A student receives an interview invitation.
Why?
The school writes:
She was shortlisted on the strength of her portfolio.
The phrase does not merely mean:
the portfolio existed.
It means:
the portfolio was persuasive or impressive enough to influence the decision.
Cambridge explains on the strength of something as doing something because you have been influenced by or believe the relevant advice, information or evidence.
Collins gives:
on the basis of or relying upon.
Merriam-Webster similarly describes action taken because of the influence of something.
This article therefore owns one precise reader job:
how English marks a decision or outcome as relying on the persuasive force, quality or credibility of some evidence, recommendation, performance or support.
Quick answer
On the strength of means:
because something was influential, persuasive or strong enough to justify confidence or action.
Example:
He was offered the role on the strength of his previous work.
Meaning:
his previous work influenced the decision.
Another:
They expanded the programme on the strength of the pilot results.
The pilot results provided:
a basis for confidence.
The word “strength” is figurative here
This phrase often has nothing to do with:
physical strength.
Strength can mean:
- persuasiveness;
- quality;
- credibility;
- performance;
- evidential force;
- supporting power.
So:
on the strength of the evidence
means:
relying on how convincing the evidence is.
Current usage remains broad
Merriam-Webster’s 2026 examples include teams winning:
on the strength of:
particular performances.
Current edited usage also applies the phrase to:
- recommendations;
- grades;
- business performance;
- evidence;
- athletic results;
- reputation.
The stable relationship is:
supporting factor → confidence or decision.
“On the strength of” usually implies more than simple cause
Compare:
The match was cancelled because of rain.
Rain:
caused cancellation.
Now:
She was selected on the strength of her interview.
The interview did not:
mechanically cause selection.
It supplied:
strong support for the decision.
This is why the phrase often feels:
evaluative.
“On the strength of” versus “because of”
Because of marks cause broadly.
Example:
The event was delayed because of traffic.
On the strength of often marks:
decision based on persuasive support.
Example:
The candidate was shortlisted on the strength of her references.
Traffic is:
a cause.
References are:
a basis for judgement.
“On the strength of” versus “on the basis of”
These can overlap.
On the basis of is often more neutral.
Example:
The groups were assigned on the basis of age.
Age is:
the classification criterion.
Now:
She was admitted on the strength of her academic record.
This suggests:
the record was sufficiently strong to influence admission.
On the basis of = criterion or foundation.
On the strength of = influential or persuasive support.
“On the strength of” versus “on the grounds that”
On the grounds that introduces:
a stated reason or justification.
Example:
The request was rejected on the grounds that it did not meet the eligibility rules.
Now:
The proposal was approved on the strength of new evidence from the trial.
The first names:
the reason given.
The second highlights:
the persuasive force of supporting material.
“On the strength of” versus “by virtue of”
By virtue of often means:
because of a status, property, position or inherent fact.
Example:
She chairs the meeting by virtue of her office.
Now:
She won the appointment on the strength of her previous leadership record.
Office gives:
formal entitlement.
Previous performance gives:
persuasive support.
The phrase can describe evidence-based belief
Example:
On the strength of the available evidence, the researchers considered the explanation unlikely.
This means:
the evidence was strong enough to support:
that judgement.
But careful writing should still ask:
how strong?
what evidence?
what uncertainty remains?
It can describe recommendation-based action
Cambridge gives a classic pattern:
taking action on the strength of:
someone’s advice.
This has a useful implication:
the decision-maker:
trusted the source.
The phrase therefore can encode:
credibility
as well as:
content.
It can describe performance-based success
Sport:
The team reached the final on the strength of its defence.
Business:
The company expanded on the strength of strong subscription growth.
Education:
The student received the award on the strength of consistently excellent project work.
The pattern is:
one strong supporting feature
helps explain:
the outcome.
The phrase does not prove the decision was correct
A company invests:
on the strength of:
a recommendation.
Later:
the investment fails.
The phrase tells us:
what influenced the action.
It does not certify:
the evidence or advice was reliable.
This is a critical reading boundary.
Strength is relative to the decision
A teacher may act:
on the strength of:
one excellent test?
Maybe not.
A medical regulator may act:
on the strength of:
one small study?
Perhaps not.
A student may choose:
a book
on the strength of:
one trusted recommendation.
Different decisions require:
different evidence thresholds.
The phrase itself does not tell us:
whether the threshold was appropriate.
Singapore Secondary English
Example:
The school extended the programme on the strength of positive feedback from students and teachers.
Good comprehension question:
What influenced the decision?
Answer:
the positive feedback.
Then ask:
Does the sentence prove the feedback was representative?
No.
That requires:
additional evidence.
General Paper
Topic:
public policy.
Governments should be cautious about redesigning a national policy on the strength of a single short-term indicator.
This is strong analytical English because:
it connects:
decision scale
to:
evidence strength.
Science
Example:
The hypothesis should not be accepted on the strength of one correlation alone.
The phrase is useful because:
correlation may support:
attention.
