Paying for UCAS references is this the norm?

[happygardening]

DS1; at a well regarded 6th form college has to pay for his references, £25 if he's applying to more than 1 university. Is this the norm? I'm just curious. We've never been asked to pay for a reference before.

Nope. Not normal.

No, definitely not normal!

Never heard of this.

No absolutely not normal. Is this a state 6th form? In which case they aren't supposed to ask students to pay for anything other than voluntary contribution.

And why pay more if more than one university - there's only one UCAS form - so one personal statement and reference.

No - never heard of paying for a reference.
Also agree with Titchy's point - everyone applies to more than one, surely, but they are the same application.

You have to pay £25 to submit the UCAS application then it goes for references. Is that what you mean?

No the college (state) has asked us to pay £25 for the UCAS reference (at least that's what the form says). If your only applying to one university then it's £12.50, two or more £25.

No that's definetly not normal.

I also thought only one UCAS form therefore only 1 ref I've never done this before so don't really know. I asked DS1 to query this thinking perhaps if you were applying to I don't know say a university in Europe then you would require two references but apparently it's the number of UK universities your applying too.
I'm going to ring up the college and check for my self. DS1 has a very significant processing/working memory problem so perhaps he's misunderstood what was said to him but the form he bought home is about paying for references.

I think you pay for UCAS entry. Could it be that?

It is only one UCAS form where you can put up to 5 choices.

It's the fee UCAS takes for processing the application. The fee is reduced if you only apply to 1 uni.

You have to pay to use UCAS, not for the reference. Is this what you mean?

I see the confusion - You have one UCAS form. You apply for up to 5 universities on it. You get a reference from your college that is sent to all universities - not separate references.

The £25 charge is so that you can use UCAS.

UCAS fees are £12 if applying to 1 university only and £23 if applying to 2 or more. The fee has to be paid before it goes to the Sixth form for the reference to be added that is because of the way that Ucas have it set up but the fee is for Ucas not the reference. currently got 2 going through the process

Resolved it's the UCAS fees. Not at all clear on the form. The college say it's part of the checking of the application form which apparently is always wrong. Interesting DH checked DS1's statement (he has to read big financial contracts very carefully in his job), which had beed "checked" and he found grammatical errors (he's a bit of a pendent when it comes to grammar and sentence construction), ditto when he read DS1's friends personal statement (applying to do English). Makes you wonder how people who don't have this kind of help available manage. I suppose the more it's checked the more silly errors are picked up.

Please don't rely on the school picking up errors on personal statements. You are relying on the teacher's own proficiency in grammar etc. They will give them a once-over to ensure accuracy in general but IME they will not put in that much effort.

p.s. The UCAS website is very helpful and easy to understand if you don't want to rely on the college to get everything right or communicate to you and your son.

Actually in the schools i've worked, the personal statements are checked and checked, usually by several members of staff. Then finally, head of 6th form checks the entire application form with the students 1 on 1 to ensure everything is correct, before it is submitted. Without that, I don't think many of our students would get in based on their early drafts of their personal statements.