# What is an admission number? > An admission number is the school’s own number for a student, kept until they leave. CBSE’s rule, the UDISE+ field, and how it differs from a roll number. _Source: https://scoolin.com/glossary/admission-number_ _By Scoolin_ [Home](https://scoolin.com/) [Glossary](https://scoolin.com/glossary) Admission number [School glossary](https://scoolin.com/glossary) The number a school gives a student at admission, against their entry in the admission register. ## What an admission number means An admission number is the number a school gives a student when it admits them, against their entry in the admission register. It stays the same for as long as the student is at that school. CBSE’s bye-laws put it plainly: “Successive numbers must be allotted to students on their admission and each student should retain this number throughout the whole of his career in the school.”[1] It is the school’s number, not a government one. A new school gives the child a new admission number. The numbers that follow the child from school to school are the [PEN](https://scoolin.com/blog/pen-number-for-students) and the [APAAR ID](https://scoolin.com/glossary/apaar-id). Where the register is called the [scholar register](https://scoolin.com/glossary/scholar-register), you will also hear it called the SR number or scholar number. ## Where the school office meets it - **The admission register.** Each entry carries the number. - **The transfer certificate.** CBSE’s TC format prints the admission number in its header, beside the book and serial number.[1] - **UDISE+.** The student section of the data form asks for the “Admission Number in Present School”, along with the admission date.[2] The same field sits in the student’s enrolment profile in SDMS.[3] - **Day-to-day work.** Fee receipts, library cards, ID cards and certificates are easier to match to the right child when each one carries the admission number. ## What the school has to do 1. Give numbers in one running sequence for the whole school, in the order students are admitted.[1] 2. Never reuse a number, even after the student leaves. 3. When a former student comes back, give them their old number. CBSE’s bye-laws say a student returning “after absence of any duration shall resume his original admission number”.[1] 4. Enter the same number in UDISE+ that you wrote in the register. Scoolin does not let two students share an admission number, even when one is typed in capitals and the other is not. ## Common mistakes - **Mixing it up with the roll number.** The roll number is the student’s place in a class or section, and it can change every year. UDISE+ keeps them apart: the admission number is required, while the section roll number is optional.[2] - **Restarting at 1 every year.** The bye-law asks for successive numbers, and a fresh count each year soon gives two students the same one. - **Giving a returning student a new number.** Their history splits in two. - **Writing the PEN or the board roll number in its place.** Each number has its own box on the TC and on UDISE+. Read the label. ## Related terms - [Scholar register](https://scoolin.com/glossary/scholar-register): the register the number belongs to. - [School leaving certificate](https://scoolin.com/glossary/school-leaving-certificate): the TC, which prints the number. - [PEN](https://scoolin.com/blog/pen-number-for-students): the student’s 11-digit UDISE+ number, which moves with them. - [UDISE+](https://scoolin.com/glossary/udise-plus): where the number is reported each year. ## Sources 1. CBSE, [Examination Bye-Laws](https://www.cbse.gov.in/cbsenew/bylawspdf/CBSE-Examination%20by%20Law%20Book_2013.pdf) (2013 edition), bye-law 8(ii) and Annexure-I, format of transfer certificate. Back to the text 2. Department of School Education and Literacy, [UDISE+ Data Capture Format for 2025-26](https://edudel.nic.in/upload/upload_2025_26/437_46_dt_13052025/AnnexureA.pdf), item 4.2, as circulated by the Directorate of Education, Delhi. Back to the text 3. UDISE+, [SDMS User Manual for school users](https://sdms.udiseplus.gov.in/g3/assets/img/User%20Manual_SDMS_SchoolUserv1.1.pdf), section 3.1.5. Back to the text More school terms [UDISE+](https://scoolin.com/glossary/udise-plus) [UDISE code](https://scoolin.com/glossary/udise-code) [APAAR ID](https://scoolin.com/glossary/apaar-id) [Bonafide certificate](https://scoolin.com/glossary/bonafide-certificate) [School leaving certificate](https://scoolin.com/glossary/school-leaving-certificate) [Migration certificate](https://scoolin.com/glossary/migration-certificate) [Scholar register](https://scoolin.com/glossary/scholar-register) [CBSE affiliation number](https://scoolin.com/glossary/cbse-affiliation-number) [RTE 25% quota](https://scoolin.com/glossary/rte-quota) [Co-scholastic areas](https://scoolin.com/glossary/co-scholastic-areas) [5+3+3+4 structure](https://scoolin.com/glossary/5-3-3-4-structure)