> This is the Markdown of a Backed Help Centre page, https://admin.backed.giving/help/news/2026/2026-10-18-referees-and-fixes.md. Every page is listed at https://admin.backed.giving/help/llms.txt.

This entry follows the [Mid-October 2026 Product News](/news/2026/2026-10-18-product-news) and
covers the changes since. Screens use Backed's default words; if your organisation has renamed any
of them under `Settings > Organisation > Terminology`, you see your own words instead.

## What's new

- **Referee requests.** A round can ask applicants to name referees, who are emailed a link to a
  form of their own and need no account. Build the referees' form on the new `Referee Forms` tab,
  add a `Referee request` field to the application form, and turn on
  `Applicants can view references` and `Show references to assessors` for the round. See
  [Referee requests and references](/administrator/applications/referee-requests),
  [Form builder](/administrator/applications/form-builder) and
  [Create a grant round](/administrator/funding-rounds/create-a-grant-round).
- **The References tab.** An application whose form asks for referees shows a `References` tab with
  each request's status. `Reopen` a completed reference with a reason, or `Request a reference`
  again. See [An application](/administrator/applications/an-application).
- **For applicants and referees.** Applicants send, resend and replace their referee requests from
  the form and see each one's status. Referees open their link, see who they are writing for and
  when the link expires, then submit the reference or decline with a reason. See
  [References, for applicants and referees](/applicant/references) and
  [Applying for a grant](/applicant/applying-for-a-grant).
- **For Assessors.** Where the round shares references, the application shows a `References`
  section, with names hidden in a blind round. See
  [Assessing an application](/assessor/assessing-an-application).

## Fixed

- Opening or deleting a sandbox that does not exist yet says "This Organisation has no sandbox, or
  it is not ready yet." See [Your organisation's sandbox](/administrator/organisation/sandbox).
- A criterion's guidance hint uses your organisation's word for Assessors. See
  [Assessment templates](/administrator/assessments/assessment-templates).
- `Apply` starts straight away on a round that does not allow copying a previous application. See
  [Applying for a grant](/applicant/applying-for-a-grant).
- Emails about contracts, decisions, milestones and new accounts never go to the real address of a
  person your organisation has erased. See
  [Privacy requests](/administrator/organisation/privacy-requests).
- A duplicated Referee Form stays a Referee Form, and a reference link that stopped working while it
  was open says so.