Recommendation letter (LOR) template

How to use this: give this structure to your referee together with your CV, your transcript and the programme description. A referee working from a blank page writes three polite sentences; a referee working from specifics writes a letter that helps you. It is entirely normal to offer them a structure — it is not normal, and not acceptable, to write the letter yourself and ask them to sign it.

The structure

Paragraph 1 — Who the referee is and how they know you

I am [name], [title] at [institution], where I taught [student] in [course] during [period] / supervised [student] as [role] from [dates].

The reader needs to know immediately how close the working relationship was and for how long. A letter from someone who taught you for one semester and says so is more credible than a letter from a department head who evidently does not know you.

Paragraph 2 — A specific assessment

In [course or project], [student] [did something specific]. [Give an example: a piece of work, a result, a problem solved, a rank in the class if it is genuinely good.]

This is the paragraph that carries the letter. One concrete example — "her final project was one of three out of sixty I marked above 90, and it was the only one that handled the edge case correctly" — outweighs a page of adjectives.

Paragraph 3 — Character and working qualities

Beyond academic results, [student] [reliability, initiative, how they work with others, how they respond to difficulty], as demonstrated by [example].

Paragraph 4 — The recommendation itself

I recommend [student] for [programme] at [university] without reservation. [Optional: a comparative statement — "among the strongest students I have taught in the last five years".] Please contact me at [official email] if any further information would be useful.

The letter should be on institutional letterhead, signed, dated, and sent from an official email address where the university asks for it directly. A recommendation from a personal Gmail account is worth noticeably less.

Sample email asking for a reference

Subject: Request for a recommendation letter — [your name], [course/year]

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Dear Professor [name],

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I hope you are well. I am applying to the [programme name] at [university] for the [intake] intake, and I would be grateful if you would be willing to write a recommendation letter for me.

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I took [course] with you in [semester/year], where I [the specific work you did — a project, a paper, a result]. I thought of you because that work is closest to what this programme covers.

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I have attached my CV, my transcript and the programme description, along with a short note on the structure the university expects. The deadline is [date], so anything before [date minus one week] would be ideal.

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If you do not feel you can write a strong letter, please do say so — I would completely understand and would rather ask someone better placed.

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Thank you very much for considering it.

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Best regards,

[Your name]

[Student ID, phone, email]

Getting this right

• Ask at least two to three weeks ahead. A rushed letter reads like a rushed letter.
• Ask people who taught you something specific, not the most senior person available.
• Give them the CV, transcript, programme link and deadline in the first email — do not make them ask.
• Offer them an easy way out. A lukewarm letter is worse than a letter from someone less senior who knows your work.
• Send a reminder a week before the deadline, politely.
• Thank them afterwards, and tell them the outcome. You will probably need them again.