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problem with personal statement formatting
I even wrote out my personal statement word by word onto the ucas website, but it still has this weird formatting that skips lines. Example:
The cat sat on hat but then
saw dog on tree and
thought about man.
Have no idea what the problem is, and I keep having to shorten everything because it says it's over by too many lines, when clearly it's the weird spacing stuffing me up. How do i fix this?
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- 4 Common UCAS Personal Statement Issues and How to Resolve Them
The pressure is on, and itâs not helped by the fact that there are a few common problems making things more difficult for some students. Weâve previously given you some tips on how to write an effective personal statement, but in this article, we tackle some of the common issues head-on and show you how to make sure your personal statement still shines.
1. Writing a personal statement for a joint honours course
Itâs notoriously tricky to write a personal statement for a joint honours course – that is, a course on which you study two different subjects. Those two subjects may be fairly similar – such as history and archaeology – in which case it should be fairly straightforward to talk about the two subjects and how they work effectively together. However, if the two subjects are very different – such as Birminghamâs Economics with Italian, or Oxfordâs Computer Science and Philosophy – you face the challenge of trying to talk equally about your interests in both. It can be hard to know how to structure a personal statement that needs to cover two very different subjects, and it can also be difficult to explain your equal enthusiasm for both and how it came about. Many students writing joint honours personal statements end up talking too much about one and not enough about the other, or talking more naturally and enthusiastically about one than the other. The key points you need to get across when applying for a joint honours course are:
- Your interest in both
- Your aptitude for both, and what youâve done to develop your interest in them
- Why you want to study them together, and how the two might complement each other
- How you see these two subjects fitting in with your longer-term aims
Rather than trying to talk about both at the same time, you might find it more straightforward to begin by talking about one subject, then the other, and then perhaps adding a line or two about why you think it would be beneficial to study them alongside each other. A slightly different way of doing it would be to talk about the first subject (what motivates you to study it, what aspects particularly interest you, and so on), and then discuss the second in relation to the first, immediately discussing why you think it complements the first and why you think a joint honours course is for you.
To write an effective personal statement, youâll need to make sure that youâre applying for the same combination of subjects at all your university choices. Your personal statement might sound great if youâre applying for Computer Science and Philosophy at University A, but it will make no sense to University B if youâre applying only for Philosophy. Alternatively, some students choose to write about just one of their joint honours subjects. This leaves them the flexibility to apply for different combinations of subjects, with one in common (such as English and French or English and Spanish). Approaching it this way has the advantage of allowing you to talk in more depth about the main subject; if youâre trying to talk about two subjects in a very limited amount of space, you may not be able to say everything you want to say. On the other hand, if you can show how keen you are on both subjects, and even talk about why you think it makes sense to study both, then your personal statement may come across stronger than that of a student who only talks about one subject, with no explanation as to why they have applied for the joint honours course rather than that one subject on its own.
2. Writing a personal statement for several subtly (or very) different courses
Unless youâre applying for a joint honours course, youâre not going to be able to choose two wildly different subjects, because your personal statement simply wonât work if you try to appeal to admissions tutors from different courses or departments. However, you can choose closely related subjects, and of course some courses are called different things at different universities and cover some different topics. The key here is to look for overlaps in the course content and talk about those. Youâll need to scrutinise the course content closely for each university and draw up a list of the topics that are covered by all of them. Donât fall into the trap of stating your enthusiasm for studying a particular module if itâs not provided at all your university choices, because it will look odd to the universities who donât cover it (and may be enough to lose you a potential offer). Avoid specifically naming any course in particular, as this is another dead giveaway to admissions tutors that another university may be your first choice. If youâre writing with your first choice university in mind, be careful that you donât let slip any information that may reveal this; for example, if you know that the English course at your first-choice university places great emphasis on early English, but your other choices have less of a focus on this aspect, they may be able to tell that your heart lies elsewhere!
3. Explaining a bad grade (or many)
Whether itâs a below-par GCSE grade, or many, or a less-than-brilliant predicted A-level grade, or many, the ease with which youâll be able to explain this shortfall on your personal statement depends very much on the circumstances surrounding it. Nevertheless, easy or not, itâs definitely worth acknowledging it in your personal statement, because the admissions tutor will have noticed – so itâs no use pretending itâs not the case and hoping they wonât notice. Letâs look at some of the possible reasons for low grades and consider each in turn.
Illness or family problems
This may be a sensitive issue and itâs probably best not to dwell too much on in your personal statement; you donât want to look as though you are angling for the âsympathy voteâ. However, genuinely extenuating circumstances that explain a bad grade should be mentioned in passing, along with an explanation of what youâre doing to make up for it and, ideally, evidence to back up your claim that youâre trying to do better. For example, you might say something like: âAlthough my GCSE English grade was lower than Iâd been aiming for due to my falling ill for several weeks during the term before exams, Iâve worked hard to make up for this at A-level, as you can see from my strong AS and predicted grades in this subject.â If you do have extenuating circumstances, your teachers will almost certainly mention them in your references , so youâll have those to back up what you say. If youâre concerned about how your grades may look, talk to your teachers about it and remind them of the circumstances – this should jog their memory so that they remember to mention it in their references.
You didnât work hard enough
This is clearly something you canât admit to in your personal statement, as it will give a very poor impression to admissions tutors. Itâs difficult to explain, though, and you may be at a disadvantage even if youâve since got your act together and improved your grades; there will be many other candidates whose grades are just as good as yours – and better than yours. You certainly canât feign illness or personal problems as an excuse, because your personal statement then wouldnât corroborate what your teachers say in your references, and that would arouse suspicion. Your best bet is to try to show what youâre doing to improve, rather than focusing on the reasons.
Acknowledge – briefly – that your grade(s) arenât as good as youâd like, but tell them what youâre going to improve your forthcoming grades, and prove to them with your intelligent remarks in your personal statement that you are academically gifted. Explain that youâre taking on extra classes to bring your grades up to scratch, or that youâre reading around the subject even more in an effort to improve. Evidence of original thinking in your personal statement – for example, in your comments about what youâve been reading – may be enough to counter the detrimental effect of a poor grade or grades. If you can provide some evidence that youâve improved, even better; for instance, if your GCSE grade in Physics wasnât as good as you were hoping for, but youâre predicted an A in A-level Physics, this is evidence that you are capable of doing better. Without this kind of evidence, you may find that itâs more difficult to win them over; but if the rest of your application is strong, you may just be able to do it.
Youâre not academically up to it
This is the hardest reason to account for poor grades, because there isnât really much you can do about it. If your grades are generally lower than the typical offers of universities youâre applying to, you should be questioning whether or not these universities are actually right for you. Thereâs nothing wrong with aiming high, within reason; but if youâre going to struggle academically, youâre probably not going to have a particularly enjoyable university experience. This is an issue that you should talk to your teachers about; you need a frank and objective opinion from someone who knows your academic standard. Itâs a hard thing to face up to, but youâll thank yourself in the long run.
4. Not enough extra-curricular activities
Many students worry that they donât have enough extra-curricular activities to talk about on their personal statements. This neednât necessarily be a hindrance to you, as personal statements are there primarily to assess your academic interest in and suitability for the subject for which you are applying. In fact, students often make the mistake of devoting too much of their personal statement to talking about extra-curricular activities, which is worse than not having enough to talk about. Hobbies are useful for showing that youâre a well-rounded person, and theyâre especially helpful if they have some relevance to your course (for instance, you play in an orchestra and youâre applying to read Music), but for universities in the UK, theyâre not the be all and end all that you may have heard they are (American universities may place more importance on them, however). You certainly donât need a huge long list of them. Here are some of the things you could do about this if you really feel itâs an issue:
- Devote more of your personal statement to talking about aspects of your A-level courses youâve enjoyed.
- Discuss books youâve read on the subject, and perhaps towards the end mention what kind of books you enjoy reading in your spare time (they donât have to be relevant to the course in the context of general comments about your hobbies).
- Spend more time highlighting aspects of the subject that youâre most looking forward to learning more about, and why.
- Talk about the extra-curricular things youâre planning for the summer: you donât necessarily have to be doing them now. For example, âIâm planning to spend the summer developing my French skills whilst touring Franceâ.
- Take up a new extra-curricular activity right now! They donât need to know that youâve only just started it. If you are going to do this, you could score extra brownie points by making it something that not only demonstrates key attributes such as teamwork, but that also has some relevance to the course youâre applying for. It could even be a blog dedicated to something related to your subject.
These are four of the most common issues students encounter when writing personal statements, but as weâve seen, there is almost always a way around them. If youâre in need of extra advice, donât be afraid to seek the help of a teacher who knows you and your work. Personal circumstances have a big part to play in university applications (thatâs why theyâre called âpersonalâ statements!); although it may not seem like it, universities arenât looking for a generic âcookie cutterâ student, and your personal statement probably isnât as bad as you fear.
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By Nik Taylor (Editor, The Uni Guide) | 13 September 2023 | 9 min read
Personal statement FAQs
We've gone through some of the most commonly asked personal statement questions and put all the answers in one place
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Your personal statement is a big part of your uni application. It's where you can show universities why they should give you a place on your chosen course. Read on for quick tips on writing your personal statement. We'll cover what sort of things to include, along with answers to some of the most commonly asked questions that crop up over on our sister site The Student Room . If you can't find an answer to your question here, try posting it to the personal statements forum on The Student Room .
