Tips for writing your professor’s letter of recommendation for your UCAS file

As you know, you’ll also need to obtain a letter of recommendation from a teacher at your high school (second, first or final year) to validate your UCAS application.

Since this letter plays a decisive role in your admission, it’s vital that you take the time to think strategically about which teacher you feel is most likely to be most complimentary of you in this letter.

The essential elements of the letter

Voici quelques conseils pour help you write your cover letter in English. These tips will help you

Here are the elements that must appear in your letter of recommendation in order to maximize your chances of admission.In order to write a letter of recommendation in line with the expectations of universities in the UK, you will find below a sample letter of recommendation. list of questions and instructions to guide your teacher in writing his letter.

Introduction

• In a few words, what is the size, type and overall level of the school?
• How long have you known the candidate? What subjects have you taught him/her? In what year?
• In what context, if any, did you get to know the candidate outside the classroom?

Candidate’s personality

• What are your impressions of the candidate’s personality? What are the first words that come to mind to describe the candidate’s character or personality?
• Would you be able to share one or more concrete examples to illustrate and support what you think of this student? If possible, justify the use of an adjective with an example.

Academic performance

• What is the student’s academic performance? Could you comment on the nature and quality of his work? Is he or she motivated, diligent and tenacious? Is he able to work independently?
• Does the student have good analytical and argumentation skills, as well as good written and oral expression?
• Is the student at the top of the class or among the best students in certain subjects?

Consistency of the planned course of study with your profile

• How does his or her profile fit in with the course of study? How would you describe his attitude, motivation and commitment to the subjects associated with this course?
• How do you rate its potential to succeed at university in its target course?
• If the student is aiming for a scientific course of study: does he or she have quantitative analytical skills, a keen scientific curiosity or show commitment during practical work?
• If the student is aiming for a humanities, social sciences or business degree: does he or she have strong analytical, synthesis and writing skills? Do they demonstrate intellectual curiosity and an interest in current affairs through reading outside the classroom?
• What present or past achievements and qualities could contribute to success in the chosen field of study?
• What other factors could make him an asset at his future university?
• Is there any contextual information or extenuating circumstances that should be taken into account (personal circumstances, illness, disability, or absence) or that might have affected his performance (change of teacher, for example)?

Baccalaureate grade forecast

At the end of this letter, you’ll also need to predict the grade point average and marks you think the student will achieve in his or her baccalauréat. This estimate will play a fundamental role in the evaluation of the student’s application. In fact, since report cards are not part of the UCAS file, universities will rely solely on these predicted grades to determine the overall average and results the applicant is likely to achieve at baccalaureate level.

Thus, if the estimate given in the letter of recommendation is lower than the minimum mark required for the course of study chosen at the university in question, the applicant risks being eliminated even before having been evaluated on the other elements of his or her file.

For example, if the London School of Economics (LSE) has entry requirements of 16/20 in math for the BSc Economics degree, and you predict 13/20 in maths, the student will not receive an offer of admission from this university.

It’s therefore important to tell your students in advance what your predicted baccalaureate grades will be, so that they can choose their universities accordingly. Indeed, there’s no point in applying for university courses for which the marks requested are higher than those you’re going to predict.

Be realistic, but don’t be afraid to be optimistic. indicate the highest possible scores for the candidate. In fact, this grade prediction will be decisive in the university’s decision to offer admission. The minimum grade required is often insufficient for the most competitive courses.

In all cases, this offer will always be conditional on actually obtaining the grades requested in each university’s standard grading system.

At the end of your letter of recommendation, you can specify the subject grades you predict for this student at the baccalaureate with a sentence like this: ” I predict that my student will achieve the following grades: –/20 in Maths, –/20 in Physics-Chemistry, –/20 in Biology-Geology, –/20 in English, –/20 in History-Geography and –/20 in Philosophy. “You will also need to complete the Predicted grades and indicate in the box next to France-baccalauréat the student’s predicted grade point average.

Other important information to note for the letter

• Letter of recommendation must be in English and may contain up to 4,000 characters or 47 lines of text (including spaces and blank lines).
• It’s not necessary to include contact details, greetings and salutations, just the body of the content!
• It is recommended that the teacher first write the letter of recommendation in Microsoft Word format before copying and pasting it into the UCAS website.
• You should avoid mentioning a particular university in the UK, as the letter is common to all the universities to which the student will be applying.
• If the candidate’s mother tongue is not English, you can also comment on his or her ability to write and speak in English, and indicate whether any of his or her studies were in English.
• Finally, for privacy reasons, the student is entitled to request a copy of the letter of recommendation from UCAS. The UCAS website states: « When writing a reference, you should remember that – under the terms of the Data Protection Act 2018 – applicants can ask for copies of their references and any other personal information that we have about them. »It is therefore advisable to share the letter with him before submitting it.

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