diff --git a/api/src/main/java/ca/bc/gov/educ/penreg/api/rest/RestUtils.java b/api/src/main/java/ca/bc/gov/educ/penreg/api/rest/RestUtils.java
index 39e216e3..24dee4d5 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/ca/bc/gov/educ/penreg/api/rest/RestUtils.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/ca/bc/gov/educ/penreg/api/rest/RestUtils.java
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 import lombok.val;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Value;
-import org.springframework.http.MediaType;
+import org.springframework.http.*;
 import org.springframework.scheduling.annotation.Scheduled;
 import org.springframework.stereotype.Component;
 import org.springframework.web.reactive.function.client.WebClient;
@@ -387,11 +387,15 @@ public List<SchoolContact> getStudentRegistrationContactList(final String mincod
               " {\"key\":\"schoolId\",\"operation\":\"eq\",\"value\":\"" + school.getSchoolId() + "\",\"valueType\":\"UUID\",\"condition\":\"AND\"}]}," +
               " {\"key\":\"email\",\"operation\":\"neq\",\"value\":\"null\",\"valueType\":\"UUID\",\"condition\":\"AND\"}]}";
       SchoolContactSearchWrapper schoolContactSearchWrapper = this.webClient.get()
-              .uri(getSchoolContactURI(criterion))
-              .header(CONTENT_TYPE, MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON_VALUE)
-              .retrieve()
-              .bodyToFlux(SchoolContactSearchWrapper.class)
-              .blockFirst();
+          .uri(getSchoolContactURI(criterion))
+          .header(CONTENT_TYPE, MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON_VALUE)
+          .retrieve()
+          .bodyToFlux(SchoolContactSearchWrapper.class)
+          .blockFirst();
+
+      if (schoolContactSearchWrapper == null) {
+        throw new PenRegAPIRuntimeException("API call to Institute API received null response when getting student registration contacts, contact the Ministry for more info.");
+      }
 
       return schoolContactSearchWrapper.getContent();
     }catch(Exception e){
diff --git a/api/src/test/java/ca/bc/gov/educ/penreg/api/rest/RestUtilsTest.java b/api/src/test/java/ca/bc/gov/educ/penreg/api/rest/RestUtilsTest.java
index 9e0b17bc..701c1f7f 100644
--- a/api/src/test/java/ca/bc/gov/educ/penreg/api/rest/RestUtilsTest.java
+++ b/api/src/test/java/ca/bc/gov/educ/penreg/api/rest/RestUtilsTest.java
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonProcessingException;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
 import io.nats.client.Message;
+import java.net.*;
 import java.util.*;
 import lombok.val;
 import org.junit.Before;
@@ -104,6 +105,15 @@ private GradeCode[] createGradeCodeArray() {
     codes[0] = GradeCode.builder().gradeCode("A").label("A").description("hello").build();
     return codes;
   }
+
+  private SchoolContactSearchWrapper createSchoolContactSearchWrapper() {
+    SchoolContactSearchWrapper schoolSearchWrapper = new SchoolContactSearchWrapper();
+    schoolSearchWrapper.setContent(Arrays.asList(SchoolContact.builder().email("pen@email.com").firstName("Joe").lastName("Blow").build(),
+        SchoolContact.builder().email("2@email.com").firstName("2").lastName("2").build()));
+
+    return schoolSearchWrapper;
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void testGetStudentByStudentID_givenAPICallSuccess_shouldReturnData() {
     final String studentID = UUID.randomUUID().toString();
@@ -223,6 +233,25 @@ public void testGetGradeCode_shouldReturnData() {
     assertThat(result.get(0).getGradeCode()).isEqualTo("A");
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testGetStudentRegistrationContacts_shouldReturnData() {
+    when(this.webClient.get()).thenReturn(this.requestHeadersUriMock);
+    when(this.requestHeadersUriMock.uri(any(URI.class)))
+        .thenReturn(this.requestHeadersMock);
+    when(this.requestHeadersMock.header(any(), any())).thenReturn(this.requestHeadersMock);
+    when(this.requestHeadersUriMock.uri(eq(this.applicationProperties.getInstituteApiUrl()), any(Function.class)))
+        .thenReturn(this.requestHeadersMock);
+    when(this.requestHeadersMock.retrieve()).thenReturn(this.responseMock);
+    when(this.responseMock.bodyToFlux(SchoolContactSearchWrapper.class)).thenReturn(Flux.just(createSchoolContactSearchWrapper()));
+
+    final var result = this.restUtils.getStudentRegistrationContactList("10200001");
+    assertThat(result.size()).isEqualTo(2);
+    assertThat(result.get(0).getEmail()).isEqualTo("pen@email.com");
+    assertThat(result.get(0).getFirstName()).isEqualTo("Joe");
+    assertThat(result.get(1).getEmail()).isEqualTo("2@email.com");
+    assertThat(result.get(1).getFirstName()).isEqualTo("2");
+  }
+
   private WebClient.RequestBodySpec returnMockBodySpec() {
     return this.requestBodyMock;
   }