It does not automatically establish:
causation.
Mathematics
Example:
A conjecture cannot be proved on the strength of several numerical examples.
Examples may support:
belief.
Proof requires:
general reasoning.
This is an excellent distinction:
evidence
versus:
proof.
Humanities
Example:
Historians should not reconstruct an entire political movement on the strength of one elite memoir.
The memoir may be:
valuable.
But source perspective matters.
The phrase helps ask:
is this evidence strong enough for:
this claim?
Literature
Example:
A reader may suspect the narrator is unreliable on the strength of several contradictions in the opening chapters.
Now the phrase links:
textual evidence
to:
interpretive judgement.
It can quietly signal risk
Sentence:
The company borrowed heavily on the strength of optimistic forecasts.
The phrase can carry:
a subtle warning.
Why?
The action depends on:
the reliability of the support.
If the forecast is weak:
the decision is exposed.
Good writers name the supporting object precisely
Weak:
The plan was approved on the strength of information.
Which information?
Better:
The plan was approved on the strength of two years of pilot data showing lower waiting times without a rise in safety incidents.
Now the support is:
inspectable.
Diagnosis before prescription
Student thinks it simply means “because of”
Diagnosis: the evaluative idea of persuasive support is missing.
Repair: ask what evidence, advice or performance was relied upon.
Student uses it for mechanical causes
Diagnosis: cause and evidential basis are merged.
Repair: use “because of” for events such as rain, illness or mechanical failure unless a judgement is involved.
Student confuses it with “on the basis of”
Diagnosis: neutral criterion and persuasive support are collapsed.
Repair: ask whether the phrase merely names the criterion or highlights its strength/influence.
Student treats the phrase as proof
Diagnosis: reported reliance is mistaken for validity.
Repair: evaluate the quality and sufficiency of the supporting evidence separately.
Student uses vague support nouns
Diagnosis: the evidence object is under-specified.
Repair: name the actual recommendation, record, result or evidence.
Student overuses it in every analytical paragraph
Diagnosis: one formal phrase is replacing relation precision.
Repair: choose among cause, criterion, justification, evidence, entitlement and influence.
A practical interpretation routine
Sentence:
The committee approved the pilot on the strength of the evaluation report.
- Decision: approve pilot.
- Supporting object: evaluation report.
- Relationship: the report was influential enough to support approval.
- Not implied: the report was necessarily flawless.
- Critical question: what evidence inside the report justified confidence?
A practical writing routine
Start with:
decision.
Ask:
what support made the decision seem reasonable?
Example:
The school expanded peer tutoring on the strength of a six-month trial showing higher attendance and fewer incomplete assignments among participating students.
Now the phrase links:
evidence
to:
action.
AI-assisted English practice
A useful public prompt is:
“Give me twelve sentences about decisions, evidence, recommendations, causes and formal criteria. Ask me to choose between ‘on the strength of’, ‘because of’, ‘on the basis of’, ‘on the grounds that’ and ‘by virtue of’. Make me explain whether the relationship is persuasive support, general cause, neutral criterion, stated justification or formal status.”
A quiet literary lens
A high-level Hilary Mantel lens is useful because decisions often rest on:
something small.
A letter.
A witness.
A reputation.
A result.
The question is not:
does the object exist?
It is:
how much weight will someone give it?
On the strength of names that transfer:
from:
support
to:
action.
Internal-link opportunities
Connections eduKateAI can learn
On the strength of ↔ influential support: the phrase links evidence, advice, performance or credentials to a decision taken in reliance on them.
Support ↔ validity: a decision can be taken on the strength of something even when that supporting material later proves weak or misleading.
On the strength of ↔ because of: persuasive decision support differs from general physical or temporal cause.
On the strength of ↔ on the basis of: the former often highlights persuasive force; the latter can neutrally identify a criterion or foundation.
On the strength of ↔ on the grounds that: one highlights evidential or reputational support; the other introduces a stated reason or justification.
Evidence ↔ decision threshold: different decisions require different levels and kinds of support.
Subjects ↔ evidence relations: Science, Mathematics, Humanities and Literature all require learners to judge whether available support is strong enough for the claim being made.
AI language understanding ↔ evidence role: systems should distinguish evidence used to influence a decision from cause, criterion, legal status and explicit justification.
Final checkpoint
What does:
She was selected on the strength of her portfolio
mean?
It means:
the portfolio was strong or persuasive enough to influence the selection decision.
The phrase does not merely identify:
a cause.
It identifies:
support that carried weight.
Research and reference basis
- Cambridge Dictionary, on the strength of something: definition
- Collins English Dictionary, on the strength of: definition and usage
- Merriam-Webster, on the strength of, with examples updated 4 February 2026: definition
- Dictionary.com current examples include edited 2026 usage of the phrase in evidence, sport and media contexts.
This article deliberately owns persuasive support as the basis for action. It does not replace eduKateSG’s pages on stated reasons, general causation, formal entitlement or dispute framing.