Ucas reference from school post y13

[Whoatethehobknobs]

DD made a ucas application this year 2025 for deferred entry, unfortunately she didn’t make her offers. She intends to reapply to ucas for 2026. It should be straightforward. Thinking just the reference to be tacked on. (The irony is she would have made her insurance this year…)

Is it normal for state schools to charge for providing the reference ? They waive the charge if you haven’t made a ucas application in y13.

DD will need minimal support as the hard graft choosing/deciding unis was done last year. It’s just primarily to get a ref. I don’t know if school would look unkindly on her if she approached a teacher directly for a reference… or if teachers have been directed not to provide one

I was just wondering how common it was to charge. The school is the only option I can see for an academic reference. May have to just take it in the chin and pay up!

Never heard of this - quite bizarre! DD’s state grammar were very open in the fact that they’d happily support a former student to do their UCAS application & provide references etc in the year or two after they’d left if they wished/needed to reapply. No charge.

No, not heard of that. When DS was offered a degree apprenticeship, he had to get written confirmation that he attended the school (which I accept is a lot easier than an academic reference, although one assumes they can just regurgitate what they did last year). I emailed them and they had it ready in a couple of hours.

The ucas application still goes through her school even though she has left. This is normal practice.

DD took a gap year and her school was very happy to provide a reference. They didn't charge for it.

Thanks for your responses.. I do feel it strange that they want to charge, I can afford it but it just doesn’t seem right to have to pay for a reference! DD doesnt need support for early application, resits, mocks etc.

I know it probably does take up some time for the 6th form team to prepare and make the edits to a ref. But I can’t imagine it being that onerous.

The easy thing to do is just do the reapplication through the school and pay up. I feel a bit resentful tbh. DD does not want me making a fuss with the school.

its interesting to hear that if other schools are trying this….

It’s a new format this year, both your dd and the school have to fill in the new format.

Yep I’m aware of the new format for the personal statement of ‘old’. Still the 4000 char limit over 3 questions, essentially the same info as before but in a more formal way. I guess it will make the ps more structured and easier to read for uni admissions.

The student writes that.. or should do!

If they are heading off to uni I think they should be able to do this without much input. She did it herself last year. School were happy to review the PS if you asked.

It jars a bit to ‘pay’ for a reference … I’ve never had to pay an employer to provide a reference!

But this all academic really, she needs a reference for ucas, at her stage school is best placed to provide one. We don’t really have an option but to go along, doesn’t mean I think it’s the right thing for the school to do.

My original post was to figure out if this was common practice.

The format for the reference for the school has also changed to 3 boxes. School budgets are tight but I agree it’s difficult to justify the cost.

That is not usual at all.