- Hi there, and welcome
to this presentation

on writing UCAS references that stand out.

My name is Peter,

I'm the Head of the International
Student Recruitment team

at the University of Surrey.

And I'm joined today by Tony,

who is the Undergraduate
Admissions Manager

at the University of Sheffield.

And here's what we're
going to cover today.

I'm going to talk about the
basics of a UCAS reference,

the objective of references,

and how it's used by admissions
teams at UK universities.

And Tony's going to give
you some advice on content,

format, some top tips
when writing a reference.

So to cover the basics,

what's the objective of a reference?

Well, here's a nice articulation
by UCAS of the objective

as to give universities and colleges

an informed assessment of
an applicant suitability

for further study.

And I put emphasis to
the word informed there

because I think that's the key point.

You and your colleagues know
your students very well,

you know them much better than we do.

So the reference is an opportunity for you

to share your insights into the student.

The reason they've chosen
the course they have,

their career aspirations,

really to give us another
piece of the jigsaw

to build that picture of the
student who's applied to us.

To cover just a few basics,

the reference is limited to 47 lines,

or 4000 characters.

It works in tandem with
alongside the personal statement.

It supports all the UCAS choices,

of course, it's not
specific to one university.

And in some cases,

additional references are
required and requested.

So for example, students who
apply to dentistry medicine

will be asked for additional references

that cover the work experience.

So how is the reference used
in the admissions process?

Of course, each UK
University is different.

There can be some differences in approach

between different universities
and depending on the subject,

but in general, most UK
universities take a similar approach

and I outlined four points here.

Firstly, the reference is always read.

We get asked this quite often,

do we read all the references
that are submitted?

We read them in every single case,

but for every single applicant, and yes,

we do we always read the reference.

Secondly, a positive approach is taken.

UK universities when reading references

will take a positive
view of the reference.

What do I mean by that?

What I mean is when we read the reference,

we're looking for information
insights that make it

more likely, we'll make an offer.

We would very rarely read a reference

and think it's less likely
we'll not make an offer.

So we take positive approach.

Thirdly, the reference is very important

for competitive programs and programs

that may require an interview.

So for example, at the
University of Surrey,

our courses in sound recording
and veterinary medicine

are very competitive, very
popular and involve an interview.

So the reference is very important,

it can be very important deciding
whether we invite students

for an interview.

And it's very important in
advance of the interview itself.

So that we may read before the interview.

And finally, the reference
is very important

in borderline cases where
we're a little bit unsure

whether to make an offer,

the reference can tip
us over to deciding yes,

we will make an offer to this student.

And we've understood a little
bit more about the motivations

and maybe any extenuating circumstances

that have impacted on those.

So it isn't clear at the moment
with so many schools closed

and studies delayed.

That's really crucial.

So borderline cases is
another area where reference

can be a particular importance.

So hopefully that sets the scene for Tony

to give you a little bit more advice

on the content of references
and to give you a few top tips.

- Thanks, Peter, so I'll
take you through planning

and preparation, and for
reference rising expectations

from the university point of view,

and what you can include,

and also looking at what to avoid,

and rounding off with a common
framework as a takeaway,

and fee to structure references,

and in a fairly straightforward way

and should hopefully help
when leading up to tackling

UCAS reference writing.

And also appreciating I guess,

a normal conference environment,

we would do an interactive session,

where we discuss things,
feedback and provide some insight

into the admissions process.

I will try and include as
much background information

about what we look for, why we
look for it and how we use it

and to inform the decision making process

from an admission's point of view.

And hopefully that I'll
fill some of the gaps

that may be missing, that
we would have covered

in an interactive part of the session.

And looking at planning and preparation,

one of the key things is
having a robust process.

And the fundamental part of that

is to provide consistency and clarity.

And when I fully appreciate
that there are a number

of competing priorities within a school

when it comes to the point of submission,

and particularly with early
deadlines for medicine,

dentistry, and so on,

but also leading up to the 15th
of January deadline as well.

