Application: templates and forms

In the admissions ranking for a nursery or kindergarten, working parents prove their employment with a certificate from the employer. It is most often sent back not over its content but over a missing formality. So this request spells out what the certificate must carry: the employer's company number, an outgoing reference number, a date, a signature and a stamp. File it early — the rankings have deadlines, the payroll office does not.

Exemption is granted by the head teacher and almost always rests on a medical document — an application with no certificate attached is usually sent back. Mark whether you are asking for a full exemption or only from particular activities, because a partial one is granted more readily. The pupil still has to attend the lesson unless the decision says otherwise.

A place in after-school provision is at the parent's request and is applied for in writing, usually before the school year starts, because whether a group is formed at all depends on how many applications come in. The application states from which date, until what time, and who will be collecting the child — the last matters, because a teacher will not release a child to anyone not on the list.

A patient is entitled to a copy of the records of their own treatment: discharge summaries, test results, imaging, outpatient notes. You need it for a second opinion, when changing doctor, for an insurance claim, or before a medical board. State the period and the kind of documents, because a general request is usually met with a single discharge summary.

Sitting a resit is applied for in advance and within the deadline — being entered on the examination record follows from an application, not from turning up in the hall. Give the subject, the examiner and the session exactly as they appear in the curriculum, because a mismatch is the commonest reason an application comes back. Check too whether a fee is payable.

Where a diploma is lost, destroyed or damaged, a duplicate is issued from the register held by the school or university. The application identifies exactly which diploma is wanted — year of completion, course, registration number if known — because the issuer searches an archive rather than a name. A fee is usually payable and a declaration of the circumstances required.

Interrupting studies is granted on particular grounds — health, family, work abroad, maternity — and almost always requires a document. What the application asks expressly is which examinations remain outstanding and how they are to be made up, because on returning a student is reinstated into a specific year, not where they remember being.

You need it when applying for a loan, in a dispute about a post or about pay, or simply because your own copy is lost. The employer keeps the personnel file and issues certified copies of what is in it. The request lists the documents you are after by name, because a generally worded one usually comes back with a single sheet.

Unpaid leave is not an entitlement — it is granted by the employer, so the application has to be in writing and has to carry a decision on it. State the exact period and the reason, because whether the time counts towards length of service and insurance depends on how long it is. File it early enough for someone to be able to cover your work.