The university application personal statement is changing in 2025 |
---|
University admissions service Ucas has announced that a new style of personal statement will be launched in 2025. This will affect anyone making a university application from autumn 2025 onwards. . |
When should I start writing my personal statement?
Itâs never too early to start thinking about it! However, you'll need a good idea of what course youâre going to apply for before you launch into writing it. On the other hand, donât leave it too late as it's quite a long process and you're likely to have a few drafts before reaching your finished product.
Remember:Â your referee will need to see your personal statement before they can write your reference. If you get yourself organised over the summer, you can start by jotting down a few ideas over those few weeks - ready to start writing it when you arrive back to school or college in September.
The Ucas application deadline for most undergraduate uni courses starting in September 2024 is 31 January 2024. If you're applying to Oxbridge or for medicine, dentistry or veterinary science courses to start in 2024 there's an earlier deadline â 16 October 2023. You can find all the key Ucas deadlines and application dates for 2024 entry in this article .Â
- Read more: universities reveal all about personal statements
How long can the personal statement be?
Statements are limited to whichever is shorter of either:
- 4,000 characters (including spaces)Â OR
Be aware that software such as Microsoft Word may not give a character or line count that completely matches what the Ucas form says. The character count should be reasonably accurate, but the line limit is more difficult because lines may wrap at different points depending on the software you're using.
The only way to be 100% sure what the character and line counts are is to copy your draft statement into your online Ucas form (but be careful not to submit it unless you're sure it's the final version). You can edit and save your personal statement without submitting it as many times as you like, and you'll only be able to mark the section as complete when you're on the preview screen.Â
If testing out your personal statement draft on your Ucas form still feels too risky, you can get a good indication of where you're at by using the Courier New font, size 10, with the default margins, to get a reasonable estimate how many lines your personal statement will be. If you've left a line between paragraphs, then you will probably reach the line limit before the character limit.
- Read more: how to write an excellent personal statement in ten steps
Where do I start?
Most people wonât be able to just start writing the statement off the top of their head â so itâs a good idea to jot down a few notes first. The main things to think about are:
- What do I want to study? (if you can't answer this, you should probably concentrate on working it out before writing your personal statement).
- Why do I want to study it?
- What personal qualities, interests and experience do I have which show I am suited to this subject, and to study at university?
Many people have trouble writing about themselves and their personal qualities. If youâre struggling with this step, it can be helpful to look up some information on writing a CV - there are a lot of parallels in how to put yourself forward effectively.
- Read more: five practical tips to help with your personal statement
What sort of structure should I use?
Most people write their personal statement in an essay style, starting off with the course, and why they want to do it, then talking about their relevant work experience and skills and finishing off with extracurricular activities.
As a guide, spend around two thirds of the space talking about your course and how youâre suited to it, and one third on your work experience and other activities. Exactly how you write your statement depends on your subject â generally people write more about work experience for vocational subjects like medicine and law than they would for subjects like maths or English where work experience is less important.
- Read more: avoid these ten biggest personal statement mistakes
No formatting of any type is allowed in your personal statement (except using capital letters), so any bold, italic, or underlined words will disappear in the preview.
Tabs and multiple spaces will be condensed to a single space, so it is not possible to indent lines. Single spaces at the beginning of lines will also be removed.
You have a very limited set of special characters. Common symbols that aren't allowed are ⏠and the special quote characters â â â â which will simply be removed from your statement, so remember to replace quotes with " and '.
Backslashes (\) are also not allowed, but will be replaced with forward slashes (/) and curly brackets will be replaced with normal ones.
Whatâs the most important part of the personal statement?
Write about your aspirations in a meaningful way. The crucial bit about a personal statement is where you talk about the subject you are applying for and why you want to do this at uni. Admissions tutors will always focus on this bit â so make this interesting and not just a list of books. Your personality should emerge here â they should be able to understand what is driving you to apply for this course, as well as getting a sense of your energy and enthusiasm.
- Read more: how to write your university application
Should I talk about what I want to do after university?
You could, but only if you have a good idea of what you want to do. If you sound sure about what you want to do after uni it gives the impression that youâve thought carefully about your course and what you want to do with it. It's also a nice way to round off your statement, rather than finishing on less important stuff like extra curricular activities. If you donât have any future plans, then leave this bit out â you donât want to be asked about them at interviews.
Should I talk about my qualifications?
No. Thereâs already a section on the Ucas form for this, so donât waste the space on your personal statement. If you have something important which doesnât go in the qualifications section, ask your referee to put it down in your reference â it will sound better if it comes from them than from you. This goes for module marks as well. Some people are told they should try to link each A-level to the course they are applying for. It can be far more effective to focus your time and space on talking about the subject you are applying for â that is what matters.
How do I write it for two different courses?
Thereâs no easy way to write a personal statement for two totally unrelated courses. If the courses are similar you may find you can write a statement relevant to both, without mentioning either subject by name. If the courses are completely unrelated, it may be impossible to write for both subjects without your personal statement sounding vague and unfocused. Instead you will need to concentrate on just one subject and just ignore the other â it sometimes works!
What are admissions tutors looking for?
Different admissions tutors are looking for different things, but in general they will be thinking things like:  âDo we want this student on this course?â , and âDo we want this student at this university?â  And most will be looking for an interest in the subject you are applying for that goes beyond simply your A-level syllabus/reading list.Â
Remember, most universities and departments now publish information on applications and writing personal statements, so reading the subject section of their website might list more specific information on exactly what theyâre looking for. If in doubt, google the name of the university along with the subject/course and admissions statement.
- Read more: 6 steps you need to take to apply to university
Is it worth doing loads of extracurricular stuff to make it sound good?
Thereâs no point doing extra things just to try and make yourself look good to universities â you wonât enjoy it and it probably wonât help much either. An interest and aptitude for the course is likely to be more important to admissions tutors than lots of extracurricular activities. If you do want to do something to boost your application, read relevant books or do work experience related to the subject instead.Â
What happens if I lie on the personal statement?
If you aren't confident that the universities will accept you based on your predicted grades or something else, you might reconsider applying.Â
It's best not to write anything which you can't back up in interview if necessary. Interviewers can and do bring up nearly anything in a personal statement as a basis for questions.Â
Any last tips?
What have you done that's relevant to your subject, that is unique, and that it's likely no one else is going to write about in their personal statement? Many people have similar interests and work experience, so you need something to separate you from the crowd. For example, everyone who applies for economics seems to read The Economist, The Financial Times, and The Guardian. So if you put down those, don't expect them to be amazed by your reading around the subject. Have a deeper think â what makes you special?Â
- Read more: how to write your personal statement in an evening
And the most important thing?
Finally, remember that itâs your personal statement, and you can write whatever you want  on it. If everything in this guide conflicts with what youâve got already, but you think you still have a killer personal statement, then use that. A personal statement is about you , and you shouldnât let anyone tell you what to put â sticking blindly to a formula will just stop your true personality showing through.
Tricks to squeeze more in
- Remember it's a personal statement, and leave out anything unnecessary.
- Don't repeat yourself.
- Cut out the waffle â be concise!
- Get rid of pointless words, such as very specific details or unecessary adjectives
- Ask your referee to mention some stuff that you cannot
- Get some structure to your statement
- If you can't get it under the line/character limit, you may just have to chop whole sentences
What should I do once Iâve written it?
Get people's opinions on it! Show it to your friends, parents, teachers, career advisors and so on and note down their comments. The most useful comments are likely to come from your teachers in the subject and the people at your school or college who handle Ucas applications. If you have enough time, leave your personal statement for a couple of weeks to a month and come back to it â if youâre not still happy with what you wrote, itâs time to start redrafting.
Definitely do not post it on an internet forum or discussion board. If your personal statement is published online before your application is complete, it may get picked up by Ucas' plagiarism detection .
You may want to look at these...
The ucas personal statement is changing in 2025.
A question-based personal statement will be required as part of university applications from autumn 2025 onwards
Teacher secrets for writing a great personal statement
Writing a personal statement is one of the most important things you will do when applying to university. Here is some useful advice and insider knowledge from Mrs Kinetta, who has more than 25 years of experience as a sixth form tutor.
How to write an excellent personal statement in 10 steps
Help and advice on putting your application together
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UCAS Personal Statement Formatting-- Beware
Moderators: Section Moderators , Forum Moderators
Post by SteveDH » Sat Sep 21, 2013 10:34 am
Re: UCAS Personal Statement Formatting-- Beware
Post by aliportico » Sat Sep 21, 2013 11:50 am
Post by Guest55 » Sat Sep 21, 2013 12:20 pm
Post by SteveDH » Sat Sep 21, 2013 5:36 pm
Guest55 wrote: You can start a new line to break up the text.
Guest55 wrote: School recommended writing it in WORD with the page width set correctly so you could see how it would look. You can also count up in WORD so you know exactly where you are.
Post by aliportico » Sat Sep 21, 2013 6:56 pm
Post by Guest55 » Sat Sep 21, 2013 7:02 pm
Post by stevew61 » Sat Sep 21, 2013 7:12 pm
Post by Guest55 » Sat Sep 21, 2013 7:21 pm
Post by SteveDH » Sat Sep 21, 2013 8:06 pm
Guest55 wrote: Our DS hand to hand something in on paper first ... it's still September so you have got a while to wait yet! School had deadlines for a first draft etc which did seem to focus the mind.
Post by Guest55 » Sat Sep 21, 2013 8:33 pm
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Personal statement preview
2020 Undergraduate Application
Make sure your personal statement is your own work
We'll carry out checks to verify your personal statement is your own work.
