What to do with the reference

If, for example, the student is applying for six choices, they should give you six reference forms individually completed with their details and the course and conservatoire details; and six stamped addressed envelopes.

You produce signed references on paper and send them, in the stamped addressed envelopes provided by the applicant, to each of their chosen conservatoires.

The online application system provides detailed guidance for applicants and referees about providing references.

The reference form contains guidance notes for you about the type of information you should include. This guidance is different for the academic referee and the music referee.

If an applicant is applying before 1 October (the deadline for on-time applications), we ask them to aim to have their references with conservatoires by the end of October. If they are applying after the October deadline, we advise them to aim to have references with conservatoires as soon as possible.

If the applicant has emailed Word documents to you, you should:

  1. Save the documents.
  2. Type their reference in the space provided on one of the documents.
  3. Copy the reference onto each of the Word documents the applicant supplied. You can tailor it to the specific course.
  4. Print each completed reference.
  5. Sign each reference form.
  6. Post it to the conservatoires indicated by the applicant, using the envelope supplied by them.

You cannot email the forms to the conservatoires. The conservatoires' email addresses are provided only to allow you to contact the conservatoires about any queries you may have.

On pre-printed web pages, you should:

  1. Type or write the reference in the space provided.
  2. Physically copy the reference onto each of the forms the applicant gave you. To do this you can either rewrite or retype the reference onto each form, or photocopy the original reference and staple, glue or tape a copy into the space provided on each of the other reference forms. You must take care not to obscure any other information on the form.
  3. Sign each reference form.
  4. Post it to the conservatoires indicated by the applicant, using the envelope supplied by them.

We recommend that you keep a copy of the reference for your records.