Letters of recommendation, and references

Your university application journey often requires more than just grades and test scores. Strong references and letters of recommendation can significantly enhance your chances of admission. 

The UCAS references (for the UK) are collected automatically for every student at the end of grade 11.

Recommendation letters/forms are confidential communication between VIS and the colleges, universities, and organisations. Feedback from students helps us to present a full and positive portrayal of each student to the colleges/universities/organisations.

Procedures: 

1. The UCAS references (for the UK) are collected automatically for every student at the end of grade 11.

2. Regarding letters of recommendation, the first step for you to determine is if you need teacher letters of recommendation (TLOR). In order to know whether you need recommendation letters or not, you should check the admission requirements of different universities (in each country you are applying to). For example, some universities in United Arab Emirates won’t need letters (but some other, for example NYU-Abu Dhabi and University of Birmingham, do). 

3. If the universities being considered require TLOR, you need to check if the universities/colleges need specific recommendations (for example, if you are planning to apply to US institutions, some universities/colleges will need any two teacher letters of recommendation, whilst other universities might want one from either Languages or Social Studies and the other one from either Math or Science).

4. Additionally, you need to find out if these universities/colleges also need a counsellor letter of recommendation (CLOR). This is typically necessary for US colleges and universities or American Universities in other countries, and sometimes for certain some summer programmes.

5. You should ask for the recommendation letters with at least 2-4 weeks notice. Once you talk to your teachers, and if they agree, you must fill out the TLOR: Student Information Sheet (which you can find below) for each teacher who is writing a letter (or completing a recommendation form) on your behalf.

6. You must also fill out the CLOR: Student Information Sheet (which you can also find below) for your university and careers counsellor if you require a counsellor letter of recommendation (or if you require your counsellor to                      complete a recommendation form). 

7. If you are applying to summer programmes or professional experiences, you will need to complete the recommendation requests for summer programmes and professional experiences - questionnaire.

It is important to remember the following: The time that you take to carefully complete the form helps teachers produce the letter of recommendation that you deserve. It is in your best interest to fill in these documents thoroughly. The more time and insight you can give, the more thorough their recommendation will be.

Additionally, it is also valuable for teachers and counsellor to read the students' personal statements (if it is applicable to their university applications).

Teachers and the counsellor will not release official recommendations to students. All recommendations will be sent to colleges/universities/organisations directly by the counselling office.

Colleges/Universities/Organisations prefer that the teacher and counsellor evaluations and recommendations be confidential. Colleges/Universities/Organisations generally believe that recommendations written confidentially are more candid and honest. Hence, those recommendations have more validity and weight in the admission process than recommendations that parents and students can access. In this light, we request that all students requesting letters of recommendation sign a waiver, commonly referred to as the FERPA waiver on Common App.

Documents to fill  in to request letters of recommendation

* ​TLOR Student Information Sheet: Used to request Teacher Letters of Recommendation (TLOR).

​* CLOR Student Information Sheet: Used to request Counsellor Letter of Recommendation (CLOR).

Document to fill in to request a letter of recommendation for summer programes and professional experiences ​(NOT university applications)

* Recommendation requests for summer programmes and professional experiences (only) - questionnaire