Provided it is your own work, you can use your personal statement from your application last year. If it appears to have been copied from another source, we'll inform the universities and colleges to which you have applied. They will then take the action they consider appropriate. We'll also contact you by email to tell you this has happened.
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Preview of personal statement
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Writing a Personal Statement for UCAS: The 10 Big Mistakes Students Should Avoid
James is senior content marketing manager at BridgeU. He writes and directs content for BridgeU's university partners and our community of international schools
- Writing a UCAS Personal Statement for a subject that isnât the right fit
- Spelling & grammar mistakes
- Avoid pointless cliches
- Endlessly listing extracurriculars
- Over-using quotes or taking them out of context
- Telling the reader something they already knowÂ
- Ignoring word limits
- Unnecessary origin stories
- Making things up
- Controversy
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Writing a UCAS Personal Statement requires a student to convey a lot of information in a short space of time. Mistakes are easy to make. Read our run down of the most common ones and how to avoid them
Writing a Personal Statement for UCAS is, in many ways, like asking a student to tell the story of their life in 4,000 characters or less.
And if that sounds hard, itâs because it is.
The UCAS Personal Statement is the cornerstone of a UK university application . Students need to write a genuine, authoritative and compelling account of who they are and what they want from a UK university degree. They need to quickly grab the attention of the university admissions officer reading their Personal Statement, and they need to make sure they stand out from the hundreds of other applications that will be crossing that admission officerâs desk.
In order to do this, the Personal Statement will require a student to master form, structure and content in such a way that makes their writing stand out.
Understandably, students might feel an inordinate amount of pressure to get their Personal Statement right first time.
Indeed, more often than not, itâs not a case of students being lazy when writing their UCAS Personal Statements. The problem is often that students will have a lot to say and will have put a lot of thought into their Statement, but may make some simple stylistic mistakes that could cost them when they finally submit their application.
But if these mistakes are easy to make, theyâre also easy to avoid.
So weâre going to take you through the 10 most common (and potentially costly) mistakes that a student might make in their UCAS Personal Statement, and give you some tips on how to help your students avoid them.
Bonus Resource â To help your students avoid any major mistakes before they begin, our Personal Statement worksheet helps them to plan and write a truly compelling account of themselves. Click here to download
1. Writing a UCAS Personal Statement for a subject that isnât the right fit
If students have done their research carefully and considerately, then this shouldnât be a problem. Ideally, in the year leading up to the submission of the Personal Statement, your students will have shortlisted their university and course preferences to the point where theyâre applying for a subject area theyâre truly passionate about.
But this first, major mistake is the natural conclusion of a student being pressured into a subject or career path by family, parents or even school peers. Hopefully this wonât happen â but if a student is writing their UCAS Personal Statement for a subject theyâre not truly passionate about, then this should set off alarm bells. It will ultimately affect the quality of the Personal Statement.
And, most importantly, admissions staff will easily spot a Personal Statement where the studentâs heart isnât in it.
Top tip: We at BridgeU are big fans of students finding their best-fit universities and courses (after all, itâs why we built our platform!). Students need to put a lot of time into making sure the UK course they are applying for is right for them. Starting a Personal Statement without having thoroughly researched university and course options is one of the most fundamental mistakes a student could make.
2. Spelling & Grammar Mistakes
This may seem like a rather obvious mistake, and one your students hopefully shouldnât be making.
But the tight time frames associated with a UCAS Personal Statement will make spelling and grammar mistakes more likely, especially if your students arenât taking the time to proof-read their personal statement before submitting it.
Spelling and grammar mistakes can really count against students, and can make their writing appear sloppy or poorly thought through. Itâs an especially bad look if your students are applying for humanities or social sciences courses, or indeed any degree that requires a lot of extended writing!
Top tip: Encourage your students to print out their Personal Statement. Whilst we know that a lot of students do more things digitally these days (and BridgeU is an online platform after all!), reading a UCAS Personal Statement back as a living, printed document can really help students hone their eye for detail!
3. Avoid exuberant language and pointless cliches
âMy love of Physics began when I used to look up at the night sky as a child, and found it simultaneously breath-taking and awe-inspiring.â
âIâve been passionate about the works of William Shakespeare since seeing my first production on stage. Iâm fascinated by how Shakespeare remains relevant for today.â
Can you see whatâs wrong with these two examples?
Whilst they are very positive and well-worded statements about why a student might want to study astrophysics, or Shakespearian literature, both these Personal Statement examples tip very quickly into cliche and generalisation.
Weâre not suggesting you shouldnât encourage your students to use positive language when writing a UCAS Personal Statement, but this positive language needs to be backed up with clear, specific examples and rigorous analysis.
Remember â the key to an excellent Personal Statement is showing, not telling.
So why is Shakespeare still relevant to today? What specific examples could a student writing about a 16th century author use to demonstrate their relevance to the 21st century?
Likewise, proclaiming a love for the wonders of the night sky is all well and good, but why did it make our example student want to study Physics?
Top tip: Encourage students to set a limit on the number of adjectives or descriptive phrases they use in their writing. Itâs important to remember a Personal Statement has to accomplish a lot in a relatively short number of words. If students over-use words like âpassionateâ, âbreathtakingâ and âawe-inspiringâ theyâre just going to end up repeating themselves.
4. Endlessly listing extracurricular activities
Extracurricular activities are a vital part of any Personal Statement. If used in the right way, they can help a student to stand out, and seem like a more well-rounded person. Extracurriculars can also help to showcase valuable soft skills that universities value in their students.
But thereâs no point using extracurriculars like a grocery list. Students endlessly describing their extracurriculars will mean nothing if they donât link them back to the overall narrative of the Personal Statement.
Again, itâs about showing, not telling. Saying âI have captained my school football team for three yearsâ means nothing if the writer doesnât explain this activity within the context of the Personal Statement.
Top tip: When planning their Personal Statement, students need to think about the extracurricular activities that can demonstrate soft skills. What did they learn from doing this particular extracurricular activity? Do they think it will set them apart in their overall application? If the answer is no, then itâs best not putting it in.
5. Over-using quotes or taking them out of context
Remember what we said about exuberant language and cliches?
Itâs the same with the use of quotes.
Quotes can be a powerful tool to back up any argument, be it in a UCAS Personal Statement or any other kind of essay.
But quotes used clumsily can often have the opposite effect, and make the writer of a Personal Statement seem pretentious or just quoting for the sake of it.
Many students may feel tempted to open their Personal Statement with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi, or Martin Luther King. A student who is submitting an application for psychology may feel it necessary to begin their Personal Statement with a quote from Sigmund Freud.
The trouble is that many UK university admissions tutors have probably seen the same quotes again and again. Again, if quotes arenât used in context, or donât serve the overall narrative of the Personal Statement, then it may be worth not putting them in.
Itâs also important to remember that universities want to hear from the student, not Sigmund Freud! If in doubt, a student writing a Personal Statement should use their own thoughts and insights, not someone elseâs.
Top tip: Encourage students to use less well-known quotes in their Personal Statement. Quotes from less well-known, specialist thinkers within a subject discipline are more likely to show that a student is widely read and has a deep and rich knowledge of the subject theyâre applying for.
6. Telling the reader something they already know
Demonstrating subject knowledge and background reading is vital for a UCAS Personal Statement. But this must fit in with the studentâs overall story of why they want to study that particular degree.
What students shouldnât do is explain academic or scientific theories at length, or regurgitate existing arguments that have already been made by other writers in their chosen field of study.
Students writing a UCAS Personal Statement need to operate from the assumption that the person reading it is probably an expert in their field. Itâs only worth students talking about their wider reading, or their take on another piece of academic writing, if they can demonstrate its relevance to them.
Top tip: Students should avoid going into depth about other academic or scientific theories unless they have a bearing on the studentâs own worldview, and can tell the reader something about why they want to study for that particular course.
Video: Tips from UCAS on starting a Personal Statement
7. not paying attention to word/character limits .
Itâs pretty hard to literally ignore the word/character limit for the UCAS Personal Statement, as there will come a point where students will simply run out of space.
But some students can fail to pay attention to word/character limits to the extent that they donât plan the form and structure of their UCAS Personal Statement properly.
Planning the overall structure and flow of the Personal Statement before writing it is absolutely essential if students are to make the most of the space that UCAS allocates. Half finished thoughts and hastily written conclusions will do more harm than good when someone reads the Personal Statement.
Top tip: Run one class/workshop with students where they brainstorm and plan the overall structure of their UCAS Personal Statement. Break the components of a good personal statement down into chunks, and get students thinking about the optimal structure for making their Personal Statements as good as they can be!
8. Unnecessary origin stories
Everyone loves an origin story (why else would film studios keep remaking Spiderman?). But origin stories in UCAS Personal Statements can sometimes be a waste of time (this is in sharp contrast to an application like the Common App in the USA), where they love to hear a studentâs origin story)
Remember our physics student from Tip no.3 who loved to gaze at the night sky? Childhood anecdotes are great, and can certainly add character to a studentâs application. But theyâre not always necessary to showcase a studentâs devotion to their chosen subject.
In fact, itâs fair to say that admissions tutors at UK universities are more interested in an applicantâs more recent contributions or achievements in their chosen field of study than snippets of their biography.
Yet it remains the case that students sometimes feel the need to profess their lifelong devotion to a subject theyâre hoping to study at university. Itâs really not necessary.
