Personal Statements

Personal Statement

What is a Personal Statement?

The personal statement is a very important part of your university application. Admissions tutors will read it carefully and place a lot of importance on it, so it is vital you get it right. Your personal statement will take a lot of thought and redrafting. Don’t worry! Your school will give you lots of support with this.

Your personal statement is a chance for you to articulate why you would like to study a particular course, and what knowledge, skills and experience you possess that demonstrate your passion for your chosen field.

You will be restricted to a maximum of 4,000 characters (with spaces) and can only write one personal statement for each of the 5 courses you are applying for. With that in mind, avoid mentioning any universities by name and if you are applying for different courses, seek the advice of your careers or sixth form team.

Has the personal statement changed?

Yes, the statement requirements have changed… slightly. The personal statement is still a very important part of the application process but it is very much the same as it was before. However there is a now a 3-part structure to help you formulate your ideas. This can be very helpful for some, constricting for others, but it really doesn’t make a great deal of difference. If you prefer to write one long piece of prose, your school staff can help you to form it into the 3 boxes UCAS now requires, but in most cases you should find the new system helpful.

Don’t worry too much about which part of your statement belongs in which box. It doesn’t really matter, as the admissions tutors see your statement as one long piece of prose without any of the sections. The key thing to remember is to put your most impressive things at the top. Admissions tutors have to read hundreds of statements each year, so they may only scan for the good parts. Better then to have your most impressive items in that top box.

Our top tip is not to fall into the trap of talking too much about your skills (which is easy to do with the new 3 box system). If you are applying for an academic course, university admissions teams want to hear more about the knowledge you have gained from your super-curricular activities, rather than the skills gained from your extra-curriculars. The exceptions to this rule (there’s always some) being vocational courses like healthcare and teaching, where evidence of the skills needed for those professions are very important to include, alongside showing off your knowledge of the profession. In these instances, it will be helpful to talk about your work experience reflections and skills gained from volunteering throughout the statement, rather than leaving it all until the last box.

What do I write?

Follow These Stages…

Start with research.

Once you have decided which course to apply for, ensure you read the university course webpage in detail. Look carefully at the modules you will be studying and read the entry requirements in full. Sometimes there will be hints into the type of work experience or wider reading they like to see. You could even contact the admissions tutors and ask them what they are looking for.

Question 1: Why do you want to study this course or subject?

This is the hardest part but we have a few ideas. Try to think about what the deciding moment was for you. When did you realise you wanted to study this course? Was there a eureka moment or was it lots of little things, and what were they?

• Anecdotes: Start with a story or personal experience. Maybe a family member inspired you to be a nurse, or when you took apart your washing machine and fixed it again, it made you want to be an engineer. Maybe you visited a museum and was moved by the artwork and that inspired you to pursue Fine Art. Perhaps you took an interest in your family’s finances and helped your parents with their tax return and this led you to accounting.

• Amazing work experience: Did you find yourself some fantastic work experience that links directly to the course you are applying for. Reflect on a specific experience from that placement, such as watching a doctor treat a patient or seeing a teacher inspire a child. This personal experience can make a great opening.

• Super-curricular activities: It could be you start with an activity that has interested you such as sitting in a taster lecture and hearing something fascinating, or reading/watching something that interested you. Talk about what you learnt.

Remember to be geeky and show off your knowledge. So you could even just start talking about a topic that interests you, almost as if you are writing an essay.

Always keep in mind that you are writing to admissions tutors about why you want to study their course. You are not applying for a job and so talking too much about your skills or extra-curricular achievements will not interest them. The admissions tutors are interested in your knowledge and love of learning. They want to know why you are passionate about this course and what in particular interests you about this subject. With that in mind, this section of your statement is going to be the longest.

Talk about what interests you about the subject and be specific. Choose roughly three topics that you find fascinating and talk about a particular aspect that has interested you in detail. Don’t talk about 12 different things vaguely. It is all about quality, not quantity.

TOP TIP: Never say you are passionate about the course, the admissions tutors hate the word passion as it used far too often. Instead, SHOW them you are passionate by talking about what fascinates you.

Super Curricular Vs. Extra-Curricular

Extra-curricular achievements are ‘extra’ to your chosen course and don’t directly relate to it. For example, if you are applying for a Physics course, the admissions tutors won’t be that interested in your Duke of Edinburgh Award, so you should leave that until the end of your statement. However your super-curricular achievements are anything you do beyond your studies that directly relate to the course you are applying for. If you apply for Physics (as an example) you should talk about the physics taster lecture you attended and what you learnt from it, or the wider reading on particles you enjoyed.

