# PEN number for students: what it is and how to find it Source: https://scoolin.com/blog/pen-number-for-students > What the 11-digit PEN is, how it differs from the APAAR ID, how schools generate and find it on UDISE+, and what happens when a student changes school. [Home](https://scoolin.com/) [Blog](https://scoolin.com/blog) Admissions [Admissions](https://scoolin.com/blog#admissions) ## PEN number for students: what it is and how to find it What the 11-digit PEN is, how it differs from the APAAR ID, how schools generate and find it on UDISE+, and what happens when a student changes school. By [Sunny Kumar](https://scoolin.com/blog/authors/sunny-kumar) Builds Scoolin · Delhi Updated **25 Oct 2026** · 9 min read A new student joins class 6, and the old school says the PEN is “in UDISE+”. The parent has never heard of it. A quick search says it has 12 digits and can be looked up online by name. Neither is true. The PEN is the number that carries a student’s record from one school to the next, and the APAAR ID is built on it. A wrong name or a missing PEN in class 3 can turn into a blocked APAAR ID by class 9, just when board registration needs it. In this guide you will find: - what the PEN is, and how it differs from the APAAR ID, the UDISE code and Aadhaar - how a school generates a PEN on the UDISE+ portal, step by step - how schools and parents can find a student’s PEN - what happens to the PEN when a student changes school - how to correct a wrong name, date of birth or duplicate record It follows the official UDISE+ manuals for school users. Every source is listed at the end. **In short** - PEN stands for **Permanent Education Number**: an **11-digit** number the UDISE+ system generates for each student. - It is not the APAAR ID. The 12-digit APAAR ID is generated against the PEN. - Only school and official logins can look up a PEN. Parents should ask the school office. ## What is a PEN number? A PEN, or Permanent Education Number, is an 11-digit number that the UDISE+ system generates for a student when the school adds them to the portal. [1] It identifies the student, not the school, and stays with them when they move to another school. It lives in the Student Database Management System (SDMS), the student module of UDISE+. The Ministry of Education began collecting data student by student, rather than as school totals, from the 2022-23 year. [2] You may also see it called “Personal Education Number” or “Permanent Enrolment Number”. The UDISE+ guide for schools uses **Permanent Education Number**, so that is the name to use on forms and notices. **A PEN has 11 digits, not 12.** Many websites say 12. The UDISE+ manual asks schools to “enter 11-digit PEN No.” [3] A 12-digit number is usually the APAAR ID or Aadhaar. ## PEN, APAAR ID, UDISE code and Aadhaar: what’s the difference? Four numbers turn up on the same forms, and they are easy to mix up. Two belong to the student, one to the school, and one to the person. The four numbers side by side | | PEN | APAAR ID | UDISE code | Aadhaar | | Belongs to | The student | The student | The school | The person | | Digits | 11 | 12 | The school’s own code | 12 | | Comes from | The UDISE+ system | The UDISE+ system, against the PEN | UDISE+ | UIDAI | | Used for | The student’s school record, across schools | Academic records, kept in DigiLocker | Identifying the school | Checking the student’s identity | The link that matters is between the first two. The APAAR portal says the UDISE system “generates APAAR ID against PEN ID of student”, and that the “PEN of student is mandatory for generation of APAAR ID”. [4] No PEN means no APAAR ID. The APAAR ID is “a unique and permanent 12-digit ID” [5] that is pushed into the student’s DigiLocker account once it is made. ## How does a school generate a PEN? A school never types in or makes up a PEN for a new student. It adds the student to SDMS, and the system generates the number. [1] Here is how that works with the school login. - Log in to the SDMS portal with the school’s login and select the **Current Academic Year**. - Check whether the student is already in the system. A child who studied in another school on UDISE+ already has a PEN; bring them in with **Import**, not **Add Student**. - Open **Add Student**. Schools can add students from pre-primary to class 1 only. For a new student in a higher class, the manual asks you to contact your MIS user. [3] - Fill in the details: whether Aadhaar is available, the name as in school records, gender, date of birth, mother’s, father’s and guardian’s names, Aadhaar number, name as on Aadhaar, and admission date. - Click **Validate AADHAAR from UIDAI**. If you later change the name, date of birth, gender or Aadhaar details, validate again. - Complete the student’s **General**, **Enrolment** and **Facility** profiles. **Type the name exactly as it is on Aadhaar.