In fact UCAS themselves once published a list of the most commonly used opening lines in a Personal Statement . Three of the most frequent openings were
âI have always been interested inâŠâ (used 927 times)
âFor as long as I can remember I haveâŠâ (used 1,451 times)
âFrom a young age I have always been interested in/fascinated byâŠâ (used 1,779 times)
Not only does drawing on childhood memories risk losing sight of more relevant information, itâs also something that lots of universities have seen before.
9. Making things up
We hope that none of your students would ever lie in their Personal Statement. But if someone feels the pressure to stand out from the crowd and really impress a university, then it could happen.
Even small, believable exaggerations could come back to haunt a student if they were hypothetically invited to an interview further down the road. It could be as small as pretending to have read a particular book, or quoting/discussing a piece of research in their chosen subject field and not having fully engaged with it.
Top tip: When it comes to putting anything untruthful in a Personal Statement, we can only offer you one piece of advice to give to your students.
Donât do it! Itâs not worth it, students will probably get found out and thereâs likely plenty of achievements and skills that students can talk about in their Personal Statement. They just need to think long and hard about what it is!
10. Being controversial or contrarian for the sake of it
Being controversial or argumentative can seem like a good way to sit up and get the readerâs attention â but itâs not worth a student doing it unless theyâve really got the evidence and the argument to back it up.
For example, arguing against a famous essay or piece of research in a studentâs chosen subject might seem like a good way to score some brownie points. But why does a student take issue with this particular piece of research? And is it really wise to try and tackle it in the space of a 4,000 character Personal Statement.
Top tip: Students should definitely be independent and analytical when discussing their degree subject in their Personal Statement â after all, itâs the most surefire way to stand out. But taking a contrarian position, or trying to make an explosive new contribution to academic discourse in the course of one Personal Statement probably isnât a good idea.
Writing a Personal Statement for UCAS â final tips to avoid mistakes
What do these mistakes all have in common?
The answer is they are the natural consequence of students forgetting some of the core principles of UCAS Personal Statement writing.
- Students need to ensure their Personal Statements are well-structured and well-planned â so as to avoid spelling mistakes and/or falling foul of the character limit.
- Students need to keep their Personal Statements as unique to them as possible â this means staying truthful to their own ambitions and worldview, and avoiding generalisations or cliches.
- A good Personal Statement needs to be rooted in strong analysis and writing that makes good use of evidence and specific examples to back up an argument.
- A standout Personal Statement needs to be compelling account of a studentâs suitability for a course with a good story at the heart of it â it needs to show, not tell.
Our Personal Statement template is a great resource if you want to help your students plan and write a truly individual Personal Statement, and avoid some of the mistakes weâve listed here. Download it below!
Bonus Resource!
How to write a Personal Statement Worksheet & Template
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- Mature Student Personal Statements
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Personal Statement FAQs
Our personal statement FAQs will help ease the pain of writing a personal statement for your UCAS form . More advice can also be found on our blog .
- When to start writing a personal statement
- Personal statement length
- How do I begin writing?
- What are the admissions tutors looking for?
- Most important part of a personal statement
- Writing a statement for two different courses
- Your plans after university
- How to structure a personal statement
- Extra-curricular activities
- Qualifications
- Personal statement examples
- After you've written your statement
- Posting your statement online
- Asking for feedback
- Further advice
- Mature students
- International students
1. When should I start writing my personal statement?
It's never too early to start thinking about it! Unfortunately, UCAS deadlines have a tendency to creep up on most students, especially if you are applying to Oxbridge where the deadline is much earlier than other universities ( 15th October ).
However, you probably want a good idea of what course you're going to apply for before you launch in to actually writing the thing .
Check out Choosing A Degree if you're still deciding what subject to take.
On the other hand, don't leave it too late - you'll probably need a few weeks to write it and a week or so to get a reference written.
As a general guide we would say start writing it when you come back to school or college after the summer, though it might be worth jotting down a few ideas during the holidays.
We know some people are extremely organised and get at least their first draft done by the end of the summer!
2. How long can the personal statement be?
There is no actual word limit - instead, you have a maximum of 47 lines or 4000 characters to work with.
This is all the space UCAS give you on their online system, Apply . You can check that your statement will fit in the area provided by using our handy Personal Statement Length Checker .
3. How do I start writing my personal statement?
Most people won't be able to just start writing their personal statement off the top of their head - so it's a good idea to jot down a few notes first.
The main things to think about are:
- why do you want to study your chosen course?
- how do your skills, experiences and interests prove you are passionate about and committed to taking this course?
These are the two main things to start with, and if this still doesn't help you can look at a few more detailed starting points .
Many people have trouble writing about themselves and their personal qualities.
So if you're having trouble pop down to a library or bookstore and get a book on writing CVs that will go into this process in much more depth.
4. What are admissions tutors looking for?
Usually the sort of things you've written about for the part above!
Obviously the things admissions tutors are looking for will differ but in general: "Do we want this student on this course?" And "Do we want this student at this university?".
The idea of your personal statement is to show this - so once you've written it, have a read through and see if it answers these questions.
Individual universities and departments often publish information on applying and writing personal statements, so surfing the admissions scetion of their website should turn up more specific information on exactly what they're looking for.
Our blog post, 8 Things Not To Put In Your Personal Statement , will help you avoid making any obvious errors. Then check out What You Should Include In Your Personal Statement to make sure you don't miss anything important.
Read through our Personal Statement Writing Tips and How To Write A Personal Statement Guide for more comprehensive information and advice.
5. What's the most important part of the personal statement?
From our days of GCSE English, we would say either the beginning or the end.
A good first sentence will get the reader interested and ensure they actually read your statement rather than skim it.
A good ending will ensure the reader remembers your personal statement, though it also helps to have a good middle section as well.
The first line is probably the most important thing to work on. Most people put their reasons for studying the subject at the top, and this is generally regarded to be the most crucial part of the statement, as you need to hook the reader and make them want to read more.
However, the rest of your statement should make you shine as a candidate too, so there isn't really a definite answer to this question!
Just try to make your personal statement as interesting and polished as you can.
6. How do I write a statement for two different courses?
There's no easy way to write a personal statement for two totally unrelated courses.
If the courses are similar (i.e. Business Studies and Economics ) you may find you can write a personal statement that is relevant to both subjects without mentioning either subject by name.
If the courses are totally unrelated it may be impossible to write for both subjects without your personal statement sounding vague and unfocused.
Instead, you will need to concentrate on just one subject and just ignore the other, although you may want to question whether it's a good idea to apply for such different course, and re-think your subject choice .
7. Should I talk about what I want to do after university?
You could, but only if you have a good idea of what you want to do.
If you sound sure about what you want to do after university , it gives the impression that you've thought carefully about your course and what you want to do with it.
It is also a nice way to round off your personal statement , rather than just finishing on less important stuff like extra curricular activities.
If you don't have any future plans then leave it out - you don't want to be asked about them at interviews .
8. How should I structure my personal statement?
Most people write their personal statement in an essay style, usually starting off with the course and why they want to do it, then talking about their relevant work experience and skills, and finishing off with extra curricular activities.
However, you can use any style that you feel works best for you.
As a guide, spend around 50% of the space talking about your course and how you're suited to it and 50% on your work experience and other activities.
Exactly how you write your personal statement depends on your subject - generally people write more about work experience for vocational subjects like Medicine and Law than they would for Maths or English , where work experience is less important.
9. Is it worth doing loads of extra-curricular stuff to make my statement sound good?
There's no point doing extra things just to try and make yourself look good to universities - you won't enjoy it and it probably won't help much either.
From what we've seen, an interest and aptitude for the course is more important to admissions tutors than lots of extra curricular activities.
If you do want to do something to boost your application, read relevant books or do work experience related to the subject instead.
10. Should I talk about my qualifications?
No. There's already a section on the UCAS form for this, so don't waste space talking about them on your personal statement.
If you have something important that doesn't go in the qualifications section, ask your referee to put it down in your reference - it will sound better if it comes from them than from you.
11. Where can I see some example personal statements?
We have loads of free personal statement samples that you can browse through, broken down into subject categories so you can hopefully find what you are looking for quite easily!
Looking at what other students have written and submitted on their application is a useful way of seeing what makes a great personal statement (and what doesn't!).
Just make sure you don't copy sentences or whole chunks of these examples though, as UCAS has plagiarism detection software and your application will be rejected if it's found you've cheated!
12. What should I do after I've written my statement?
Ask for opinions on it!
Show it to your friends, parents, teachers, career advisors, etc and note down their comments.
The most useful comments are likely to come from your teachers in the subject and the people at your school or college who handle UCAS applications.
If you have enough time, leave your personal statement for a couple of weeks or a month and come back to it - if you're not still happy with what you wrote, it's time to start redrafting.
13. Should I post my personal statement online?
It's generally not a good idea to post it on an internet forum or discussion board before you've started university.
Anyone can steal information off a website and pass it off as their own, and with something as important as a personal statement, you don't want that to happen.
You should be OK sending it to people you trust by email - see the next question for a better way of getting people to look at it.
14. Where can I ask for feedback on my personal statement?
To get people to look at your personal statement without the risk of plagiarism visit the personal statement review section.
You can also get your personal statement professionally edited and reviewed here at Studential, through one of our very popular personal statement editing and critique packages.
We offer a range of services covering a variety of prices, so there's bound to be a package suited to you.
