Name order mismatches are a common but easy-to-miss issue when your education documents list your name in a different order than your passport (for example, surname-first on a degree certificate versus given-name-first on your passport).
What to check:
- Compare your ECA report's printed name, field by field, against your original education documents — not just against your passport. The assessment body (e.g. WES) is required to match the name as it appears on your academic documents, so if your surname and given name were reversed there, the ECA report may reproduce that reversed order rather than 'correcting' it to match your passport.
- If the report doesn't flag the discrepancy you expected it to note, contact the assessment body directly to ask them to add a clarifying note or confirm in writing which field is your legal surname versus given name.
- Keep this clarification on file — you'll want it available if the name order becomes a question later in an Express Entry or PR application, since visa/immigration systems match names exactly against your passport.
Don't assume a discrepancy will be automatically caught or explained by the evaluation agency; if something looks off, follow up with them before you rely on the report for a future application.