uniref was created in 2018 to improve on a laborious paper-based system for accumulating all the information needed to write UCAS tutor references. The paper-based system could not be monitored by tutors or the UCAS administrator, data had to be manually transferred from teachers' comment sheets to the finished UCAS reference on a word processor, then adjusted to fit the UCAS text length requirements.
The uniref system was an instant success when it first appeared at Plymouth College. It has been improved continuously and adapted to cope with changes to the UCAS application process as they appear. Over the intervening years uniref has grown into a substantial commercial product, available to any school that would like to use it. uniref is a member of the Æthereal family of products.
uniref was originally written by Dr Andrew Miller, who was the Head of Computer Science at Plymouth College from 2004 - 2023. As a teacher and sixth form (Years 12/13) tutor, he appreciated, first-hand, how this software needs to function to make the UCAS process much easier for those teachers who are involved with it.