NUS and NTU Referee Reports for Grad School

NUS and NTU Referee Reports for Grad School

Singapore sets the referee count programme by programme. NTU's research degrees need two referee reports from institutional email addresses. NUS Computing's coursework master's ask for at least one, its Digital FinTech master's for at least two, and its PhD for two.

Singapore universities call the letter a "referee report" or "reference letter", and on six of the eight programmes in the table below the referee completes an online report rather than posting a letter. Three letters is a US habit. In Singapore it can mean chasing a third professor nobody asked for, while the real risk sits elsewhere: the referee's email address. If you are the referee, your referee report can get a free Quick Review before you submit it.

Every NTU and NUS Computing page quoted below was checked on 31 October 2026. NUS's central admissions pages blocked our automated requests that day, so no NUS-wide rule appears on this page. Check your own programme page before you enter referee names.

Which Singapore programmes ask for referees

The NUS Computing master's pages use the same sentence: "All applications will require at least one referee's report." The Digital FinTech page says "at least two referee's report" [sic]. "At least one" is a floor. Nothing on those pages says a second report helps, and nothing says it hurts.

Our view: for an NUS Computing master's, send one strong report from the person who saw your best technical work, and add a second only if that person saw something different. The countercase: if you are applying to both an NUS master's and an NTU research degree, line up two referees from the start, because NTU says a research application "must be supported by two (2) referee reports."

NTU Singapore and other "NTU" pages

Searches for "NTU reference letter" mix in pages from other universities that share the abbreviation. Nanyang Technological University's own pages sit on ntu.edu.sg. Read the address bar before you follow a referee rule you found in a search result.

How the referee report reaches your referee

NTU research programmes. NTU's research admission guide says: "Provide the name, reference type and institutional email addresses of two (2) referees." It then sets the email rule: "Email address given by the free-email provider will not be accepted (i.e. email address given by hotmail, gmail, yahoo, qq, etc)." Once you submit the referees' details, "it will auto-activate an email to the respective Referee". NTU asks you to tell referees to "look out for the email in inbox/ junk mail and complete it within 14 working days upon receipt." You can check status in the portal and use the "Recommendations Page" to send a reminder.

A professor at a university that gives staff only a Gmail or qq address cannot be your NTU research referee as entered. Find out before you apply. Our page on recommender email domains and letterhead covers the same problem at other universities.

NTU Master of Media and Communication. This programme works differently. Its reference letter guide says: "You may upload both letters to the application portal, under the "supporting document" section together with your online application." The other route: "your referees could email their reference letters directly to wkwsci_coursework@ntu.edu.sg citing your name and application number in the email header." Referees must give "their name, designation, work email address and contact number."

NUS Computing. For the master's: "Applicants are to input the referees' email addresses in their online applications and your referees will receive an email with the relevant instructions." You can send reminders through the Graduate Admission System.

The PhD has two pages that disagree. The PhD admissions page says that if referees send a hardcopy letter, "it should be duly signed and place in a sealed envelope whos openings bear their signature" [sic]. The PhD application page says: "It is not necessary to submit hardcopies of the recommendation letters." Our recommendation: use the online form. If a referee insists on paper, email the department first. Neither page says which one wins.

If the email never arrives, our sibling page on a recommender who did not receive the recommendation link has the fixes, portal by portal.

What the referee report asks

None of the online forms are public, so we cannot quote their questions. The only Singapore guidance we could open on what a letter should contain is NTU's media and communication guide. It asks for three things:

"A description of how they know you, how long they've known you, and how they are familiar with your work"

"Highlight a few of your top qualities they've witnessed—again, using examples as evidence"

"Your motivation to join this programme and how this programme would benefit you in your job/career advancement"

The first two are standard. The third is unusual: it asks the referee to write about the applicant's motivation. Keep that to what the referee has actually heard or seen. Otherwise the letter repeats your statement in the third person.

Constructed example: the "witnessed" paragraph

Constructed example, written by us, not a real referee report. Context (invented): a newsroom editor writing for an applicant to a media master's.

Weak: Wei Ling is hardworking, creative and a natural team player, and she is passionate about media.

Revised: I have supervised Wei Ling Tan for 22 months on our regional desk. In March she found that a widely shared flood photograph was three years old, held our story for an hour while she traced the original, and wrote the correction note we still use as a model. When she asked me about this programme, she said she wanted training in data verification. That fits what I have seen her teach herself on the desk.

The revision answers all three of NTU's points with something the editor saw. The motivation sentence reports a conversation. It does not invent the applicant's goals.

Before you enter your referees

1. Open your programme's own page. Count the referees it asks for. Do not use a university-wide number.
2. For NTU research degrees, confirm each referee has an institutional address. Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo and qq are refused.
3. Tell each referee the subject of the email to expect and to check junk mail.
4. For NTU research degrees, note the 14-working-day window and set yourself a reminder date.
5. For NTU's media master's, agree who sends the letter: you upload it, or the referee emails it with your application number.
6. For an NUS Computing PhD, use the online form unless the department tells you otherwise.

Questions about NUS and NTU referee reports

How many referees does NUS need for a master's?

NUS Computing's master's pages say "at least one". We could not open NUS's central pages or other faculties' pages, so check your programme's page.

Can my referee use a Gmail address for NTU?

Not for NTU research programmes. The guide lists hotmail, gmail, yahoo and qq as not accepted.

Does NTU accept uploaded reference letters?

Some programmes do. The Master of Media and Communication lets you upload both letters or have the referee email them. Research programmes use the online report. For a Chinese professor's letter, including NTU's qq.com rule, see the Chinese professor recommendation letter sample.

Get a free review of the letter

Get a free Quick Review of your recommendation letter against GradPilot's international academic recommendation rubric. It reads for how you know the candidate, incidents rather than adjectives, grades and comparisons a foreign reader can use, your own voice, and a clear endorsement for this programme. If you are writing for a US or Canadian programme as well, the graduate recommendation letter rubric fits that letter.

GradPilot's letter reviews aren't for a letter you drafted for a recommender to submit as their own.

More recommender guides:

• Hong Kong PhD referee reports and the HKPFS: the referee rules for Hong Kong research degrees.
• One personal statement for the UK, Hong Kong and Singapore: the applicant's statement for the same list.
• What PhD committees look for in recommendation letters: what research readers take from a letter.

Hub: graduate school essays.

Sources

Retrieved 31 October 2026, except where noted.

• Nanyang Technological University, Research programmes admission guide (no year stated): two referee reports, institutional email only, auto email, 14 working days, reminders.
• NTU, MSc Robotics and Intelligent Systems (August 2027 intake): two letters of reference.
• NTU, Master of Media and Communication (page shows Academic Year 2026-2027): at least two referees.
• NTU Wee Kim Wee School, Guide to a reference letter (file dated 9 November 2022): contents, upload or email route.
• NUS School of Computing, application information for MComp General Track, MComp Computer Science, MComp AI, MSc Digital FinTech and PhD in Computer Science (no year stated): referee counts and delivery.
• NUS School of Computing, PhD admission requirements (no year stated): two academic referees; sealed-envelope rule for hardcopy letters.
• Not retrieved: NUS central admissions pages and NUS faculty pages outside Computing (automated requests blocked on 31 October 2026). No NUS-wide rule is stated on this page.