and evaluations of the scanned documents and the production and quality assurance of the final evaluation report. These steps ensure that the document evaluation report upholds the reputation of the company.

How can I reduce delays in WES evaluations?

To reduce delays in your WES evaluations, the first rule is to follow the directions as outlined by the World Education Services. However, some of the precautionary measures you can take are - submit all documents as directed by WES for your country; mention your WES reference number on all envelopes; review your application for completeness and accuracy before submitting; and fill out your name and DOB correctly.

How many days do WES evaluations take for USA?

Once you have submitted the necessary documents at WES, the organisation claims to take 7 business days to complete your evaluation. It should be noted that the company states that the entire evaluation will be completed within 7 days of receiving, reviewing, authentication and receipt of the application fee. All updates regarding the timeline for your document evaluation will be mentioned on your account with WES.

What are the different types of WES evaluations for international students?

The World Education Services offers two major types of WES evaluations for international students, i.e. Course by Course and Document by Document evaluations. Primarily, Document by Document evaluation reports is perfect for freshmen admissions where advanced standing or transfer credits are not expected, while the Course by Course evaluation reports is better suited for transfer and graduate admissions.

Why are WES evaluations needed?

WES evaluations are needed and crucial for admissions to many of the top universities in USA and Canada, where universities use such evaluations to better understand the potential of a prospective international student. Some universities mandate that international students applying to the universities must submit WES evaluations to be considered eligible for admissions.

Can I directly send documents to WES?

Yes, the World Education Services allows international students to send in the required documents directly to the organisation for evaluations. However, these documents must be sent in a sealed envelope with the university signature or stamp across the back flap of the envelope. However, it is advised to request the university to send the official academic documents directly to WES for evaluations.

How can I pay the application fee for WES evaluations?

If you are applying for WES evaluations, paying the application fee will be the last step in the application process. The accepted payment methods for WES evaluations include Debit or Credit cards, or a wire transfer using Western Union. Applicants can also pay the WES evaluation application fee using a personal check or a money order.

How do I send the documents to WES for evaluations?

As part of the application process, candidates can send their documents to the World Education Services for evaluations via postal mail or courier services. Currently, several universities have partnered with WES, allowing them to send the official documents electronically. If the country-specific provisions allow you to send photocopies of your documents, WES may also accept your documents via fax. Please check the requirements before sending your documents.

Do I need to submit the original documents to WES for evaluations?

No, candidates are, in fact, advised to not send in their original documents to WES for evaluations as these documents are not returned by the organisation. Moreover, unless suggested by the “Required Documents” tool by the World Education Services or requested otherwise, all candidates are advised to refrain from sending their original documents.

What documents are needed for WES evaluations?

Depending on the country where you earned your academic degrees or completed your academic programmes, the documents required for admissions will be different. In general, WES requests candidates to submit a copy of their degree certificate and copies of their statement of marks or transcripts. The World Education Services may request applicants to send in additional documents for verification or evaluation purposes.

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