What is a UDISE code?

What the UDISE code means

A UDISE code is the number that identifies a school on UDISE+, the Ministry of Education’s school data system. It has 11 digits: the ministry’s own manuals ask schools to “enter 11-digit UDISE code”.¹ It belongs to the school, not to any student.

You will also see it called the DISE code. DISE was the older system for elementary schools; it was merged into UDISE in 2012-13, and UDISE+ followed in 2018-19.² The school’s number carried the name along with it, so older forms and portals still say DISE.

Where the school office meets it

• The yearly UDISE+ data form. The UDISE code heads the school profile in the Data Capture Format, and the staff and student sections repeat it.³
• Students who move on. When students leave with a TC at the end of the year, SDMS asks for the UDISE code of the school where they are taking admission.⁴ The dropbox of released students can also be searched by UDISE code.⁵
• Scholarship portals. The National Scholarship Portal’s procedures say a school must have a valid DISE code (or one of a few other codes) before it can register on the portal.⁶
• Other government portals. The ministry’s Vidyanjali portal, for one, asks for it when a school registers.¹

What the school has to do

1. Keep the code in one place the whole office can see, such as the letterhead file or the front page of the admission register. You will type it often.
2. Check that the school profile behind the code is right: name, address, management and classes. The school cannot edit questions 1.1 to 1.31 of the profile itself; the block, district or state MIS team changes them on request.³
3. When a student leaves for another school, ask for that school’s UDISE code, so the move in SDMS goes to the right place.⁴

Common mistakes

• Mixing it up with the PEN. Both numbers have 11 digits. The UDISE code is the school’s; the PEN is the student’s, and the SDMS manual asks for an “11-digit PEN No.” on import screens.⁴ Read the label before you type. Our guide to the PEN number for students explains the student number.
• Giving a board number instead. A CBSE school also has an affiliation number and a school code from CBSE. Neither is the UDISE code. See CBSE affiliation number.
• Treating the code as editable. The code and the profile behind it are managed above the school. If something is wrong, raise it with your MIS coordinator.³

Related terms

• UDISE+: the system the code belongs to.
• PEN: the student’s 11-digit number on UDISE+.
• APAAR ID: the student’s 12-digit academic ID.
• CBSE affiliation number: the board’s number for the school, separate from the UDISE code.

Sources

1. Ministry of Education, Vidyanjali school manual, school registration. Back to the text
2. Ministry of Education, UDISE+ 2020-21 booklet, introduction. Back to the text
3. Department of School Education and Literacy, UDISE+ Data Capture Format for 2025-26, section 1A, as circulated by the Directorate of Education, Delhi. Back to the text
4. UDISE+, SDMS User Manual for school users. Back to the text
5. UDISE+, Functionality Guide: School Login (SDMS), version dated 9 July 2026. Back to the text
6. National Scholarship Portal, Standard Operating Procedures, version 1.0, 24 July 2019, institute registration. Back to the text