Home - Personal Statements

What’s the Point of a Personal Statement?

It’s useful because it can:

· help your application be selected for an offer;

· help you be selected for an interview;

· provide material for the questions you’ll be asked at interview;

· show you understand the nature of the course when it is in a subject you have not studied before;

· be the deciding factor when admissions officers are considering borderline cases (e.g. where one of your grades falls below the grade you needed), both when making an offer and when looking at actual results.

Apart from the grades you get and the reference we write about you, your personal statement is one of the most important parts of the application process. It’s the only chance you get to sell yourself to the university as the sort of person they would want in their institution (though some universities do also like to interview people). It really is an essential element of a really good application! Remember, competition for university places is intense. There will be thousands of other people out there with academic backgrounds much like your own.

Use it to make yourself stand out from the rest of the applicants!

What to Include

It is the admissions officer for your course, and their team, who read your personal statement and use it to make decisions about who gets an offer and who doesn’t. They have an important function to fulfil for their university, which is to make sure that they select the sorts of candidates who are likely to succeed in completing their courses and achieving at a high level.

That means they are always looking for not only applicants whose academic performance is good enough, but whose motivation to take that course is strong enough to ensure they complete their course successfully. The personal statement is your chance to convince them that you’re the right person for them!

What follows is the (slightly edited) advice you’ll find by clicking on the help button in the personal statement section of the UCAS application. Obviously, it’s really good advice!

What to include in your Personal Statement
This is your chance to tell your chosen universities and colleges exactly why you are applying, and why they should want you as a student. Admissions officers will want to know why you are interested in the courses that you have applied for and what you hope to do after your studies. A good personal statement is important - it could help to persuade an admissions officer to offer you a place. In many cases applicants are not interviewed, so this may be your only chance to make the case for your admission.

You do not have to use all the space provided. The information you give to support your application should be carefully considered and chosen, and must be presented effectively. Remember that you must be truthful and accurate in what you write, and that although none of your chosen universities or colleges can see whether you have applied elsewhere, all of them can see your personal statement. Whilst it is up to you how this is written, we suggest that you cover some or all of the following points:

· Why you have chosen the courses you have listed, i.e. what interests you and what you have read about them.

· What career plans you have for when you complete your course.

· Any job, work experience, placement or voluntary work you have done, particularly if it is relevant to your subject. You may want to list the skills and experience you have gained from these activities.

· Any accreditation achieved through activities in preparation for Higher Education, for example, ASDAN (Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network) Aim Higher Certificate of Personal Effectiveness (CoPE qualification).

· Any involvement in widening participation schemes such as summer schools or mentoring activities.

· Involvement in master classes or other Gifted and Talented programmes, including those offered by the National Academy for Gifted and Talented youth (NAGTY).

· Details of non-accredited skills and achievement that you have gained through activities such as:

o ASDAN's Universities Award;

o Diploma of Achievement;

o Duke of Edinburgh's Award;

o Liverpool Enrichment Programme;

o Millennium Volunteers Scheme; and

o Young Enterprise.

· Your future plans.

· Any subjects you are studying that do not have a formal assessment.

· Any sponsorship or placements you have or have applied for.

· If you are planning to take a year out, your reasons why and your intentions for that time.

· Your social, sports or leisure interests.

If you have not already included performance details for the individual units of your qualifications in the education section, you may put that information in the personal statement.

We will, along with other verification checks for identity and academic qualifications, test applications to detect plagiarism. If we have cause to question your application, we will inform all the universities and colleges to which you have applied. They will then take the action they consider to be appropriate. If you have applied through a school, college or other UCAS-registered centre, we will also inform this centre.

Additional Guidance

The bullet points below come from a survey of a large number of university admissions officers from a range of universities.

What Are They Looking For?

· An interest in the subject studied in the degree course.

· A sense of how motivated you are to succeed in that course.

· Relevant work experience to support the course.

· Details of your future career aspirations, where relevant to your course.

· Honesty

· Examples and evidence to support the things you are saying about yourself.

· An ability to balance your academic life with your social life (too much of either can lead to problems at university).

· Broad key skills (e.g. team work)

· 100% accuracy - See my guide (on this site, under UCAS Guidance) for help: Common Errors Explained.

· 100% clarity and fluency.

What Are They NOT Looking For?

· Your “life story”, with little relevance to the course.

· Too much information about your A level courses where it’s not specifically useful in showing why you’ve chosen the course you’re applying for.

· Waffle.

· “Ordinary” interests (e.g. going for the odd bike ride with your friends, or listening to music).

· Dishonesty (you’ll be found out at interview if you lie in your personal statement).

· Over complicated language.

· A rushed first draft that hasn’t been checked by an expert (i.e. a teacher).

Most of all…..

Too many students spend far too much time writing about hobbies, interests, clubs and societies. While it is useful to mention these things briefly to show you’re a rounded person, by far the majority of your points should focus on explaining why you want to do the particular course you’re applying for, and why you would be a successful student of that subject!

How Do You Do It?

Have a look at the UCAS website where you will find guidance on specific skills/qualities individual universities are looking for so you can fit your statement to those!

