References guidance

• During or after your employment at the university, you may find that prospective new employers, education providers or a recruiting manager here at the university will need an employment reference. Reference requests should ideally be sent to your most recent line manager; alternatively, they can be sent to the Staff Hub.  
• If you need a reference to confirm your salary – for a mortgage application or to rent a property – please ask the Staff Hub.
• Please see the guidance below for more information.

• If you receive any requests for an employment reference, it is important to provide one that is fair, accurate and compliant with the law. Please see the below FAQ for more information and advice on how to do this. For any more complex queries, please contact your Strategic Partner.
• If you are asked to provide a reference to confirm someone’s salary – this may be for a mortgage application or to rent a property – please forward this to the Staff Hub to complete.
• Please see the guidance below for more information.
• Please also see this guidance for further information: Gendered References Guidance

For an employment reference, ideally, ask your most recent line manager, who should be able to provide one. If you feel that another senior member of staff would be more appropriate, you may wish to discuss this with the Staff Hub or ask the Staff Hub to confirm brief details of your employment (a ‘factual reference’).

References to confirm your salary, for a mortgage application or to rent a property are also provided by the Staff Hub.

Yes – you can provide your consent on your leavers form or write to your referee to give your consent. If it is not clear whether or not you have given consent, then the referee may contact you to verify, or they may not provide a reference until you have contacted them.

You can withdraw your consent for your reference to be given by contacting the Staff Hub or Recruitment in writing.

If you apply for a new role at the university, whether it is at the same job level and pay, a higher job level or a move in a new direction, you will need to provide referee details. You will be asked to agree to the Data Privacy Policy Statement when completing your job application on TalentLink, which confirms your consent for your referees to be contacted.

The Recruitment team will usually only seek one reference if you are a successful internal candidate, from your current line manager. However, your new line manager can use their discretion regarding whether references are required.

If you are promoted to a new job level following the Job Level Review process, you won’t need to provide referee details.

Confirmation of employment references for the purpose of confirming your salary tends to include the following information:

• Job Title
• Normal working hours
• Salary per annum
• Date employment commenced
• Date contracts end

Employment references tend to include the following information:

• Job title
• A brief outline of your job
• Dates of employment
• Reasons for leaving

For example:

Job Title: Research Technician

Outline of Role: To provide a range of technical support to the research conducted by the Section of xx. This included collecting samples and using xx techniques to extract data. In addition, duties also included laboratory administrative responsibilities.

Dates of Employment: 1 January 2024 – 31 March 2025

Reason for Leaving: Resignation

If you left under a settlement agreement and have agreed on a reference with the university, only this agreed reference will be used.

If you are at all concerned about the content or type of reference you may receive, particularly if you have experienced unacceptable behaviour, please speak to your Strategic Partner who can offer advice.

If you have any other queries, please contact the Staff Hub.

Yes – check that the individual has given their consent first. If they have left the university since 2018, they should have indicated their consent on their leavers form. If you do not hold a copy of the leavers form, you can request this information from the Staff Hub. The person requesting the reference may be able to show they have given their consent by, for example, providing a signed agreement form or a letter from the employee.

If you are providing a reference for an internal candidate, they should have confirmed their consent by agreeing to the Data Privacy Policy Statement on TalentLink (the university’s recruitment platform).

Under GDPR legislation, employers must ensure that they have a legal basis for processing data in relation to giving a reference. You must therefore consider whether you are satisfied that the individual has given their consent and wishes for the reference to be provided before doing so.

If you are unsure, you should seek their consent either through the person requesting the reference or the individual themselves. You should not provide the reference until you have established their consent.

If the individual left the university under a settlement agreement, check with your HR Strategic Partner if there was an agreed reference; if there was, only this reference should be used.

Do not allude to whether the individual left under a settlement agreement or not. If the requester specifically asks about this, you should respond that ‘It is university policy not to respond to questions regarding settlement agreements. This should not be taken as an indication that [Name] has or has not entered into a settlement agreement with the university.’

There is no legal obligation to provide a reference when asked. However, refusing to provide a reference may have negative effects on an individual, so it is university policy to respond to requests whenever possible.