And one of the other things
that a robust process

enables you to do is to
deliver in high volume,

and again appreciating that
some schools are fairly sizable

and you will have a huge cohort

all wanting to apply to
University at the same time,

particularly to different
countries as well.

So having a robust process
allows you to processes

as quickly, as efficiently as possible,

and is really, really useful.

As part of that, should be
aware of their expectations

of when to submit and what to submit.

And also this timeline of
actions also should be supported

by training and updates.

So maybe start a cycle, you
know that you cast deadlines

along the way, you do a quick refresher

of this is what we're looking for,

here's a pro forma you need to complete,

please submit it with core information

or summaries of that student
in that particular environment

for chemistry, for example.

And then you collate all that together

and enables you to deliver
the reference writing

very, very efficiently.

And again, appreciating
that this is always as easy

as it is to say, and it should include,

I guess, a process of observation logs.

Again, you can get this from those

that have frequent contacts

with the student referee meetings.

And again, I'll talk
about this in two seconds

about how important this can
be in forming the reference

and approval process to send
check before it's submitted.

And also a full application
read through to make sure

that there was clarity
from start to finish.

And nothing competing with each other.

So the one thing that I just
mentioned there is part of it,

is additional details.

So if you were to, for example,
know a student's disability,

you would need their
permission before noting that

in a reference.

There is an expectation that
any additional circumstances

are included in a reference,
but that can be informed

by a student referee meeting,

a very quick conversation to find out

whether they want you to do that or not.

So in terms of moving on to expectations,

there are four key areas
that I've put up here.

And that should help inform
what we're looking for

from a reference point of view,

one being that it's reliable.

We receive a number of applications,

the admissions teams get
to know those applications.

Over a number of years,

they will get to know particular
schools where we typically

get our applications from as institutions.

So for example, there's a reference

that doesn't seem quite
right or is out of step

with the format that we
would normally expect.

It does stand out, and it's something

that we will look to clarify,

and would also look to just double check

that there's nothing else going on there

or to why which could
delay our decision making.

So just something to bear in
mind in terms of consistency

of approach, and being honest,

and I'm not sure 99% of
all schools are honest

with their assessment of their applicants,

but it is really important
when we're looking

at academically intensive environments

that you are supportive
in your reference writing,

and it's an honest appraisal
of an applicant's potential

to study with us.

And the two final points
are in combination.

As Peter mentioned, there
is only 4000 characters

or 47 lines, it's not a lot to include

a fair amount of information.

But it does need to be specific.

And one of the key areas is being specific

about the students strengths,

what makes them suitable to
study at one of our institutions

in the UK.

And that should form the
main body of any reference.

But obviously, bearing in
mind that it would need

to be concise, it needs to be punchy,

and be comprehensive.

So that covers the four broad areas,

and which leads us into what include.

This outlines three key areas,

and I'll go into how this
impacts on decision making.

So looking at predicted
grades, so your predictions.

This is a really simple
and straightforward way

for you to articulate what you think

they're going to achieve
and it does really informal

decision making from an
admission's point of view.

And one thing that we would also expect

is that they're supportive.

So for example, if you
understand that an applicant

is starting to achieve higher attainments,

then that's absolutely fine.

We appreciate that
attainment can go up and down

depending on a student's
effort, circumstances and so on.

And also being realistic.

And so if someone is
going into engineering,

maths is fundamental.

And if they're struggling in math,

then they will struggle when
they come to university.

So just being realistic and supportive

around their predicted grades
and also from a point of view

of not just meeting the requirements,

but also for borderline cases.

So one way to have a really
strong personal statement,

a really strong reference,

and their predicted grades
might be just slightly lower,

we may still consider them

but it's a view of an
application in its entirety.

In terms of when we would
issue an aspirational offer.

So the offer would be a
volunteer requirements

with a view that we think
there's potential there,

that they may actually achieve that level,

just come and study with us.

Lead into a background information.

So this just an overview of the school,

it does really set the scene
in terms of information

about the school, the curriculum,

any key information or kind
of headline information

you would want to include in there.

