What it means
دیپلم (diplom) is the certificate awarded at the end of the Iranian high school cycle, equivalent to a secondary school diploma. The word is borrowed from the French diplôme, which itself traces back to the Greek diploma, meaning a folded document or letter of authority. In everyday Persian, دیپلم refers specifically to the twelfth-grade completion certificate, not to a university degree. A university degree is called مدرک (madrak) or لیسانس (lisâns). You may also hear the phrase دیپلمه (diplome) used informally as an adjective meaning diploma-holder, as in یه آدم دیپلمه, someone with only a high school diploma.
How to use it
- دیپلمم رو گرفتم امسال. (diplomam ro gereftam emsâl.) “I got my high school diploma this year.”
- برای این کار حداقل دیپلم لازمه. (barâye in kâr hadde aghal diplom lâzame.) “For this job, you need at least a high school diploma.”
- بعد از دیپلم رفت سر کار. (bad az diplom raft sare kâr.) “After getting his diploma he went straight to work.”
- مدرکت چیه؟ دیپلم دارم. (madraket chiye? diplom dâram.) “What is your education level? I have a high school diploma.”
Cultural note
In the Iranian education system, دیپلم marks the end of twelve years of schooling across ابتدایی (ebtedâyi, primary), متوسطه اول (motavasete avval, middle school), and متوسطه دوم (motavasete dovvom, upper secondary). For students who do not continue to university, especially in working-class or rural families, receiving the دیپلم is a significant milestone and a point of family pride. The phrase دیپلم نداره (diplom nadâre), literally does not have a diploma, is sometimes used dismissively to imply a lack of basic education, which reflects how central formal schooling is to Iranian social expectations.