Think about what it is that you would ideally like your teachers to say about you – would you like to be described as diligent? Hard-working? Patient? The easiest way to get these traits into your reference is by living up to them as much as possible right from the get-go. If you’ve changed schools for the sixth form, do your best to make a great first impression and to sustain that impression during your time there. Is this too obvious? Yet it’s the single best way of ensuring that you get the quality of reference that you want. Work hard Even if your grades have been good up to this point, don’t become complacent. This has been achieved through solid hard work on Sophie’s part, and I feel she would be even more capable of exercising her remarkable work ethic in a university setting…’īut given you probably won’t ever see your reference, and students are strictly prohibited from writing their own references, or getting their friends or family to write them, what can you do to ensure you’ll receive the best reference you possibly can? Here are our suggestions. This is evidenced in the impressive improvement in her grades from GCSE to AS-level she is now performing a level that reflects her true abilities. Her essays are well-written and thoughtful, and invariably submitted punctually, as she has a great commitment to her studies. ‘Sophie is a keen, enthusiastic student of History. It reads a little like a school report, for instance: It’s an opportunity for teachers to say things about you that you can’t say about yourself, for instance if your grades don’t accurately reflect your full potential. It’s the same length (4000 characters or 47 lines) as a personal statement, and it is written in a similarly positive tone there isn’t supposed to be any negative content, though universities will be looking out for what might be implied.

Your reference is a little like a second personal statement, only it’s written for you, usually by a teacher. The final part of your UCAS application is one that it is likely you will never even see, so it’s easy to forget about it: your reference. It’s not strictly part of the UCAS process, but the next most worrying thing might be interviews, if you have to attend them for your course.

Obviously, you give the greatest amount of thought to your grades, perhaps followed by your personal statement and all the super-curricular activities you’ve talked about on it. Great Ways to Answer 10 Typical University Interview Questions.The World’s Worst Personal Statement: Why It Fails and How to Fix It

Ucas reference examples