Reference letter for university in the UK

For certain masters or internships, you will sometimes have to provide a reference letter from a professor or internship supervisor when applying to UCAS. Example of a reference letter from a professor/internship. 

The reference letter recommends you for admission to a university, master or for job. 

Here are 2 examples of a reference letter for a student.

These references are handy and can be a real lever of action in the constitution of your file. For these requests to teachers, know that you have to do it several weeks in advance. The applications can be numerous and fall at the same time as the copies to be corrected.

It takes time for the person who writes it.

Also, some teachers may refuse to recommend you because some are too much in demand and do not wish to recommend too much for fear of devaluing their prestige of recommendation…

Ask for a reference letter

In order to request a UCAS reference letter from a teacher, choose a teacher you already know and who, if possible, is a recognized teacher or one giving courses related to the future training or job targeted… Then make an appointment at the end of a lesson, and explain your approach to the teacher.

Be careful, some professors prefer to limit the number of reference letters they sign to avoid diluting their power of recommendation. According to the rule that the more they recommend, the less their recommendation is of value. It is, therefore, necessary to do it in advance to ask for a reference letter.

How to write a reference letter

The people/teachers who will recommend you will certainly agree to sign these letters, sometimes less so to write them… In this case, the professor may ask you to write a first draft of the letter. The teachers will modify (or not) your project afterwards so as not to start from scratch.

On your side, it is useful to know what such a letter should look like. UK universities do not ask for the same thing. It is, therefore, necessary to study, in the registration file, what is requested in terms of a reference letter.

This is the reason why you will find below two examples of reference letters. It’s up to you to personalize them and ensure that the signatory agrees with what you are saying 😉 and that these letters meet the requirements of the file for which they are written.

Ask for a recommendation on Linkedin

In order to perfect your CV on Linkedin, you can also ask your former colleagues and internship supervisors, managers, apprenticeship tutor… for a “generic” recommendation. This recommendation will be general on your work and will not have the purpose of supporting a specific application but it allows you to highlight your profile on the Linkedin network with a view to future job applications.