Understanding updates to the Ucas reference

The Ucas reference has changed for 2024 entry, so here are some changes that might be useful for high school counsellors to know about. 

While the nature of the information within the reference has not changed, the way the information is provided has altered. There are now three discrete sections within the reference, each with a different focus. The sections should help ensure that the information being provided is relevant and that the admissions team will be better able to extract the most salient points quickly and efficiently.

Section one

In this section we are looking for a general statement about the school or college. As hyperlinks do not work within the Ucas system, URLs that link to school profiles are not recommended. Instead, relevant information – for example, the type of school, qualifications taken, subjects offered and policies and processes for predicted grades – should be outlined in this section. Including information in this way will mean admissions staff do not have to spend extra time trying to access information from within your school website. 

Section two

At UCL we expect this section to be blank for most applicants. In this case the box should be ticked to indicate that no information is being provided.

While some universities will provide mitigating circumstances forms as a way for schools to provide additional information, we do not do this at UCL. Instead, we ask that such circumstances are dealt with by notifying the relevant exam board(s) so that the circumstances can be considered when final grades are assigned.

Section three

This section allows advisers to highlight the student’s suitability for the course they have applied for. This could include their aptitude as well as attitude, motivation and commitment. Outlining these attributes in short, factual sentences is recommended. In the case of apparent discrepancies between grades already awarded and predicted grades, it is useful to include an explanation so that we better understand the academic trajectory a student is on.

The reference remains an important element of the application and teachers, and counsellors should try make sure the information provided is as accurate and insightful as possible.

Many institutions, like UCL, do not allow additional references. All the information we need should therefore be provided in the Ucas reference.

UCL requires a reference for each application received from Ucas and does not allow any applications to be submitted without a reference. We expect the reference to be academic in focus and are unable to consider work or other non-academic references. It can be written by a counsellor or a subject teacher, or a combination of both.

The reference is used alongside the personal statement and details of actual and predicted grades to add context. It is expected to complement the other information included in the Ucas application. 

Predicted grades remain a key element of the reference and we are looking for predictions for all qualifications that are entered as pending. Accurate predictions are important to us and feed directly into our consideration of applications during the selection process. 

Succinct, evidence-based sentences using bullet style (the Ucas system will remove formatting such as bullet points) are welcomed.

Although references are subject to an overall character limit of 4,000, we do not expect all references will need to use 4,000 characters. Shorter references will not disadvantage applicants