** The APAAR portal says the name in UDISE+ “must match with the name of the student as per Aadhaar”. [4] A small spelling difference now can stop the APAAR ID later. At the end of each year, the **Progression Activity** moves students to the next academic year. If a student was progressed wrongly, use the **Correction** button. [1] ## How do you find a student’s PEN? The only official ways to look up a PEN are inside the school and department logins. What you can do depends on which side of the counter you are on. ### For the school office - **Global Student Search** finds a student by PEN, name, Aadhaar, date of birth, or father’s or mother’s name, narrowed by state, district, block and school. - **Get PEN & DOB**, on the Import screen, finds a student’s PEN and date of birth from their Aadhaar number and year of birth. - **Track Student** shows a student’s record when you already have the PEN. All three are in the UDISE+ guides for school users. [1] [3] ### For parents Ask the school office. If your child has just moved, the last school can help too. We found no official public search where a parent can type a name or an Aadhaar number and get a PEN. Be careful with websites that ask for your child’s Aadhaar to “find the PEN”: they are not the UDISE+ portal. If your child already has an APAAR ID, it is in their DigiLocker account. That is the APAAR ID, not the PEN, so don’t give it to the school as the PEN. ## What happens to the PEN when a student changes school? The PEN stays the same. The new school brings the student in by their existing PEN and date of birth, so the record follows the child. The two schools each have one job to do. [1] **The old school** releases the student through the **Transfer Certificate Module / Mark Dropout**. This removes the student from its records and moves them to the dropbox, where a profile waits, not linked to any school. **The new school** then follows these steps: - Open **Import** and choose **Within State** or **Outside State**. - Search by the student’s PEN and date of birth. - Enter the admission date, class and section, and save. If the old school hasn’t released the student, the new school can send a **Student Release Request**. This only works while the student is still active at the old school, which can approve or reject it. If a request within the same state is rejected, the new school can use **Escalate to Destination Admin**, but only once. **Release the student when you issue the TC.** It saves the new school a request, and saves the parent a second trip to your office. ## How do you correct a mistake in a student’s record? Some fields the school can fix on its own; others need the block, district or state admin. The rules from the UDISE+ guide for schools: [1] Who can fix what | Mistake | What to do | | Name spelt wrong | Use **Student Name Update**. It works only once, and major changes are not allowed. | | Wrong date of birth, gender or parents’ names, after Aadhaar is verified | The block, district or state admin changes it. | | Wrong Aadhaar number, after the APAAR ID is made | The school can no longer change it. | | Student entered twice | **Duplicate Records (Current year)** lists them. Remove the extra with **Inactivate Student** and the reason “Duplicate Entry”. | | Wrong class, for classes 2 to 12 | The admin shifts the class. The school can change only the section. | | Wrong progression at year end | Use the **Correction** button. | | APAAR ID failed with a “demographic data mismatch” | Correct the details so they match Aadhaar, then submit again. [4] | Because a name can be changed only once, check it against the Aadhaar card before you save, not after. ## Is a PEN mandatory? We found no official rule that makes the PEN itself compulsory for admission. In practice it matters anyway, because the APAAR ID can’t be made without it, and boards are starting to ask for the APAAR ID. In its registration circular for 2025-26, CBSE made the APAAR ID mandatory for every student registered for classes 9 and 11. [6] For that year, schools could enter “REFUSED” where parents did not consent, keeping a copy of the refusal, or “NOGEN” where the ID could not be made for other reasons. For 2026-27, CBSE asked schools to correct student details in Aadhaar, UDISE+ and school records, so that every student has an APAAR ID when the list of candidates is submitted. State boards set their own rules, so check your board’s latest circular. > A correct PEN today is a working APAAR ID at board registration. Why the details matter ## Keeping PENs in Scoolin Scoolin does not log in to UDISE+ for you; the PEN and APAAR ID come from the portal. What Scoolin does is keep them beside each student, and show you who is missing one before a deadline. - Each student’s profile has a place for the PEN, the APAAR ID and Aadhaar. - A PEN must be exactly 11 