High school student application repeatedly rejected despite valid school ID

[shreyash0x]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Verification Help & Guidance

Hi everyone,

I am a current high school student (Class 9) applying for the GitHub Student Developer Pack.

My school-issued ID is valid for the current academic year and clearly shows my current class and academic year. However, my application has been rejected multiple times with the message that GitHub could not verify my academic status.

My school does not provide students with academic email addresses, and my school is not available in the institution selector.

I have also tried submitting a fresh, clear image of my physical school ID using the requested camera verification.

What additional type of documentation would be accepted for verifying enrollment when the school isn't listed and doesn't provide academic email addresses?

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[hoangperry]

First, the eligibility question under all this: high school students are eligible (the requirement is being 13+ and enrolled at an accredited secondary school — Class 9 qualifies), and having no school email is fine because document verification is the fallback. So your rejections are mechanical, and with your school missing from the institution selector, that's almost certainly the root cause:

1. The school needs to exist in GitHub's institution database first. If you're picking a wrong/nearby entry (or a generic one) because yours isn't listed, the automated check can't reconcile your ID against the selected institution and fails with exactly the generic message you're getting. Ask for your school to be added via https://support.github.com/contact/education — include the school's official name, address, and website (if it has one), plus your student ID as evidence it's a real accredited school.
2. Once it's listed and selectable, reapply with the school ID: captured by device camera, the name/class/academic-year area filling the frame, and your name on the ID matching your GitHub profile name and billing name (https://github.com/settings/billing/payment_information) exactly.
3. Space attempts at least a day apart — repeated rejected submissions in quick succession make the automated system more suspicious, not less.

So: fix the institution record first, then one clean application — rather than more attempts against a selector entry that isn't actually your school.