If you’re having trouble getting started, the following guide should help! Have a think about these questions and jot down any notes.

1. Why are you applying for this course?

Possible reasons

· You enjoy the subject. Why?

· You want to study it in greater depth. Why?

· Your work experience made you realise you wanted to do it. Why?

· You want to put the theory you have learned so far into practice in the course. Explain what and why.

· You feel you possess the perfect skills to succeed. Which skills?

· It will give you access to your aspirations post degree (e.g. a career). Which career, and why?

· Anything else that may be unique to you.

2. What experiences have you gained via any work experience that make this course right for you?

Possible points

· W.E. showed you that it is something you really enjoy/have a passion for.

· W.E. showed you it is something you have a skill/ability you want to develop.

· W.E. helped you develop other skills that you think might help you in studying this course at university

e.g.

communication skills,

team working skills,

independence,

trustworthiness,

reliability,

ability to work hard to complete something,

confidence,

problem solving,

computer literacy,

managing others,

etc…

· Anything else that may be unique to you.

Don’t just note down what W.E. did for you, note down some examples of things that you did in your W.E. that developed these skills. You can then cite them in your statement to prove it. Admissions officers like this!

3. What experiences have you gained at school that make this course right for you?

For this you need to think about any of the things that you have done which are likely to show that you have the ability to survive at university. Focus on talking about things you have done recently or are still doing and which show you to be self-disciplined, motivated and a well rounded, sociable individual.

Possible experiences

· Clubs and societies

· Drama productions

· Helping with media productions/broadcast

· Helping with organising lighting/sound etc…

· Playing an instrument

· Helping teachers in class support roles

· Helping teachers in any other way (e.g. tours during parents’ evenings)

· Toe by Toe

· Student parliament/council

· Senior student

· Organising things (e.g. social events, charity work, etc.)

· School responsibilities

· Helping with electives

· Peer mentoring

· Working with younger students in vertical tutor groups

· Anything else you have done at school that might help…

4. What have you got involved in outside of school that might show that you are an interesting, well rounded individual?

Possible experiences

· Interesting hobbies (sorry, but looking after a couple of hamsters doesn’t count)

· Clubs and societies

· Travel

· Theatre

· Reading (either general literature, or a specialist area)

· Dance

· Music/concerts

· Cinema

· Painting

· Etc….

Remember, though, that what you say needs to be specifically linked to the type of course you’re applying for, or to providing evidence for a particular skill or ability you have acquired that will help you through university.

5. What sporting activities have you been involved in that might interest the university?

Some universities are very keen indeed to make offers to gifted and talented sports people. If you are a bit of a star in your sport, it’s worth pointing it out. You may even find that some universities are offering scholarships for sports people (just look on the UCAS site to find out). If your sport is more recreational, however, it is still worth mentioning as it shows you are likely to be a fit and healthy individual with interests beyond the academic. You need to be honest about it though. Or you might get caught out at interview.

Include details of what sports you take part in, any competitions you have taken part in, what level you have reached, etc.. Also talk about what it has taught you that might make you a good candidate for the course (e.g. determination, team work, etc.)

6. What personal qualities do you have that make you particularly suited to the course?

This can be hard to do. It’s often best to ask someone who knows you well to list them for you. Again, be honest. If you say you are extremely outgoing, and your interviewer finds you to be quite shy, it will cast a doubt over everything you have said in the statement! Again, it is always useful to have examples to back up any points you make here.

7. What will go into your concluding statement?

This should be a statement that reminds the admissions officer of why you are so keen to study your chosen course and why you are so suited to university life.

Select one of

a) an experience not already mentioned which relates to your course,

b) an experience not already mentioned which relates your suitability for university

c) an area you have already mentioned and find a way of building on it for a concluding comment about your course/suitability for university.

Possible examples might be:

· work experience,

· holiday,

· conference attended,

· skills,

· out of school activity,

· inspiration from reading,

· career aspiration, activity inside school,

· personal reason for doing the course,

· any other point you think will work…

Drafting Your Statement

When you have noted these things down, it’s time to write the first draft of your statement. Please don’t think that one draft will do! You must get it checked by the teacher assigned to helping you with your application. At the same time, though, do try to make it as good as it can be, and as accurate! Don’t rely on your tutor to do all the hard work for you (because they won’t!!!).

You can follow the structure created by the guide above, or you can combine things into a three part structure, plus your concluding statement:

Part 1 – Which course and why

Part 2 – Academic attributes that make you suitable for that course

Part 3 – Personal qualities that support your application for that course

Concluding statement

Points to remember when drafting:

· Whatever you do, make sure it is fluent, honest, persuasive, accurate and the result of careful drafting!!

· Make sure you use the UCAS website to find out what skill/qualities your universities are looking for so you can fit your statement to them!

· Get it checked by and listen to the advice of the teacher in charge of your application.

· Use a word processor to type up your drafts (and use Microsoft Word, so we can copy and paste it into your UCAS application).

· You also need to make sure it is no more than 4,000 characters long (including spaces), as the UCAS site will not accept anything bigger than that! You can use Microsoft Word’s word count facility to help with this (it’s in the “Tools” drop down menu).