15. I'm still stuck with my personal statement - where can I find more in-depth advice?
Some people say writing a personal statement is easy â maybe it is, but itâs difficult to write a personal statement well. As this is such a big topic to cover, we suggest taking a look at our personal statement examples to help give you some inspiration for what to write, and then read through our personal statement writing guide  when youâre ready to put pen to paper. Browse through the other information and advice  we have in our personal statements section, and if you still feel you need a little extra help, you can always get your personal statement professionally edited and reviewed  by one of our editors. We offer a range of UCAS personal statement editing and critique services , so thereâs bound to be one suited to your needs. Donât forget to ask your family, friends, teachers and careers adviser to look through your personal statement drafts, and incorporate any feedback they give you until you are 100% happy with it. Remember - it doesnât matter how many times you have to redraft your personal statement â the most important thing is you get it right so you give yourself the best possible chance of being offered places by your chosen universities/colleges.
IMPORTANT:  When writing your personal statement, itâs vital you remember not to copy from anyone elseâs personal statement  (not even just a sentence!). Not only is it wrong and unfair, but any plagiarism will be detected by the Copycatch Similarity Detection Software. If UCAS discover you have plagiarised your personal statement, whether you have copied someone elseâs entirely or parts of it, they will cancel your application.
You can also try looking through our personal statement guide for extra guidance.
This takes you through how to write a personal statement step-by-step, and goes into far more detail than this FAQ does.
If you feel you need more help, check out our personal statement editing and critique services  where our professional editors will review your statement to make it a success.
16. How do I write a personal statement if I'm a mature student?
Don't worry if you're a mature student applying to university - your qualifications, skills and extra experience will count as an advantage! Universities want to take on students from all walks of life, and this includes mature ones with more life experience.
Focus on what you can bring to the university if they offered you a place on the course, and how your degree fits into your future plans.
Read through some of our Mature Student Personal Statement Examples for inspiration.
17. How do I write a personal statement if I'm an international student?
As mentioned previously, universities want students from a range of backgrounds, and this includes those who want to study at their institution from abroad.
Again, try to convey how your experiences in your own country will benefit you on your course, and how they make you a valuable asset to the university.
To give you an idea of what other international students have written in the past, read through some of our International Student Personal Statement Examples for inspiration (but please remember not to copy them, or your application will be penalised!).
A few last tips
What have you done, relevant to your subject, that is unique and no one else is likely to put down?
Many people have the same old boring interests and work experience - you need something to separate you from the crowd, and while it's a gamble to make an individual personal statement, anything individual you do related to your chosen field can only look good.
Have a think - what makes you so special? If you can't think of anything then you can't complain if you get rejected! Finally, remember it's your personal statement, and you can write whatever you want in it.
If everything in this guide conflicts with what you've got already but you think you still have a killer personal statement, then use that.
A personal statement is about you, and you shouldn't let anyone tell you what to put in it - sticking blindly to the formula mentioned here will just stop your true personality showing through.
Further information
For more tips and advice on writing your personal statement, please see:
- The 15th January UCAS Deadline: 4 Ways To Avoid Missing It
- Analysis Of A Personal Statement
- Personal Statement Editing Services
- Top 10 Personal Statement Writing Tips
- Personal Statement Advice From A Teacher
- Personal Statement Writing Guide
- What To Do If You Miss The 15th January UCAS Deadline .
Best of luck with your personal statement!
Has lots of valuable
Mon, 19/09/2011 - 05:17
Has lots of valuable information
Thu, 06/10/2011 - 20:30
very good site!! Helped a lot!!!!
Wed, 12/10/2011 - 17:21
Great info, i appreciate it.
Fri, 14/10/2011 - 14:35
i wana apply for a science
Tue, 25/10/2011 - 10:22
i wana apply for a science faculty but what i did in the past were only related to English (eg:joining competitions in sos verse speaking,public speaking;volunteered to teach english;being chairman of english society at school./) and seems almost nth for science.... so should i write those experience also?but how can i link them to the content.... thanks
Wed, 26/10/2011 - 22:56
Excellent website, I have searched high and low for a website like this. Very impressed.
wow this has just simply
Fri, 28/10/2011 - 21:15
wow this has just simply saved my life:)
Sun, 30/10/2011 - 11:11
Thank you for the guidance, its very simple and straight forward
Disabilities
Fri, 04/11/2011 - 06:38
I have Aspergers should I include this in my PS because it has affected my involvement in extra curricular activities
like to point out that it is
Wed, 09/11/2011 - 15:13
like to point out that it is 47 lines and not 37 :) that aside, very helpful - thanks!
The best site I have found to
Fri, 02/12/2011 - 22:29
The best site I have found to help with personal statements, got so much useful infomation and straight to the point, will definately recommend to others in my class who are in the middle of their personal statments!
I have read that you should
Tue, 06/12/2011 - 14:57
I have read that you should write about why you wish to study at university and what inspires you to, and i want to but the real reason i want to study at uni is because of a very personal reason and im not sure wether to mention it as i feel i may come across as an attention seeker? the real reason i want to go is because of a very abusive relationship with an ex boyfriend that made me realise i should make the most of my life and do exactly what i want and never let anyone bring me down... do u think it would be too much if i said this - I was very unsure whether to write about the real reason I want to pursue what Iâm passionate about, because its very personal. The truth is that is wasnât a good experience. A traumatising abusive relationship with an ex boyfriend woke me up and made me see I should make the most out of my life.
Tue, 06/12/2011 - 15:03
Tue, 06/12/2011 - 15:08
Amazing Stuff
Mon, 13/02/2012 - 13:06
I'm so glad I found this site
Thu, 01/03/2012 - 15:46
I'm so glad I found this site. It's helped alot.
I'm so glad I found this site. It's helped alot. :)
Thu, 01/03/2012 - 15:47
Lying on your personal statement
Tue, 10/07/2012 - 20:27
I was very disappointed to see this included in your FAQs. Even more to see it answered in the way it was. If someone can lie and "get away with it" does that not suggest we could potentially have a generation of useless, brainless, incompetent potential lawyers, doctors, politicians heading our way? Oh, wait...how long have you been giving this advice out?
do we have to write about our
Tue, 31/07/2012 - 19:13
do we have to write about our interests and hobbies???
if yes what if we dont have enough space and gone over max line limit??
thx a lot for the post..lots
Thu, 13/09/2012 - 23:21
thx a lot for the post..lots of info :)
you get 47 lines not 37 as it
Thu, 20/09/2012 - 11:35
you get 47 lines not 37 as it says
Wed, 17/04/2013 - 11:16
Some of the universities I'm applying to offer different courses to other unis I'm also applying to. Is it possible to send two different personal statements depending on which uni? For Edinburgh and Manchester, I want to apply for English Literature, but for Aberystwyth, East Anglia and Manchester Metropolitian they offer English Lit and Creative Writing.
Any advice would be great, thanks!
Wed, 24/07/2013 - 03:11
Say, you got a nice article.Much thanks again. Awesome.
Wrong information
Thu, 25/07/2013 - 16:15
The maximum on UCAS for personal statements is 47 lines and 4000 characters, not 37 lines as stated on this page.
This is really helpful and
Fri, 27/09/2013 - 14:15
This is really helpful and informative but I'm fairly sure the number of lines allowed is 47, not 37 as written here.
Retaking year 12
Sun, 29/09/2013 - 12:22
I have recently retook year 12 and I am now in the process of writing my personal statement. Having gathered differing opinions on this matter i was wondering for your input on whether or not its worth putting it down on my personal statement.I have changed subjects, left one out for a year and returned to it and retaken a subject. This now leaves me with 5 As levels.
Mon, 30/09/2013 - 20:06
"Have a think - what makes you so special? If you can't think of anything then you can't complain if you get rejected!"
As if we're not under enough stress already!
Previous Work
Tue, 29/10/2013 - 20:33
can I put links in to websites I have professionally made
wow very good much
Fri, 15/11/2013 - 09:25
wow very good much informative
Very informative. I really
Wed, 15/01/2014 - 14:57
Very informative. I really appreciate your site.
Not required
Mon, 30/06/2014 - 14:27
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- The Ultimate UCAS Personal Statement Guide
Last Updated: 31st May 2022
Author: Rob Needleman
- Getting started
Table of Contents
When it comes to completing your UCAS application, the Personal Statement is one of the most important parts to consider.
While your grades show your academic ability and Admissions Tests assess your knowledge and capabilities, a Personal Statement is all about you. Tutors want to see the person behind the application and understand why youâre a suitable candidate for your chosen course.
Although each university will have its own unique way of shortlisting applicants, your Personal Statement is your opportunity to demonstrate your strengths and let your personality shine through.
However, over 20,000 students apply for Oxbridge every year which is a lot to compete with. As such, you need to stand out from the crowd and really get across your reasons for wanting to study your topic, which can make the prospect of writing one and including all the right things pressurising. To help you, we have written this ultimate Personal Statement guide. Let’s get started.
How to write a Personal Statement
Your Personal Statement isnât a long monologue of your life so far, nor a gigantic list of all your achievements. Think of yourself as a storyteller. Start at the beginning with how you developed an interest for your chosen subject and end with where you see yourself after university.
Before You Start
How to get started.
Before you sit down to write your UCAS Personal Statement, the first thing we recommend is to research the courses you want to apply for. This will help you prepare your statement as courses vary from university to university, and your content should reflect these. Bear in mind, you are only able to send one Personal Statement to all your chosen universities, so you canât overly cater to one. Look at all of the details, including the structure, modules and examination methods, as well as what theyâre looking for from a student. This will support your first draft, though bear in mind youâll redraft a few times before itâs perfect.