Yes – if you are asked to provide a reference for a member of your team for another role at the university, the same guidance applies. However, recruiting managers can use their discretion as to whether references are required or not for internal candidates, so you may not need to provide one.

If you are their most recent line manager or a senior member of staff, you should ideally respond to any reference requests. If this is not possible, the Staff Hub team can provide a brief factual reference confirming job title, dates of employment and reason for leaving.

At times, it may be more appropriate for a different senior colleague to respond to the reference request; in this case, you should contact your Strategic Partner to discuss.

Often, prospective employers will send a form with set questions and answers which you can complete. If this is not available, a written reference via letter or email is preferable. Providing oral references is discouraged, as they may be misinterpreted. If you do provide an oral reference, it should be brief and factual, and it should be followed up in writing.

Before providing an oral reference, it is also good practice to check that the person you will be speaking to has the authority to request a reference.

Your reference should be restricted to matters of fact, and you should provide your contact name and address so that prospective employers can request further information if needed.

You must send a copy of the reference to the Staff Hub for filing.

General information to include

When providing a reference, you should mark it to the reference requester and state that it is ‘Private and confidential – for the addressee only’.

Within the reference, you should include the following information:

• Job title
• Brief outline of role
• Dates of employment
• Reasons for leaving

For example:

Job Title: Research Technician

Outline of Role: To provide a range of technical support to the research conducted by the Section of xx. This included collecting samples and using xx techniques to extract data. In addition, duties also included laboratory administrative responsibilities.

Dates of Employment: 1 January 2024 – 31 March 2025

Reason for Leaving: Resignation

You should end the reference with the following disclaimer:

This reference is given to the addressee in confidence and only for the purposes for which it was requested. It is given in good faith, and based on the information available to the university at the time it is given, but neither the writer nor Imperial College London accepts any responsibility or liability for any loss or damage caused to the addressee or any third party as a result of any reliance being placed on it.

Information not to include

You should not include any information that may be inaccurate, misleading, or unfairly present the individual in a poor light. Do not respond to questions or provide information regarding any aspect of attendance or sickness. This information may be misrepresented or deemed discriminatory.

Other comments you may add

You should provide information that is balanced and fair. It is advisable to provide brief references. If you wish to do so, you may comment on whether you believe the individual is suitable for the new role, but you should do so with care, as it can be more difficult to justify objectively.

If you wish to comment on their performance/competence, only comment on what you know. Use reasonable skill and care to ensure the accuracy of all facts and statements that you use and ensure that, even where facts given are accurate, they do not present the individual in a way that could be deemed unfair. You should not give a favourable reference if it is inaccurate. For example, if the individual were dismissed for poor performance or misconduct, a highly complementary reference would be misleading.

If there were any issues

If there were/are any performance concerns and/or relationship concerns and/or the individual was dismissed, you should speak to your Strategic Partner before submitting your response.

Ensure that your reference is not in any way discriminatory or victimises the individual for any previously raised complaints.

Privacy Notice

The Privacy Notice sets out the university’s legitimate interests for processing personal data.

In terms of sharing information with others, the university may share limited personal data with other employers in the form of a reference, upon request, or as required to comply with legal obligations or regulatory requirements. 

The Privacy Notice informs employees of their rights under the GDPR in respect of their personal data, including the right to require the university to cease processing personal data and the right to request that the university restrict its data processing activities.

Core Terms and Conditions of Service

The university’s core terms and conditions contain a data protection clause that states that the university will collect, process, and store personal information/data, and refers to the university’s legitimate interests in processing. They also contain a link to the Privacy Notice.

Data Protection Codes of Practice

The Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) gives individuals the right to have access to data stored by the university about them. Confidential references received by the university are exempt from the data subject's right of access, provided that such references are written "In Confidence" and clearly state this. However, this exemption from disclosure to the data subject may not be available in all circumstances. The university may, in any event, decide that it is reasonable to disclose the reference (possibly after anonymising it, e.g., by removing the referee's identity, or where the referee has given their consent). Please refer to Code of practice 3 – Access to personal data by subjects for further information.

Please contact the Staff Hub if you need factual information about an individual's employment history.