The emphasis must always be on the academic qualities of the student A rough guide would be 3:1 A student’s extra-curricular interests are not, per se, of interest However, Admissions Tutors will be impressed if a student manages their academic commitments whilst still taking part in a large number of other activities This illustrates a student’s time-management and organizational ability Powers of analysis, argument and communication Breadth of interest A willingness to go outside and beyond the confines of the syllabus Will the student ‘go the extra mile’? Initiative and independence of thought Industry, reliability and organisation This was one of the best A-Level History essays I have read in the past five years’.

Good references are consistent and specific Concrete examples/evidence, showing the standard of work of which the student is capable are highly valued Avoid generalisations such as: ‘ An excellent student who is passionate about her work’ Much better: ‘She recently produced an outstanding essay on the military career of Earl Haig analysing and evaluating two traditional biographies with two recent, revisionist works.

2 Relevance The reference should be relevant to the actual course/s chosen by the student Make the student do the work with a bullet-point summary for the referee This should focus on the Entry Profiles Admissions Tutors value the fact that the person writing the reference knows the student well (or creates the impression that they do) and understands the requirements and demands of the chosen courseģ Essential element: academic performance and context

Ucas nursing reference example