Guidance for Referees

References are required to authenticate the applicant’s reflective account of their supervisory practice and, where appropriate, to provide additional evidence. 

The UKCGE is very grateful to those agreeing to act as referees as this is an essential part of the recognition process. 

You need to indicate the context in which you are writing the reference, and give a brief account of your experience with the applicant.

Your role then is to read through the applicant’s account and then to comment upon how far it is a genuine description of their supervisory practice based on the Good Supervisory Practice Framework. Your comments should be drawn from material in the account itself, although you may wish to provide additional evidence to support the case for alignment.

Please note that the reference is not for the applicant as a researcher per se, but as a supervisor. So the reference should only relate to the applicant’s experience, status and record as a researcher in so far as this is relevant to their practice as a supervisor.

The purpose of doctoral supervision is to provide the candidate with a high-quality experience while undertaking a research project and making a successful submission within an appropriate time frame. The best judge of whether any supervisor has achieved those outcomes is the candidate that they have supervised. Only they have direct and personal experience of the expertise and support offered by their supervisor; hence, they are in a unique position to comment upon and authenticate their supervisor’s accounts of their practice.

In this vein, applicants to the RSRP Full award are expected to submit a reference from a previous doctoral candidate in support of their application. It is our hope that completing these references also offers an opportunity for the referee to reflect on their past supervision experience, as well as how the research experience has informed their professional life and provided a model of support which they utilise in their own lives.

The expectation is that your reference should normally be no more than 500 words.

In order that references can be verified, you should include your title, name, role descriptor, institution, and postal or e‑mail address at the end of the reference.

You will initially be approached by the applicant and asked if you are able and willing to write a reference for them. If you are happy to do so, they should send you a web link to the Reference Form.

You should complete the form and then send it back to the applicant who will then submit it along with her or his account for review.

Please refer to the appropriate guide to structured self-reflection:

• Research Supervisor — Guide to Structured Self-Reflection
• Associate Supervisor — Guide to Structured Self-Reflection

These guidance notes explain what are the typical examples of the kinds of evidence required, and indicate what relevant supporting materials might be, drawn from research and scholarship in the field. 

Under each heading, applicants are asked to describe and evaluate their practice and to demonstrate that it is aligned to the relevant criteria, and this should be embodied in their reflective account. 

If you are familiar with the Good Supervisory Practice Framework, then it should enable you to understand the account.