digits and an APAAR ID 12, and Aadhaar’s check digit is tested, so a typo is caught when it is typed. - Aadhaar shows only its last four digits on the profile. - Filter the student list for a missing PEN or APAAR ID to see who still needs one. - A “Name differs from Aadhaar” filter finds students whose school name and Aadhaar name don’t match, ignoring case, dots and extra spaces. - Mark when parents have refused APAAR consent, so the “REFUSED” cases are ready for the board. - Print class lists with PEN and APAAR ID columns. See how it fits with the rest of the [student information system](https://scoolin.com/features/student-information-system) . **Tip:** [book a free demo](https://scoolin.com/demo) and we will show you how the missing-PEN list works. ## Common questions ### What is the full form of PEN? PEN stands for Permanent Education Number. You will also see “Personal Education Number” and “Permanent Enrolment Number” online, but the UDISE+ guide for schools uses Permanent Education Number. It is the student’s number in the UDISE+ system. ### How many digits does a PEN have? Eleven. The UDISE+ manual asks schools to enter an 11-digit PEN. If someone gives you a 12-digit number as the PEN, it is most likely the student’s APAAR ID or Aadhaar number instead. ### Are the PEN and the APAAR ID the same? No. The PEN is the 11-digit UDISE+ number, and the APAAR ID is a separate 12-digit ID generated against it. A student needs a PEN before an APAAR ID can be made, and the APAAR ID then goes into DigiLocker. ### Can I search a student’s PEN by name or Aadhaar online? Not as a parent. The official searches by name, Aadhaar or date of birth are inside the school and department logins on the UDISE+ portal. Ask the school office, and avoid sites that ask for your child’s Aadhaar to find it. ### Does the PEN change when a child changes school? No. The old school releases the student to the UDISE+ dropbox, and the new school imports them using the same PEN and date of birth. The record moves with the child, and the PEN stays as it was. ### Can a parent apply for a PEN? No. A PEN is generated by the UDISE+ system when the school adds the student to the portal. If your child has none, ask the school to add them, or to import the record from the last school. #### Notes - UDISE+, [Functionality Guide: School Login (SDMS)](https://sdms.udiseplus.gov.in/g0/assets/img/file/FUNCTIONALITY%20GUIDE%20-%20School%20Login.pdf) , version dated 9 July 2026. [Back to the text] - Ministry of Education, [UDISE+ 2022-23 booklet](https://dashboard.udiseplus.gov.in/report-new-v.6-demo2025/static/media/UDISE+2022_23_Booklet_nep.897ad1d762ba546d666b.pdf) , section 1.6. The booklet calls the student’s number an “EID”. [Back to the text] - UDISE+, [SDMS User Manual for school users](https://sdms.udiseplus.gov.in/g3/assets/img/User%20Manual_SDMS_SchoolUserv1.1.pdf) . [Back to the text] - APAAR, [frequently asked questions](https://apaar.education.gov.in/faqs) and [home page](https://apaar.education.gov.in/) . [Back to the text] - Press Information Bureau, [release on the APAAR ID](https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2005706) . [Back to the text] - CBSE, [submission of registration data for classes 9 and 11, 2025-26](https://www.cbse.gov.in/cbsenew/documents/Submission_Registration_Data_Class_IXXI2526_15092025.pdf) , including the annexure on APAAR IDs. [Back to the text] How we wrote this This guide follows the UDISE+ manuals for school users, the APAAR portal and CBSE’s registration circular, all linked in the notes. Portal screens change from year to year; if yours looks different, the manual on the portal is the final word. [Spotted a mistake? Tell us.](https://scoolin.com/contact-us) Found it useful? Send it to another school. [WhatsApp](https://wa.me/?text=PEN%20number%20for%20students%3A%20what%20it%20is%20and%20how%20to%20find%20it%20https%3A//scoolin.com/blog/pen-number-for-students) [Next guide **Remarks for students’ report cards: 150+ examples**](https://scoolin.com/blog/remarks-for-students-report-card) On this page - [What is a PEN number?] - [PEN, APAAR ID, UDISE code and Aadhaar: what’s the difference?] - [How does a school generate a PEN?] - [How do you find a student’s PEN?] - [For the school office] - [For parents] - [What happens to the PEN when a student changes school?] - [How do you correct a mistake in a student’s record?] - [Is a PEN mandatory?] - [Keeping PENs in Scoolin] - [Common questions] Text size Share this guide [WhatsApp](https://wa.me/?text=PEN%20number%20for%20students%3A%20what%20it%20is%20and%20how%20to%20find%20it%20https%3A//scoolin.com/blog/pen-number-for-students) ## More guides ### [School ERP cost in India: how to compare quotes](https://scoolin.com/blog/school-erp-cost-in-india) [Sunny Kumar](https://scoolin.com/blog/authors/sunny-kumar) 6 min read 19 Oct 2026