Managing references and predicted grades in the adviser portal

If a student is still studying or waiting for results they must list them as ‘pending’ in the education section of their application. You’ll be able to see pending qualifications from ‘References and predicted grades’ in the adviser portal. If you have permission to edit the reference, you’ll be able to assign predicted grades.

Key points to note on predicted grades

• Depending on the qualification structure, you can either select the predicted grade from a menu or use a free text field to type in the grade.
• To edit the predicted grades of an approved reference, the reference must first be unapproved.
• If you try to send an application to UCAS without entering predicted grades for all pending qualifications, a warning message will appear to ask if you are sure you want to send it.
• Your students won’t see their reference or predicted grades. If you return an application to a student to make changes to the education section, any predicted grades you have already entered will be automatically removed. Please make sure you re-enter these grades.
• If you cannot see any qualifications that require predicted grades in the adviser portal, then the student has not entered any ‘pending’ qualifications in their application. If you are expecting to predict grades, we suggest checking the qualifications have been entered correctly.  

If you’re not able to provide a predicted grade, leave this blank and make sure your reason is given in the reference.

To help with predictions, we’ve developed some useful guidance, covering key principles, challenges for advisers, setting internal processes, and more.

One of the main areas to be checked on an application is the education section. If you fully check the qualifications, tick the qualifications check box located in the ‘education’ section. This tick box is seen by universities and colleges as part of the reference.

It’s important to check that the qualifications your students have entered in their application are correct. This will ensure there are no issues with their application, for example, matching exam results or universities/colleges making decisions based on incorrect information. Make sure you keep your centre qualifications shortlist up to date to avoid incorrect qualifications being entered.  

You will need to check that the following are accurate in your students’ applications: 

• Qualification name 
• Subject 
• Qualification level 
• Awarding body 
• Any previous qualifications (such as GCSEs) also need to be included and checked  
• The applicant’s name and date of birth must match their official documentation (e.g. passport or driving licence)  

Your school’s exams officer should be able to help if you have any questions. 

As a UCAS registered centre, it's your responsibility to identify relevant referees and approve references.

The ‘Reference’ section is where you:

• select the name of the referee to appear on the reference (using the drop-down list of staff added in ‘Reference contact details’ in centre management)
• indicate dates when applicants won’t be available, if applicable, to discourage universities and colleges from inviting students to interview, or contacting referees, during holiday periods
• mark a reference as complete to approve it (you can save changes to a reference and return to it later, without having to mark it as complete)

• When a reference is finished, you need to ‘Mark reference as complete’. This then displays a complete status and give you the option to ‘Approve’ it.
• An information box will appear, asking you to confirm you want to approve the reference. Once actioned, an information bar is displayed to confirm this is complete.
• You can ‘Unapprove’ a reference if required. A reference must be unapproved if you want to amend the predicted grades.
• Both the application and reference need to be approved before an application is ready to be sent to UCAS.

When all sections are complete, and the reference and application have been approved, an application is ready to be sent to UCAS.

A filter to identify applications ‘Ready to send’ is located in ‘Application management’.

It is important to do this in plenty of time, and not leave it to the day of the deadline. 

For more information see our online training focused on Managing your applications pre-submission. 

Once an application has been sent to UCAS we cannot return it. UCAS cannot make changes to the reference or predicted grades once the application has been sent.

Guidance on making changes to applications