Your reference

Your referee should know you well enough to write about you and to comment on your suitability for higher education

References are usually written by someone who knows you academically. Most references will talk about you from a teacher's or tutor's perspective: how you work academically, how you interact with other students and teachers, for example. Your reference does not have to be academic, but if you are studying or have recently left school or college, a reference from your school or college will be expected.

If you are currently studying, or have recently left school or college, you should ask your headteacher, principal or an appropriate teacher or tutor to provide a reference.

If you are a mature student and cannot obtain an academic reference, you should ask a responsible person who knows you to provide your reference. This could be an employer, training officer, careers adviser, a teacher on a recent relevant further education course, or a senior colleague in employment or voluntary work.

We cannot process your application without full details of a referee and the full text of their reference unless you have agreement from your chosen universities and colleges that a reference is not required. We will not accept references from family, other relatives or friends.

Your reference - practical tips

Your referee must write your reference in English (or optionally in Welsh if you are applying to Welsh universities and colleges only).

Most references will contain the following information:

  • Their opinion of your suitability for a particular profession (for example, you have demonstrated your dedication and calm nature for nursing)
  • Your proposed career plan - if you have one - so make sure your referee is aware of your career ideas and of any work experience you have undertaken
  • Information about your performance in individual modules or course components: for example, if you were one mark from a higher grade, they may highlight this
  • Anything that may have happened to you that has affected your academic work (eg an ongoing illness)
  • Any other personal circumstances which may have affected, or will affect in the future, your performance
  • Information about any specific needs you may have, such as a disability or learning difficulties, and how you cope with these at school / college.

Any health issues or disabilities can only be mentioned with your permission. If you have any issues that you would like the universities and colleges to be aware of when considering your application, these should be included in the reference rather than the personal statement, so discuss this with your referee.

Providing your reference

The way that your reference is entered into your application depends on whether you are applying as an individual or through a school, college or other organisation.

Applications through a school, college or other organisation

You will not have access to your reference. This will be completed on your behalf by your centre.

  1. You should check that each section of your application is correct and mark them all as complete
  2. You then pay for your application (if applicable) and send it online to your referee
  3. Your referee will check and approve your application
  4. Your referee will write the reference
  5. Your centre will approve the reference and send it to us
  6. We will then process your application.

Applications made as an individual

You must explain to your referee what they need to do. You should print the guide to writing references page and give it to your referee so that they can prepare a reference and send it to you. You will not be able to send your application to us if you enter only the contact details for your referee.

There is space for 4,000 characters (this includes spaces) or 47 lines of text (this includes blank lines), whichever comes first, for your reference. When you preview or save a pasted-in reference, the system will automatically tell you how many more characters and lines are still available or if you have used too many characters. If your reference will not fit into the box, you must obtain a shorter version from your referee - do not edit it yourself. You can view the layout and format of any text you have entered before or after you have saved it.

Unfortunately, bold, italics, underlining or foreign characters (such as á, ë, õ) cannot be used in the reference. If these types of formatting or foreign characters are used, they will be removed from the text when your reference is pasted onto the application and saved.

  1. Check that each section of your application is correct and mark them all as complete
  2. In the reference section, enter the contact details for your referee, ie name, relationship to you (eg tutor, teacher, employer), name and address of their organisation, telephone / fax number, email address

    You must enter your referee's telephone number and/or email address before you can complete this section.

  3. Enter the reference into the space provided. This can be done in two ways:
    • Your referee can give you the reference to enter into Apply - you will find it easiest if he/she sends the reference to you as a Word document, so that you can copy and paste it into the reference section
    • You can log in to your application whilst your referee is present and they can enter the reference directly into Apply. Please note that if you choose to give your login details to your referee, they will have access to your entire application.

    Please make sure that you save your reference at regular intervals because the application system will time-out after 35 minutes of inactivity.

  4. Preview the reference and mark it as complete
  5. Click on 'send to UCAS' and follow the instructions
  6. Enter your payment details and send the application to us
  7. We will then process your application.

We will ask you to declare that all the information on your application is true, complete and accurate. We have the right to cancel applications that are found to contain any false, misleading or incomplete information. You must not write all or any part of your reference yourself. You must not edit or change the wording of your reference. When we send your application to the universities and colleges, we will tell them that you have added the reference.

If no reference is needed

If you do not complete the mandatory referee details and a reference, you will not be able to send your application to us. You must provide details for a referee and a reference unless all your chosen universities and colleges have already agreed that no reference is required on your application.

If you have obtained this agreement, please enter:

'not required' in the fields for name of referee, post/occupation/ relationship, organisation name, address (first two lines only), telephone and email;

and

'I have agreed with my choice(s) of university or college that no reference is required on my application' in the reference field.

You will then be able to record the reference section as complete.