For example, Oxford lists the personal characteristics that they look for in applicants to their Medicine degree:
How many words should a Personal Statement be?
Personal Statements can be up to 4,000 characters long (615-800), and no more. This might sound like a lot, but itâs just one side of A4 paper. Thereâs plenty of information to include, so make sure itâs concise, clear and easy to read.
When to start writing it
Itâs never too early to start thinking about your Personal Statement and what youâre going to write about. But there is a deadline : October 15th for all Oxbridge courses including Medicine and Dentistry, and January 25th for other undergraduate subjects. We suggest you begin preparing at the start of the year, as this gives you plenty of time to plan, draft and rewrite until itâs perfect for submission.
Your Personal Statement is the first thing Oxbridge Admissions Tutors will see about you. Itâs imperative you get it right.
Our Oxbridge Premium Programmes help you write a successful Personal Statment that ticks all the Admission Tutor’s boxes. Our proven support is implemented through various mediums including Personal Statment Intensive Courses, Personal Statment Marking and Personalised Reading Lists.
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What To Include
Your Personal Statement is a glimpse into your passion, how keen you are to learn and what you already know about your chosen subject. Express your interest by commenting on the areas that fascinate you most. For example, is it helping people that draws you into Medicine, or is it the fascinating human anatomy?
Another great way to show your enthusiasm is through your previous experience in the subject. Demonstrate why youâre suitable for the course by providing evidence of any relevant skills and qualities that relate to this. What are you good at? What have you done that proves it?
- Answering Your Personal Statement Questions
Mention any additional projects, work experience or extra-curricular activities youâve got involved with that further demonstrate youâre an ideal candidate. Reflect on the skills youâve gained from these (as long as theyâre transferable to your studies). Admissions Tutors will be looking for such information, as well as your unique selling points â give examples of things youâve done that show you have a wider interest in learning.
You should also try to link your interests, skills and qualities to your university research. However, Oxbridge are not interested in sports, hobbies or if you play any musical instruments â keep it academic.
Show youâre an interesting person and have a true passion for your subject, and your Personal Statement should be a winning one. Your enthusiasm is what will make your statement stand out, so donât shy away from expressing your love for your chosen subject, though you donât need to say youâve dreamed about doing the course your entire life.
Aim to include things like:
- Personal attributes, such as adaptability, problem-solving and organisation
- Employment experience and volunteering work
- Personal interests in your subject
- Relevant extracurricular activities, like any clubs or societies you belong to
- Your future after university
The Structure
The key to writing a good UCAS Personal Statement is getting the structure right, as this can have a huge effect on the message it delivers. Often, students get caught up in the content and forget that presenting information effectively is just as important as the words included.
Each section of your statement needs to be crafted correctly so that Admissions Tutors can digest the information easily. While there are no strict rules on how to structure it â since itâs personal to you â there are a few rules of thumb to use to find the right balance. In general, though, remember to consider the format, structure and content equally, and youâll write a great Personal Statement.
- Personal Statement Cheat Sheet
Here is a breakdown of how we recommend students to split up their essay:
- Introduction - About six lines
- Academic abilities - 22 - 27 lines
- Extra-curricular information - 10 - 12 lines
- Conclusion - No more than four lines
Personal Statement Introduction
Rightly or wrongly, it is highly likely that your UCAS Personal Statement will be remembered by its opening sentence. It must be something short, sharp, insightful, and catch the readerâs attention. It sets the precedent for the rest of your statement and unfortunately, decides whether your statement is paid particular attention to when read.
- Avoid using overused words like âpassionateâ, âdeeply fascinatingâ, and âdevotionâ.
- Avoid using clichĂ©d quotes like the infamous Coco Chanelâs âfashion is not something that exists in dresses onlyâ.
- If you are going to use a quote, then put some effort into researching an obscure yet particularly powerful one â donât forget to include a reference.
- Draw on your own personal experiences to produce something both original and eye-catching.
Once thatâs out of the way, you need to answer the most important question:
The introduction does not need to be very long. It is generally a good idea to open the statement with something that sets the context of your application. For example, someone who is applying to study History may open: âHistory is all around usâ, rather than âI have always been interested in History becauseâŠâ
By the end of the introduction the reader should clearly know:
- What subject you are applying for
- What motivated you to apply for this subject
Make sure you keep it personal and honest! The exact phrase: âfrom a young age, I have always been interested inâ was recently used more than 300 times in Personal Statements in a single year, and substituting âyoungâ for âearlyâ gave an additional 292 statements â these phrases can quickly become boring for Admissions Tutors to read!
Personal Statement Main Body
In the rest of your text, your aim should be to demonstrate your suitability for the course by exemplifying your knowledge of the course structure and its requirements through personal experience. Again, there are no rigorous guidelines on how to do this and it is very much down to your own writing style. Whereas some prefer a strict structure, others go for a more synoptic approach, but always remember to be consistent to achieve a flowing, easy to read Personal Statement.
Hereâs the structure we recommend:
Paragraph #1: This should cover why you are suited for your subject. This will include your main academic interests, future ambitions (related to the chosen degree), and what makes the course right for you. This should be the academic side of why you want to study this subject.
Paragraph #2: This should still cover why you are suited for your subject. However, it can be less focused on academic topics. If youâve had to overcome any significant challenges in life and wish to include these in your Personal Statement, this is normally the best place to do so. Similarly, any work experience or relevant prizes & competitions should be included here.
Paragraph #3: This is the smallest part of the main body and is all about extra-curricular activities. It is easy to get carried away in this section and make outrageous claims, e.g. claim to be a mountain climber if all you have ever climbed is a hill at the end of your street etc. Lying is not worth the risk, given that your interviewer may share the same hobby that you claim to be an expert in. So, donât be caught out!
What you should include in your Personal Statement main body:
- Sports and other hobbies
- Musical instruments
- Work experience
- Personal interests in the field of study
- Personal attributes
What you shouldn’t include in your Personal Statement main body (or anywhere!):
- Negative connotations â always put a positive spin on everything
- Lack of reflection
- Controversy in whatever form it may come
- Generic/stereotypical statements
- Listing things
Personal Statement Conclusion
The conclusion of your Personal Statement should be more about leaving a good final impression rather than conferring any actual information. If you have something useful to say about your interest and desire to study your subject, you shouldnât be waiting until the very end to say it!
A good conclusion should not include any new information, as this should be in the main body. However, you also need to avoid repeating what you have said earlier in your Personal Statement. This would be both a waste of characters and frustration for the tutor. Instead, it is better to put into context what you have already written and, therefore, make an effort to keep your conclusion relatively short â no more than four lines.
For more inspiration, take a look through our other successful Personal Statement a nalysis articles:
Successful Personal Statement For Natural Science (Physical) At Cambridge
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1. Show passion for your subject
Admissions Tutors arenât going to pick a candidate who doesnât seem particularly interested in their field. Show your passion and eagerness to learn and succeed. Why do you love your subject? Why have you chosen it? What do you find most interesting and why?
2. Talk about you
This is your chance to talk about you, your interests and skills. Itâs no good saying youâre passionate if you donât prove that you are. Write in a natural style to show off your personality, making sure itâs genuine, relevant and specific.
3. Use appropriate language
Re-read your Personal Statement multiple times and check that the content is academic, engaging and clear.
4. Provide evidence to back up your claims
Itâs all well and good saying you love medical science, but this is going to fall flat if you canât back it up. Talk about your school subjects and results, any wider reading and relevant work experience. Perhaps you attended a lecture on your subject â this would be good evidence.
5. Link your activities outside of education to your course
Tell tutors why these activities are relevant and what you have learned as a result. Focus on transferable skills gained too, such as time management or organisational abilities.
6. Spell check and look for grammatical mistakes
Poor spelling and grammar makes for a terrible first impression, so ensure you triple-check itâs written to the highest standard before submitting it.
Our Personal Statement dontâs
1. Write a clichéd beginning
Donât waste time thinking of a catchy opening. The best Personal Statements get to the point quickly, so avoid starting with phrases like âFrom a young ageâ, âI am applying for this course becauseâ, and âThroughout my life I have always enjoyedâŠâ. Go straight into why you are interested in your course subject.
2. Use cringe-worthy language and cheap gags
This is not impressive and can indicate that youâre not a serious student. Itâs essential you donât come across as verbose or pretentious too, as Admissions Tutors will spot this immediately. They are well-versed in the ramblings of students who think this tone makes them seem more intellectual.
3. Overcomplicate things
Say what you need to, be specific and donât waffle too much â youâll run out of characters fast.
4. Go overboard with extra-curricular activities
Talking about these is good, but the truth is, Admissions Tutors have very little interest in what you do outside of education unless you can find a way to directly link them to your subject.
5. Plagiarise content
You can read Personal Statement examples online for inspiration but avoid copying and pasting them. During your interview, youâre likely to be asked about specific parts of your statement, and if youâre caught off-guard, youâre going to look silly. This could ruin your chances of being accepted. Use a plagiarism detector to ensure your essay is unique.
6. Mention universities or specific courses by name
You can only write one Personal Statement, so itâs the same for each course you apply for. Avoid mentioning specific unis by name or detailing exact specifics of a module, for example. Keep it general.
Now you know what to include in your Personal Statement and the best practices for doing so, we hope you feel more confident writing it. We have plenty of guides and successful personal statement examples to go through in our Free Personal Statement Resources page. Good luck submitting your UCAS application!