Super-curricular activities can be from a range of sources. For example: wider reading of books or online articles, listening to podcasts, watching documentaries or employer webinars, attending university taster lectures (in-person or online), or completing a MOOC course (these are short university courses that can be completed online).

Remember that you should never just list the books you have read. The admissions tutors want to know specifically what you learnt from them. There isn’t a lot of space in your statement to write about lots of things you read, so pick one interesting thing and reflect on what you learnt from it. What did you find interesting or surprising about it?

Question 2: How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject?

This section of the statement should be dedicated to you talking about your current studies and how they will help you with the course. This can be tricky if you can’t find an immediate link but there is usually something.

e.g. A level Sociology to a Law Degree:

‘Studying Sociology has further stimulated my ambition to read law as by learning how aspects of society can shape individuals, it is only natural to then consider the ways in which individuals attempt to sculpt society, for example through laws.’

A level Psychology to a Midwifery Degree: ‘Psychology has helped me to develop a strong insight into the psychological aspect of pregnancy. This includes how important the attachment between a mother and child is, and how a midwife can help to reinforce this.’

You can also use this section to reflect on your super-curricular activities if you haven’t already done this in section 1.

Question 3: What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?

Towards the end of your statement, you can start to bring in your extra-curricular achievements. For example this could be Cadets, becoming a Prefect, voluntary work, work experience, sports clubs, roles in school etc.

It is very important not to just list your achievements. You must say what you have gained from these experiences and why they will be important to your course. You can’t claim ‘I am a good communicator’ and leave it at that; you must explain how you have gained those skills and why they are important to the course. The PEER method can help with this.

Point – ‘I have good communication skills’

Evidence – ‘Debate Club’

Expand – ‘Being an avid member of the school’s debate club, I have not only developed good communication skills by presenting my views in front of a large audience, but I have also listened to the opinions of others and learned how to respond thoughtfully and respectfully.’

Relevance – ‘This skill will be invaluable as a nurse when interacting with patients who may be rude when feeling vulnerable.’

Don’t write too much for this section. Remember the super-curricular activities, reflecting on your knowledge, are more important for most university courses.

DO’S

  • DO SHOW them you are passionate.
  • DO give specific examples to back-up what you are saying.
  • DO focus on about 4 key things and talk about them in depth.
  • DO expect to produce several drafts of your personal statement before being totally happy with it. The average is about 5 drafts.
  • DO ask the Sixth Form and Careers team for feedback.

DONT’S

  • DON’T tell them you are passionate.

  • DON’T be tempted to buy or copy a personal statement or share yours. All personal statements are checked for similarity – if your personal statement is flagged as similar to other applicants, it could affect your chances of being offered a place.

  • DON’T lie or exaggerate – if you do, you may get caught out in an interview when asked to elaborate on an interesting achievement.

  • DON’T rely on a spellchecker, as it will not pick up everything – proofread as many times as possible. Your written expression is important.

  • DON’T use AI. Tempting as it may be, AI can often churn out the same phrases and ideas that may be picked up as plagiarism by UCAS.

  • DON’T leave it to the last minute – your statement will seem rushed, and important information could be left out.

  • DON’T ask parents or friends for feedback if they do not have experience applying to university. They can proof read for you, but they may not know what is expected of a personal statement. It is very different to a CV or job application.

  • DON’T try to shove all of your knowledge into 4,000 characters. Quality not quantity.

The exceptions

There is always an exception to the rule and for the personal statement if it is job-related courses. For example, if you are applying for a course in nursing or teaching, then your university course will directly lead to a job. Employers value extra-curricular achievements more than universities as they like to see what skills you have gained to help you do the job at hand. For example healthcare courses will look for the NHS Values and 6 C’s. When applying for a job-related course, you are still applying to university, to learn and gain new knowledge, so you have to strike a balance. Talk about your knowledge of the role and your super-curricular achievements, but you can also focus a little more on the skills gained from your extra-curricular experiences.

Your work experience will also be extremely valuable, so talk more about that, but reflect on what you learnt.

e.g. The best Physiotherapist I observed was clearly focused on the patient as an individual as he always tailored his work to different patient’s needs…

[Give a specific example]…for example, if a patient did not feel comfortable he stopped to talk them through the procedure until they were ready…

[Reflect on what this means for you and this course]

…This knowledge reassured me that I am suitable for this career as I have had my own experience in swimming coaching with this. When talking to parents who were unsure why their children were being taught certain things, it helped to explain the reasons why.