GHCA-REG-03
Verification Service Policy
A credential nobody can check is worth nothing. This sets out how anyone can confirm that a named individual genuinely holds a GHCA credential, what they are shown, and what they are not.
Anyone can check, free, without an account
Anyone may search the Global Registry by credential ID or by the certified individual's name, at no cost and without creating an account.
Results are limited to the minimum needed to confirm a credential is genuine: the holder's name as registered, the credential, its current status, and the award date with the expiry or status-change date where one applies.
Verification does not require the individual's involvement each time. That is the point of a registry — an employer checking a credential three years after it was awarded should not need to ask the holder for permission.
What is never shown
The Registry does not show contact details, date of birth, examination scores, identity-document details, or a learner number. It does not show whether a reasonable adjustment was applied.
Nothing beyond the fields listed above is disclosed through the public service, and no part of it exposes the assessment content itself.
Employers verifying in bulk
An employer needing to verify several people at once, or needing verification in a structured format for its own records, contacts GHCA directly.
Bulk verification is provided only after confirming the requester has a legitimate interest, and it is not a way around a candidate's control over information the public Registry does not already show.
The basis for disclosing it
Registry information is disclosed on the basis described in the Privacy Notice: verifying an awarded credential is a core, expected function of certification, not a discretionary disclosure requiring fresh permission each time it happens.
Protecting the Registry from misuse
The verification service applies rate limiting and monitoring to prevent automated scraping of Registry data. A pattern of suspicious querying may result in temporary restriction for the source involved.
Where a third party disputes the accuracy of a verification result, GHCA investigates against the same records that sit behind the Registry entry, and corrects a confirmed inaccuracy.