And it does allow us to understand
where the student's been,

what kind of environment they've been in,

and then sets the scene for them,

the more specific information about them.

Leading from the background information

into the applicant point of view.

Now, I mentioned about
special circumstances,

I would normally expect

that between the background information

and the applicant information,

any special circumstances,
for example, disability,

or anything that's impacted on their study

is included there.

And the applicant point of
view should be an assessment

of their academic suitability
to succeed on the course.

What we want is all of our
students to come in, enroll,

have a great time and
succeed on their course.

And so it's really important that we gain

an understanding of that.

And we're looking for a well
rounded summary of that.

So subject by subject basis,
and any contributing factors

within those particular
subjects that you think

would support their
application to university,

you give prominence to those subjects.

It's really important that
for particular subjects,

where we look at prerequisite grades,

or want to gain an
understanding of particularly

borderline cases that can be really useful

in informing our decision making.

Are there also associated achievements

with their academic studying
that you would like to include?

And then that leads into the
other additional information.

So this could be achievements in school,

could be leadership
positions, societies, clubs,

and any extracurricular
activities and achievements

and also a view of their
social interactions as well.

So that gives us a sense
of them as an individual

as well as their academic
suitability for the course.

And that's three key areas
are really important,

and then this would be rounded off

with a concluding endorsement
of their study with us.

So this then leads me into what to avoid.

Now, this hopefully should
be fairly straightforward.

It's not meant to be in any way,

a just a to do list of things to avoid.

I'm sure a lot of it you don't do anyway,

but just to highlight it
as part of this session.

We would expect that every
reference that we receive

is supportive and positive.

We wouldn't expect to
receive a negative reference

for an applicant.

And one thing to note as well

is that we have a number of
years and years of experience

of dealing with UCAS applications.

We've seen every single
type of personal statement

or reference and there's
a lot of experience

with identifying where
we read between the line.

So for example, when we're
reading a personal statement,

it doesn't quite add up
with their predicted grades

for example, or it's
not quite sitting well,

we can identify that as part.

So please from a point of view
of supporting the applicant,

that's what we are looking for.

Also to read the personal statement,

which is hugely important.

And ideally, your students
to the tutor meeting

to take place.

So you can get a sense of
what they're thinking about

in terms of the personal statement,

I'm sure there's
proofreading that goes on.

And so people will have an idea,

but having an application that
flows and isn't competing.

Sometimes we see applications
where the reference

is slightly off with
the personal statement.

And again, that does stand out.

So worth saying that it's
worth looking into that

so that the two complement each other

as a complete application.

Also appreciate the volume
of reference writing

that you are expected to
do at points in the year.

And one thing I wanted
to mention is sometimes

with standard text, school information

and a standard template or
a framework for references,

we do sometimes find a he
is referred to as a she

or vice versa in the reference.

And again, it does stand out,

one of the things we would do
is just clarify that with you.

And so if they hadn't noted
anything about their gender

on the application form,

we would then double check with you,

it might delay the
decision making process.

So that's something that
just can't consider.

And that's where the approvals
process will prove important

in checking before they're submitted.

And finally, it's just looking
at the the common frameworks.

This is a takeaway of a structure

to maybe frame your
references going forward.

So start with as I mentioned,

the information about your school,

the background information,

any special circumstances that support

and lead into the applicant information,

and then this subject by subject report.

The summary of their academic
ability and suitability

to study the course.

And then there are
additional achievements.

So what have they done in school?

And that wraps things up to then move

into a concluding endorsement.

So this is a framework that
I've presented in schools

previously, to tutors and it's provided

a really useful step by
step process to make things

and to support the robust process

that I mentioned earlier on.

So hopefully, that's a
walkthrough of what we expect

from the university point of view.

And I hope that you
found the session useful

with some useful hints
and some expectations

and how best to approach
planning reference writing.

Thanks for attending,
and thanks for watching

and I hope you found it
useful and take care, bye bye.