Referee letters: who to ask and how

A referee is a person who knows your work or your studies. This person writes a letter about you, called a "reference" or a "recommendation". Many scholarships ask for one or two. A good letter confirms what you say in your application, with examples.

Who to ask

Choose people who know you well at work or at school. For example: a teacher or lecturer, a school principal, your manager at work, or the leader of a group where you volunteer.

Do not ask family or friends. For example, Chevening says a referee must know you at work or in your personal life, but must not be a friend or a family member.

A manager who can describe your real work is a better choice than a well-known person who hardly knows you.

Choose a referee who fits the scholarship:

• For a bachelor's degree: a teacher or principal who taught you recently.
• For a master's or PhD: a lecturer who knows your work, and often your manager if you work. For example, the Vanuatu Government scholarship office asks master's applicants for a letter from a lecturer. It asks applicants who work for a letter signed by a senior manager.

What these scholarships ask for

This is what the scholarships on this site ask for, as written on each scholarship page:

• Australia Awards Scholarships (Vanuatu)
  • Referee reports (Required for postgraduate applicants and anyone relying on work experience)
• Chinese Government Scholarship
  • Two recommendation letters from professors (Master's, PhD and senior scholar applicants)
• Commonwealth Fellowships (United Kingdom)
  • Two references (one from your current employer)
• Commonwealth Shared Scholarships (United Kingdom)
  • Two signed references
• Gates Cambridge Scholarship (University of Cambridge)
  • Two academic references and one Gates Cambridge reference
• Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship (United States)
  • Two recommendation letters (one from your supervisor)
• Joint Japan/World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program (JJ/WBGSP)
  • Two recommendation letters (submitted online by your recommenders)
• USP Pacific Scholarship for Excellence in Research and Innovation (PSERI)
  • Names and contact details of three referees
• Vanuatu Government Scholarships
  • Proposed research topic and a lecturer's recommendation letter (Postgraduate / master's applicants)
  • Recent CV and a recommendation letter signed by a senior manager (Applicants currently employed)

Ask early, and ask well

Ask at least four weeks before you need the letter. Your referees are busy. Some may travel or be on holiday.

When you ask, give them:

• the name of the scholarship and the link to the official page;
• the deadline, and how to send the letter: you upload it, they send it, or they fill in an online form;
• the name of the person or office the letter is for, if the provider says so;
• your CV and a draft of your personal statement, so their letter matches what you say;
• two or three things you would like them to talk about, with examples they know.

One week before the deadline, check with them politely.

How the letter gets to the provider

Each provider has its own rules. Read them. Two examples:

• Chevening: in your application, you only give the names and contact details of two referees. If they invite you to an interview, you must upload the two letters at least seven working days before the interview. Chevening does not contact your referees for you: you collect the letters and upload them yourself. Later, the British High Commission may contact your referees to check.
• Online forms: for some programmes, you ask for the letters through an online form. Then your referees send their letters online themselves. One example is the Joint Japan/World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program (JJ/WBGSP). Check that you typed their email addresses correctly, and that they received the request.

What a good letter contains

You do not write the letter. But you can tell your referee what providers expect. Chevening's instructions for referees are a good example. The letter should:

• be in the language of the application. Chevening asks for English. If the letter is in another language, send the original letter and an English translation certified by a notary (an official who certifies documents);
• give the referee's contact details, how long and how they know you, and when they last worked with you regularly;
• describe your skills and qualities with real examples, and say that you can succeed in a difficult course.

Never write your own letter

Do not write the letter yourself and ask someone to sign it. Never change a letter after your referee writes it. Providers may contact referees to check. A false letter can end your application.