The Personal Statement
The Personal Statement is the part of the UCAS application which allows the student to market themselves to university admissions tutors. They can write up to 47 lines and no more than 4000 characters including punctuation and spaces. The one statement covers all choices.
It needs to be a well thought out, structured statement which will impress and convey their potential to study the chosen course.
Personal statements are changing for 2025 - details to follow.
There is no right or wrong way to approach this – but it does need to be their own work – UCAS have introduced software to detect copying. Aside from this, admissions tutors are interested in them.
Where to start.
The main question to answer is why the student has chosen to study a particular subject or subjects. The balance of the statement should generally be about 75-80% academic, as this is the most important aspect, although for more vocational subjects such as sport, teaching and medicine etc., more detail will be needed about the student's experience and achievements.
If the student has decided to apply for different subjects at different institutions it is sensible to get some advice about how to approach writing the statement.
It is advisable to write the statement in a word-processing package and cut and paste it when completed. It will take several drafts to get right.
Points to identify:
What the student wants to study at university and why
Specific aspects of the course/s that are of interest
Aspects of current studies that the student particularly enjoys
Extra reading done around the chosen subject.
Relevant work experience or voluntary work and what was learnt from it
Personal experiences which led to the decision to take this subject
Where it is hoped a degree in this subject will lead.
The other aspect of the Personal Statement focuses on achievements outside the classroom - interests, hobbies, community work and so on. It is important not only to list them but to highlight what was gained from the experience.
Things to consider are:
Positions of responsibility:
Prefect duties
Helping out at school events and open days.
Young Enterprise, World Challenge, Duke of Edinburgh award, Debating societies and what was gained from these experiences.
Part-time job
Community and charity work
Interests and skills
Sport and leisure activities
Clubs and societies you are involved in
Musical instruments played and levels of achievement
Subjects studied which are not examined
Languages spoken
Prizes won or positions achieved in interests
It is advisable to outline any plans for your career or for a gap year (especially if applying for deferred entry).
Language
It is vital that the statement does not contain mistakes in spelling, punctuation or grammar. Do not rely on the computer spell checker – it does not always pick up errors such as ‘there’ and ‘their’ for example.
In addition, use plain simple English – many students suddenly start using flowery, poetic language which sounds ridiculous!
Essentials
Take the time and structure the statement well
Don’t embellish or lie
Don't mention a specific university in the statement - the other 4 choices won't be impressed!
Check spelling
There are lots of websites offering advice and examples and even offering to write the statement for a fee, but it is important that nothing is copied as (as mentioned above) UCAS takes plagiarism very seriously, scanning each statement with CopyCat software. Ultimately this could result in the student not getting their place at university.
© 2024 All rights reserved
It needs to be a well thought out, structured statement which will impress and convey their potential to study the chosen course.
Personal statements are changing for 2025 - details to follow.
There is no right or wrong way to approach this – but it does need to be their own work – UCAS have introduced software to detect copying. Aside from this, admissions tutors are interested in them.
Where to start.
The main question to answer is why the student has chosen to study a particular subject or subjects. The balance of the statement should generally be about 75-80% academic, as this is the most important aspect, although for more vocational subjects such as sport, teaching and medicine etc., more detail will be needed about the student's experience and achievements.
If the student has decided to apply for different subjects at different institutions it is sensible to get some advice about how to approach writing the statement.
It is advisable to write the statement in a word-processing package and cut and paste it when completed. It will take several drafts to get right.
Points to identify:
What the student wants to study at university and why
Specific aspects of the course/s that are of interest
Aspects of current studies that the student particularly enjoys
Extra reading done around the chosen subject.
Relevant work experience or voluntary work and what was learnt from it
Personal experiences which led to the decision to take this subject
Where it is hoped a degree in this subject will lead.
The other aspect of the Personal Statement focuses on achievements outside the classroom - interests, hobbies, community work and so on. It is important not only to list them but to highlight what was gained from the experience.
Things to consider are:
Positions of responsibility:
Prefect duties
Helping out at school events and open days.
Young Enterprise, World Challenge, Duke of Edinburgh award, Debating societies and what was gained from these experiences.
Part-time job
Community and charity work
Interests and skills
Sport and leisure activities
Clubs and societies you are involved in
Musical instruments played and levels of achievement
Subjects studied which are not examined
Languages spoken
Prizes won or positions achieved in interests
It is advisable to outline any plans for your career or for a gap year (especially if applying for deferred entry).
Language
It is vital that the statement does not contain mistakes in spelling, punctuation or grammar. Do not rely on the computer spell checker – it does not always pick up errors such as ‘there’ and ‘their’ for example.
In addition, use plain simple English – many students suddenly start using flowery, poetic language which sounds ridiculous!
Essentials
Take the time and structure the statement well
Don’t embellish or lie
Don't mention a specific university in the statement - the other 4 choices won't be impressed!
Check spelling
There are lots of websites offering advice and examples and even offering to write the statement for a fee, but it is important that nothing is copied as (as mentioned above) UCAS takes plagiarism very seriously, scanning each statement with CopyCat software. Ultimately this could result in the student not getting their place at university.
© 2024 All rights reserved