The Academic Bank of Credits ID, and why your university asks for it
What the ABC ID is, how to create one, and what it means for credits you earned at a previous institution.
By GetMyDegree Academic Team
What the ABC ID is, how to create one, and what it means for credits you earned at a previous institution.
Applicants are now routinely asked for an Academic Bank of Credits identifier during admission, often with no explanation of what it is. It is straightforward, and creating one takes a few minutes.
What it is
The Academic Bank of Credits is a national register that holds academic credits against a student rather than against an institution. Your ABC ID is your account in that register. Universities deposit the credits you earn into it, and those credits stay attached to you if you move between institutions or programmes.
The purpose is mobility. Historically, credits earned at one university were difficult to carry to another, which is why leaving a degree partway through so often meant starting again. The register exists to make those credits portable and verifiable.
How to create one
The ID is created through the national academic services portal, using your Aadhaar or another accepted identity document, and it comes attached to your DigiLocker account. You create it once and keep it for life across every programme you study.
The practical points that cause trouble:
Your name must match your academic records exactly. A mismatch between the register and your marksheets will hold up enrolment, and correcting it afterwards takes longer than getting it right first.
Create it before you apply, not during. Universities ask for it at enrolment and an application can stall while you sort it out.
Keep the ID with your other admission documents. You will be asked for it again at each stage.
What it means for credit transfer
If you completed semesters at a recognized university and stopped, those credits have value, and the register is where that value becomes visible and transferable. It does not by itself entitle you to admission with advanced standing: the receiving university still decides which credits it accepts against its own papers. What it does is make the record verifiable without chasing your previous institution.
Older credits, earned before the register existed, are not automatically in it. Those are still assessed the traditional way, on your marksheets.
If something is wrong
Credits missing from your account are corrected by the institution that awarded them, not by the register. Approach the university, with your marksheets, and ask them to deposit the record.
We help students create the ID and match it against their existing records as part of admission, and we will walk you through it whether or not we are handling your enrolment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Direct answers to common questions on this topic according to current academic guidelines.
What it is?
The Academic Bank of Credits is a national register that holds academic credits against a student rather than against an institution. Your ABC ID is your account in that register. Universities deposit the credits you earn into it, and those credits stay attached to you if you move between institutions or programmes. The purpose is mobility. Historically, credits earned at one university were difficult to carry to another, which is why leaving a degree partway through so often meant starting again. The register exists to make those credits portable and verifiable.
How to create one?
The ID is created through the national academic services portal, using your Aadhaar or another accepted identity document, and it comes attached to your DigiLocker account. You create it once and keep it for life across every programme you study. The practical points that cause trouble: - Your name must match your academic records exactly. A mismatch between the register and your marksheets will hold up enrolment, and correcting it afterwards takes longer than getting it right first.
What it means for credit transfer?
If you completed semesters at a recognized university and stopped, those credits have value, and the register is where that value becomes visible and transferable. It does not by itself entitle you to admission with advanced standing: the receiving university still decides which credits it accepts against its own papers. What it does is make the record verifiable without chasing your previous institution. Older credits, earned before the register existed, are not automatically in it. Those are still assessed the traditional way, on your marksheets.
If something is wrong — The Academic Bank of Credits ID, and why your university asks for it
Credits missing from your account are corrected by the institution that awarded them, not by the register. Approach the university, with your marksheets, and ask them to deposit the record. We help students create the ID and match it against their existing records as part of admission, and we will walk you through it whether or not we are handling your enrolment.
Programmes students most often resume with transferred credits
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