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UCAS Personal Statement and Examples
What is the ucas personal statement .
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) Personal Statement is the main essay for your application to colleges and universities in Great Britain. UCAS gives a nice explanation here , but in short, this is your chance to stand out against the crowd and show your knowledge and enthusiasm for your chosen area of study.
Youâve got 4,000 characters and 47 line limit to show colleges what (ideally) gets you out of bed in the morning. How long is that, really? Use your âword countâ tool in Google or Word docs to check as you go along, but 4,000 characters is roughly 500 words or one page.
HOW IS THE UCAS PERSONAL STATEMENT DIFFERENT FROM THE US PERSONAL STATEMENT?
Think theyâre the same? Think again. Here are some key differences between the UCAS and the US Personal Statement:
When you apply to UK schools, youâre applying to one particular degree program, which youâll study for all, or almost all, your time at university. Your UCAS personal statement should focus less on cool/fun/quirky aspects of yourself and more on how youâve prepared for your particular area of study.
The UCAS Personal Statement will be read by someone looking for proof that you are academically capable of studying that subject for your entire degree. In some cases, it might be an actual professor reading your essay.
Youâll only write one personal statement, which will be sent to all the universities youâre applying to, and itâs unlikely youâll be sending any additional (supplemental) essays. Your essay needs to explain why you enjoy and are good at this subject, without reference to any particular university or type of university.
Any extracurricular activities that are NOT connected to the subject youâre applying for are mostly irrelevant, unless they illustrate relevant points about your study skills or attributes: for example, having a job outside of school shows time-management and people skills, or leading a sports team shows leadership and responsibility.
Your personal statement will mostly focus on what youâve done at high school, in class, and often in preparation for external exams. 80-90% of the content will be academic in nature.
A QUICK STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO WRITING THE UCAS PERSONAL STATEMENT
This may be obvious, but the first step to a great UCAS Personal Statement is to choose the subject youâre applying for. This choice will be consistent across the (up to) five course choices you have. Often, when students struggle with a UCAS personal statement, itâs because they are trying to make the statement work for a couple of different subjects. With a clear focus on one subject, the essay can do the job it is supposed to do. Keep in mind youâre limited to 47 lines or 4000 characters, so this has to be concise and make efficient use of words.
To work out what information to include, my favourite brainstorming activity is the âCourtroom Exerciseâ. Hereâs how it works:
The Courtroom Exercise
Imagine youâre prosecuting a case in court, and the case is that should be admitted to a university to study the subject youâve chosen. You have to present your case to the judge, in a 47 line or 4,000 character statement. The judge wonât accept platitudes or points made without evidence–she needs to see evidence. What examples will you present in your statement?
In a good statement, youâll make an opening and a closing point.
To open your argument, can you sum up in one sentence why you wish to study this subject? Can you remember where your interest in that subject began? Do you have a story to tell that will engage the reader about your interest in that subject?
Next, youâll present a number of pieces of evidence, laying out in detail why youâre a good match for this subject. What activities have you done that prove you can study this subject at university?
Most likely, youâll start with a class you took, a project you worked on, an internship you had, or a relevant extra-curricular activity you enjoyed. For each activity you discuss, structure a paragraph on each using the ABC approach:
A: What is the A ctivity?
B: How did it B enefit you as a potential student for this degree course?
C: Link the benefit to the skills needed to be successful on this C ourse.
With three or four paragraphs like these, each of about 9 or 10 lines, and you should have the bulk of your statement done. Typically two of these will be about classes you have taken at school, and two about relevant activities outside of school.
In the last paragraph, you need to demonstrate wider skills that you have, which you can probably do from your extracurricular activities. How could you demonstrate your time management, your ability to collaborate, or your creativity? Briefly list a few extracurricular activities youâve taken part in and identify the relevant skills that are transferable to university study.
Finally, close your argument in a way that doesnât repeat what youâve already shared. Case closed!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What if Iâm not sure what I want to study? Should I still apply?Â
There are a number of broader programs available at UK universities (sometimes called Liberal Arts or Flexible Combined Honours). However, you should still showcase two or three academic areas of interest. If you are looking for a broader range of subjects to study and canât choose one, then the UK might not be the best fit for you.
What if I havenât done much, academically or via extracurriculars, to demonstrate that Iâll be able to complete the coursework for my degree? Should I still apply?
You certainly can, but you will need to be realistic about the strength of your application as a result. The most selective universities will want to see this evidence, but less selective ones will be more willing to account for your potential to grow in addition to what youâve already achieved. You could also consider applying for a Foundation course or a âYear 0â course, where you have an additional year pre-university to enable you to develop this range of evidence.
If Iâm not accepted into a particular major, can I be accepted into a different major?
Itâs important to understand that we are not talking about a âmajor,â as what you are accepted into is one entire course of study. Some universities may make you an âalternative offerâ for a similar but perhaps less popular course (for example you applied for Business but instead they offer you a place for Business with a Language).At others, you can indicate post-application that you would like to be considered for related courses. However, itâs not going to be possible to switch between two completely unrelated academic areas.
What other information is included in my application? Will they see my extracurricular activities, for example? Is there an Additional Information section where I can include more context on what Iâve done in high school?
The application is very brief: the personal statement is where you put all the information. UCAS does not include an activities section or space for any other writing. The 47 lines are all you have. Some universities might accept information if there are particularly important extenuating circumstances that must be conveyed. This can be done via email, but typically, they donât want to see more than the UCAS statement and your schoolâs reference provides.
Now, letâs take a look at some of my favourite UCAS personal statement examples with some analysis of why I think these are great.
UCAS PERSONAL STATEMENT EXAMPLE FOR CHEMISTRY
When I was ten, I saw a documentary on Chemistry that really fascinated me. Narrated by British theoretical physicist Jim Al-Khalili, it explained how the first elements were discovered and how Chemistry was born out of alchemy. I became fascinated with Chemistry and have remained so ever since. I love the subject because it has very theoretical components, for example quantum Chemistry, while also having huge practical applications.
In this introduction, the student shows where his interest in Chemistry comes from. Adding some additional academic detail (in this case, the name of the scientist) helps guide the reader into more specific information on why this subject is interesting to him.
This aspect of Chemistry is important to me. I have, for example, used machine learning to differentiate between approved and experimental drugs. On the first run, using drug molecules from the website Drug Bank, I calculated some molecular descriptors for them. I started with a simple logistic regression model and was shocked to find that it had apparently classified almost all molecules correctly. This result couldn’t be right; it took me nearly a month to find the error. I accidentally normalized the molecular-descriptor data individually, rather than as a combined data set, thereby encoding the label into the input. On a second run, after fixing the error, I used real machine learning libraries. Here I actually got some performance with my new algorithm, which I could compare to professional researchersâ papers. The highest accuracy I ever saw on my screen was 86 percent. The researchers’ result was 85 percent; thanks to more modern machine learning methods, I narrowly beat them. I have also studied Mathematics and Physics at A Level and have been able to dive into areas beyond the A Level syllabus such as complex integration in math and the Schrödinger equation in Physics.
This paragraph outlines a clear case for this studentâs aptitude for and interest in Chemistry. He explains in detail how he has explored his intended major, using academic terminology to show us he has studied the subject deeply. Knowing an admissions reader is looking for evidence that this student has a talent for Chemistry, this paragraph gives them the evidence they need to admit him.
Additionally, I have worked on an undergraduate computer science course on MIT Opencourseware, but found that the content followed fixed rules and did not require creativity. At the time I was interested in neural networks and listened to lectures by professor Geoffrey Hinton who serendipitously mentioned his students testing his techniques on ‘Kaggle Competitions’. I quickly got interested and decided to compete on this platform. Kaggle allowed me to measure my machine learning skills against competitors with PhDs or who are professional data scientists at large corporations. With this kind of competition naturally I did not win any prizes, but I worked with the same tools and saw how others gradually perfected a script, something which has helped my A Level studies immensely.
Introducing a new topic, the student again uses academic terminology to show how he has gone beyond the confines of his curriculum to explore the subject at a higher level. In this paragraph, he demonstrates that he has studied university-level Chemistry. Again, this helps the reader to see that this student is capable of studying for a Chemistry degree.
I have been keen to engage in activities beyond the classroom. For example, I have taken part in a range of extracurricular activities, including ballroom dancing, public speaking, trumpet, spoken Mandarin, and tennis, achieving a LAMDA distinction at level four for my public speaking. I have also participated in Kaggle competitions, as I’m extremely interested in machine learning. For example, I have used neural networks to determine the causes of Amazon deforestation from satellite pictures in the ‘Planet: Understanding the Amazon from Space’ competition. I believe that having worked on projects spanning several weeks or even months has allowed me to build a stamina that will be extremely useful when studying at university.
This penultimate paragraph introduces the studentâs extracurricular interests, summing them up in a sentence. Those activities that can demonstrate skills that are transferable to the study of Chemistry are given a bit more explanation. The studentâs descriptions in each paragraph are very detailed, with lots of specific information about awards, classes and teachers.
What I hope to gain from an undergraduate (and perhaps post-graduate) education in Chemistry is to deepen my knowledge of the subject and potentially have the ability to successfully launch a startup after university. I’m particularly interested in areas such as computational Chemistry and cheminformatics. However, Iâm open to studying other areas in Chemistry, as it is a subject that truly captivates me.
