VICKY DOWNIE

Schools & Colleges Liaison team

King's College London

WHAT DO COMPETITIVE

PROVIDERS LOOK FOR?

Reference writing

DEFINING COMPETITIVE

Reference writing

Applications by subject group 2017 cycle

1. Business and Admin studies2. Subjects allied to Medicine3. Biological Sciences4. Social Studies5. Creative Arts and Design6. Engineering

• Demand for subjects allied to Medicine has fallen by 14.7%

• Demand for Social Sciences has grown by +2.7%

WHAT ABOUT KING’S?

• King’s offers over 150 programmes

• We receive over 45,000 applications

• 50% are for 14 programmes

• 70% are for 28 programmes

A competitive field

UNIVERSITY ADMISSIONS

• Centralised admissions

• Decentralised admissions

• A hybrid of the two

• Know your audience !

Reference writing

STRUCTURE

ARE THEY REALLY THAT

Reference writing

• Vary by programme and university

• Essential for:

> 10% of students: 2.5% of these are

the ‘high fliers’

> Highly competitive universities

such as Oxford and Cambridge

THAT IMPORTANT?

WHAT ADMISSIONSSTAFF SAY

“The reference is the first thing I look at”

“Extremely important to assess whether

an applicant has what it takes to succeed

on my course”

“Useful if academic skills are described”

“Very useful if it is not a ‘standard’

applicant or there is an odd choice of A-

Levels such as a ‘false start’ ”

Reference writing

WHAT DO WE LOOK FOR?

• A team effort> Knows the student best> An editor to pull it all together

• Linked with the personal statement

• Specific to the course and subject

• Same rules as a personal statement> Content> Detail > Evidence

A competitive field

OPEN REFERENCES

• Applicants can see the reference from

UCAS (£10 fee)

• Work with the applicant to write it

• Applicant should “fact-check” and sign

off” the final reference

UCAS Apply

WHAT TO INCLUDE

The reference

• The first paragraph

• Extenuating circumstances

• Academic skill and potential

• Suitability and interest in the course

• Non-academic information

FIRST PARAGRAPH

The reference: what to include

A short introduction about school/college, intake and environment

• A sentence or two at most

• If more information is essential then add in a hyperlink e.g. www.xxxx.ac.uk/ucas

Out of the ordinary things

• Does your school/college do anything different or unusual?

• How is this relevant to the individual student

• Is this a Widening Participation student

• Did they do GCSEs or A-Levels early

• Extenuating circumstances

EXTENUATING

• Best to put them on the UCAS form

rather than a separate note

• Include as much information as

possible:

> Health, educational disruption,

home, financial

> Facts and figures – when, how much,

to what extent

• Prioritise to the first line of the first

paragraph rather than school/college

information

The reference: what to include

CIRCUMSTANCES

ACADEMIC SKILL AND

• Accounts for 60-80% of the reference

• Teachers: write twice as much to give

editor more to work with and cut down

• Editor: place the most relevant subject

first, with less detail on the less

relevant subjects

• Predicted grades

> AS grades, mock exam scores

• Does the applicants attainment reflect

their ability?

• How do they compare - if not within

the year then previous years

The reference: what to include

POTENTIAL

ACADEMIC SKILL AND

An indication of their potential to study at

that level at that university:

• Are they motivated to learn?

• Are they capable of independent study?

• Do they have an enquiring mind?

• Are they able to present an argument?

• Can they talk and discuss confidently

in class?

• Are they good at problem solving?

• Have they improved?

The reference: what to include

POTENTIAL

SUITABILITY AND

Modern languages: Has the applicant visited the country?

Science and Engineering: Is their maths good enough?

Medicine/Dentistry: Have they worked to obtain relevant workexperience?

English: Can they critically appraise a text?

History: Do they understand the use ofsources?

Psychology: Do they understand thescientific as well as the human side?

The reference: what to include

INTEREST IN THE COURSE

NON-ACADEMIC

• Interpersonal and other relevant

skills/qualities that may be important

for the course

• Important positions of responsibility

• Career aspirations

• Anything else relevant to the course

The reference: what to include

INFORMATION

ASSESSMENT

Academic reference

You work in admissions at King’s…

Read both references and identify:

• three great things • three things to be improved

REFERENCE: MAISIE WILLIAMS

Reference writing

✓ Provides context on Taylor’s educational background

✓ Includes the College’s AS policy in the first paragraph

✓ Relates AS Physical Education to Medicine “…her passion for all things physiological meant that Taylor could use her knowledge gained in the classroom and apply it in a practical setting.”

? Subject names take up space unnecessarily

? Repetition e.g. “well organised”, “confident she will meet grades”

? Subject areas make no mention to the course she is applying for or how the skills/knowledge connects

REFERENCE: JOE SUGG

Reference writing

✓ Includes URL to College profile is required

✓ Remarks on a range of skills relevant to both university study and a legal career

✓ Comments on the higher predicted grade for Psychology

? Are there any reasons or extenuating circumstances that account for the lower AS Psychology grade?

? Could have explicitly linked his skills to the course he’s applying to.

? Doesn’t provide detail or insight into “extra curricula events” or how they would relate to the course.

TOP TIPS FOR SUBJECT

• Write twice as much

• Content, detail, evidence

• Focus on the course and subject that’s

being applied to

Academic references

TEACHERS

TOP TIPS FOR EDITORS

1. Place the most relevant information

and subjects first and weight

accordingly

2. Avoid filling word limit with

unnecessary statements or

information already on the form

3. Get applicant to fact check and sign

off the final reference

Academic references

BE POSITIVE!

Whatever your role..

For more information:

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Questions?

schools.liaison@kcl.ac.uk

www.kcl.ac.uk/schoolsliaison