How to write a strong reference
Teacher references on a student’s UCAS application help universities decide whether to offer that student a place, or what kind of offer they will give.
UCAS has recently changed the format of teacher references, under guidance from the Department of Education, to give all students a fair chance and to help you to write the best reference to support them.
The new structure should make it easier for you to give universities and colleges the information they need, for every student. It makes it easier for these institutions to compare references and find the information they need to know about students when making their offers.
Changes to the format of UCAS references
The teacher reference is now split into 3 sections. This helps universities to find relevant information quickly, and to compare applicants.
Section 1
In this section, you should write about the school as a whole, or circumstances which could have affected the whole cohort of students. Remember, it should be an actual statement, and not just a link to the school or college’s website. You can cover things like:
- Your school’s performance, intake, demographics, and progression rates to HE.
- Any subject restrictions that apply to all students.
- Policies on predicting grades, with a summary of your policies – or explain if there are no predictions possible for certain courses or subject areas.
- Any other information that may affect students' performance as a whole, like staff shortages, a lack of resources or damage to buildings.
If you’re writing a reference for an independent applicant, this section will be slightly different. You’ll be asked to provide an overview of your relationship with the applicant. This should be a professional relationship, like a teacher, private or home-school tutor, or employer.
Section 2
Use this section to add context to your student’s educational journey. You should check that you have their consent before sharing any personal details or circumstances. You'll also need to make it clear if any of the circumstances you talk about have already been, or will be, considered by exam boards, where known. Where applicable:
- Cover why the student may have had limited options for level 3, or didn’t reach their predicted grades at GCSE.
- Discuss any barriers faced by the student in accessing relevant work experience, where that may be required for their chosen course.
- Add in any individual or extenuating circumstances, like if they have faced bereavement, has a disability, or a serious, acute or chronic illness.
It’s okay if there’s not much – or nothing – to add in this section. It will be more important for some students than for others. You'll be able to mark this section as ‘no other information’, if there isn’t anything relevant to add here.
Section 3
This should be a short academic reference, covering subjects that are relevant to the student’s chosen course.
Here, you should use clear and concise statements, focused on the individual. You should evidence where the student has shown excellent performance in a relevant subject, gained transferrable work experience, or had any extracurricular achievements, where applicable.
You can talk about their suitability for the course, especially if they're applying for a professional course, like nursing. Make sure to keep this section specific to the individual student, and their chosen course.
It also may be worth chatting with a student's subject teachers to gather more insights to add into your reference.
In this section, we recommend using the ABC method:
- Action/Achievement/Ability – what the student has done. Perhaps a piece of coursework or specific exam they did well in. Or something they did in their own time which relates to the subject.
- Benefit – explain why this makes them stand out in their chosen subject area.
- Course/Career – and link it to their chosen course or career aspirations.
It only has to be a couple of key points to highlight the best bits of the student, and any achievements in their chosen subject area. If there are subjects that aren’t as relevant, these don’t need to be added.
It’s okay to repeat small sections across different applications, but it's important to highlight each student's individual talent, motivation, ambition and work ethic to help universities differentiate between applicants.
Important things to note about UCAS references
Talking to your students is key
It's important that you know the student well if you are going to be their referee – so catch-up with them before you write their reference.
Decide on what information they're happy with you disclosing, and whether they have faced any personal difficulties which you weren’t previously aware of.
This ensures you can provide the best reference possible, unique to your student, without sharing more than they are comfortable with. Reassure students that they can also ask UCAS to see what you write to support their application, and any personal information UCAS holds about them.
Remember the length and formatting
You’ll have 4,000 characters for the reference, including spaces, line breaks and headings. This is for all 3 sections, so be aware that if you use more characters for section 2, you’ll have less for sections 1 and 3.
And if you don’t use them all – don’t worry, you might have less to say about some students than others, and that’s okay. It’s better to keep to concise, factual and evidence-based statements, than it is to use all the characters writing irrelevant information.
The reference must be written in English in most cases. But you can also write in Welsh for students applying to universities in Wales, and where the rest of their application is in Welsh. Any form of formatting including bold text, italics, bullet points and underlining cannot be used in the reference. It will be a block of plain text, even if you have written it in word and then copy and pasted it across to the application.
Don’t worry too much about the style of your writing. Students won’t be judged on how well you've written a reference, but on the evidence you've included.
It should complement your student's UCAS application
As this should ultimately support your student’s application, it's advised to avoid repeating any information that a student might have already given. Also, it's best not to mention any university by name – even if the student is really keen to go to their first choice.
It's all about showing each students uniqueness. And if a student’s circumstances change after they have applied – this can be updated on their application, or directly with the university admissions team.
