As part of the UCAS application form, you will be required to submit a teacher’s reference. In particular, your reference must highlight your passion and curiosity for the subject you are applying to. However, unlike the personal statement, you will most likely not know the content of your teacher’s reference letter about you. Therefore, here are some tips that you should consider when choosing the “right” teacher to write your UCAS reference. 

Similarity to applied university course

The best way to illustrate your academic engagement is how you engage with your high school courses. For instance, if you intend to apply for Economics at LSE and simultaneously take A-level Economics (or other alternative high school qualifications), your teacher can exemplify your skills and your progress in class. Perhaps there is a particular topic or unit that your teacher saw your motivation and enthusiasm for! Furthermore, you will likely have engaged with this teacher often if you have frequently pursued your interest. Thus, your teacher may recognise you from societies or projects that they oversee. 

If the university programme you are interested in is not available as a subject before coming to LSE, you can find closely related subjects or transferrable skills that you think can be applied to your future degree.

How long you have known them

This is a great way for the LSE admissions team to see how you have grown throughout middle and/or high school. Knowing your teacher for a long time also means that your teacher has a lot more activities and examples that they can write about in their reference. In particular, if it is a teacher that you have an amazing relationship with and who you trust, who better to ask than them?

Supervisor for extracurricular 

If you were involved in any societies and clubs that you are proud of or can exemplify your qualities for the course you are applying to, your teacher supervisor will have seen how well you performed in that activity and the relevant knowledge and skills you have developed. For example, if you founded or led a debate club, your supervisor can talk about your leadership, independent and critical thinking skills that can be applied to arguably any course.