In the conclusion, the student touches on his future plans, using specific terminology that shows his knowledge of Chemistry. This also reveals that he aims to have a career in this field, which many admission readers find appealing as it demonstrates a level of commitment to the subject.
UCAS PERSONAL STATEMENT EXAMPLE FOR VETERINARY MEDICINE
This next statement has to accomplish a number of tasks, given the subject the student is applying for. As a vocational degree, applicants for veterinary medicine are committing to a career as well as a subject to study, so they need to give information demonstrating they understand the reality of a career in this area. It also needs to explain their motivation for this interest, which quite often is demonstrated through work experience (something which is often a condition for entry into these programs). Finally, as this is a highly academic subject to study at university, the author should include a good level of academic terminology and experiences in the statement.
There is nothing more fascinating to me than experiencing animals in the wild, in their natural habitat where their behaviour is about the survival of their species. I was lucky enough to experience this when in Tanzania. While observing animals hunting, I became intrigued by their musculature and inspired to work alongside these animals to help them when they are sick, as a veterinarian.
In an efficient way, the applicant explains her motivation to become a vet, then squeezes in a bit of information about her experience with animals.
As a horse rider and owner for nearly ten years, I have sought opportunities to learn as much as I can about caring for the animal. I helped around the yard with grooming and exercise, bringing horses in and out from the fields, putting on rugs, and mucking out. I have also been working at a small animal vet clinic every other Saturday for over 2.5 years. There, my responsibilities include restocking and sterilising equipment, watching procedures, and helping in consultations. Exposure to different cases has expanded my knowledge of various aspects, such as assisting with an emergency caesarean procedure. Due to a lack of staff on a Saturday, I was put in charge of anaesthesia while the puppies were being revived. I took on this task without hesitation and recorded heart and respiration rate, capillary refill time, and gum colour every five minutes. Other placements following an equine vet, working on a polo farm, and volunteering at a swan sanctuary have also broadened my experience with different species and how each possesses various requirements. During pre-vet summer courses, I was also introduced to farm animals such as pigs, cows, sheep and chicken. I spend some time milking dairy cows and removing clustered dust from chicken feet, as well as tipping sheep in order to inspect their teats.
In this paragraph, she synthesizes personal experience with an academic understanding of vet medicine. She demonstrates that she is committed to animals (helping in the yard, regular Saturday work, assistance with procedures), that she has gained a variety of experiences, and that she understands some of the conditions (caesareans, clustered dust) that vets have to deal with. Note that she also briefly discusses âpre-vet summer courses,â adding credibility to her level of experience.
I have focused on HL Biology and HL Chemistry for my IB Diploma. I was particularly excited to study cell biology and body systems because these subjects allowed me to comprehend how the body works and are applicable to animal body functions. Topics like DNA replication as well as cell transcription and translation have helped me form a fundamental understanding of genetics and protein synthesis, both important topics when looking into hereditary diseases in animals. Learning about chemical reactions made me consider the importance of pharmaceutical aspects of veterinary medicine, such as the production of effective medicine. Vaccines are essential and by learning about the chemical reactions, I f developed a more nuanced understanding about how they are made and work.
Now, the statement turns to academic matters, linking her IB subjects to the university studies she aspires to. She draws out one particular example that makes a clear link between school and university-level study.
I have also written my Extended Essay discussing the consequences of breeding laws in the UK and South Australia in relation to the development of genetic abnormalities in pugs and German shepherds. This topic is important, as the growing brachycephalic aesthetic of pugs is causing them to suffer throughout their lifetime. Pedigree dogs, such as the German shepherd, have a very small gene pool and as a result, hereditary diseases can develop. This becomes an ethical discussion, because allowing German shepherds to suffer is not moral; however, as a breed, they aid the police and thus serve society.
The IB Extended Essay (like an A Level EPQ or a Capstone project) is a great topic to discuss in a personal statement, as these activities are designed to allow students to explore subjects in greater detail.
The first sentence here is a great example of what getting more specific looks like because it engages more directly with what the student is actually writing about in this particular paragraph then it extrapolates a more general point of advice from those specificities.
By choosing to write her Extended Essay on a topic of relevance to veterinary medicine, she has given herself the opportunity to show the varied aspects of veterinary science. This paragraph proves to the reader that this student is capable and motivated to study veterinary medicine.
I have learned that being a veterinarian requires diagnostic skills as well as excellent communication and leadership skills. I understand the importance and ethics of euthanasia decisions, and the sensitivity around discussing it withanimal owners. I have developed teamwork and leadership skills when playing varsity football and basketball for four years. My communication skills have expanded through being a Model U.N. and Global Issues Network member.
This small paragraph on her extracurricular activities links them clearly to her intended area of study, both in terms of related content and necessary skills. From this, the reader gains the impression that this student has a wide range of relevant interests.
When I attend university, I not only hope to become a veterinarian, but also a leader in the field. I would like to research different aspects of veterinary medicine, such as diseases. As a vet, I would like to help work towards the One Health goal; allowing the maintenance of public health security. This affects vets because we are the ones working closely with animals every day.
In the conclusion, she ties things together and looks ahead to her career. By introducing the concept of âOne Healthâ, she also shows once again her knowledge of the field she is applying to.
UCAS PERSONAL STATEMENT EXAMPLE FOR AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING
Standing inside a wind tunnel is not something every 17 year old aspires to, but for me the opportunity to do so last year confirmed my long-held desire to become a mechanical engineer.
This introduction is efficient and provides a clear direction for the personal statement. Though it might seem that it should be more detailed, for a student applying to study a course that requires limited extended writing, being this matter-of-fact works fine.
I enjoy the challenge of using the laws of Physics, complemented with Mathematical backing, in the context of everyday life, which helps me to visualise and understand where different topics can be applied. I explored the field of aeronautics, specifically in my work experience with Emirates Aviation University. I explored how engineers apply basic concepts of air resistance and drag when I had the opportunity to experiment with the wind tunnel, which allowed me to identify how different wing shapes behave at diverse air pressures. My interest with robotics has led me to take up a year-long internship with MakersBuilders, where I had the chance to explore physics and maths on a different plane. During my internship I educated young teenagers on a more fundamental stage of building and programming, in particular when we worked on building a small robot and programmed the infra-red sensor in order to create self-sufficient movement. This exposure allowed me to improve my communication and interpersonal skills.
In this paragraph, the student adds evidence to the initial assertion that he enjoys seeing how Physics relates to everyday life. The descriptions of the work experiences he has had not only show his commitment to the subject, but also enable him to bring in some academic content to demonstrate his understanding of engineering and aeronautics.
Iâm interested in the mechanics side of Maths such as circular motion and projectiles; even Pure Maths has allowed me to easily see patterns when working and solving problems in Computer Science. During my A Level Maths and Further Maths, I have particularly enjoyed working with partial fractions as they show how reverse methodology can be used to solve addition of fractions, which ranges from simple addition to complex kinematics. ÂÂÂPure Maths has also enabled me to better understand how 3D modelling works with ÂÂÂthe use of volumes of revolution, especially when I learned how to apply the calculations to basic objects like calculating the amount of water in a bottle or the volume of a pencil.
This paragraph brings in the academic content at school, which is important when applying for a subject such as engineering. This is because the admissions reader needs to be reassured that the student has covered the necessary foundational content to be able to cope with Year 1 of this course.
In my Drone Club I have been able to apply several methods of wing formation, such as the number of blades used during a UAS flight. Drones can be used for purposes such as in Air-sea Rescue or transporting food to low income countries. I have taken on the responsibility of leading and sharing my skills with others, particularly in the Drone Club where I gained the certification to fly drones. In coding club, I participated in the global Google Code competition related to complex, real-life coding, such as a program that allows phones to send commands to another device using Bluetooth. My Cambridge summer course on math and engineering included the origins of a few of the most important equations and ideologies from many mathematicians such as, E=mc2 from Einstein, I also got a head start at understanding matrices and their importance in kinematics. Last summer, I completed a course at UT Dallas on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. The course was intuitive and allowed me to understand a different perspective of how robots and AI will replace humans to do complex and labour-intensive activities, customer service, driverless cars and technical support.
In this section, he demonstrates his commitment to the subject through a detailed list of extracurricular activities, all linked to engineering and aeronautics. The detail he gives about each one links to the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in these subjects at university.
I have represented Model UN as a delegate and enjoyed working with others to solve problems. For my Duke of Edinburgh Award, I partook in several activities such as trekking and playing the drums. I enjoy music and I have reached grade 3 for percussion. I have also participated in a range of charitable activities, which include assisting during Ramadan and undertaking fun-runs to raise money for cancer research.
As with the introduction, this is an efficient use of language, sharing a range of activities, each of which has taught him useful skills. The conclusion that follows is similarly efficient and to the point.
I believe that engineering is a discipline that will offer me a chance to make a tangible difference in the world, and I am certain I will enjoy the process of integrating technology with our everyday life.
UCAS PERSONAL STATEMENT EXAMPLE FOR ECONOMICS AND SOCIAL POLICY
Applying for a joint honours course presents a particular challenge of making the case that you are interested in the first subject, the second subject and (often overlooked) the combination of the two. In this example, the applicant uses her own academic studies and personal experiences to make her case.
I usually spend my summer breaks in Uttar Pradesh, India working at my grandparentsâ NGO which produces bio-fertilizers for the poor. While working, I speak to many of the villagers in the nearby villages like Barokhar and Dharampur and have found out about the various initiatives the Government has taken to improve the production of wheat and rice. I understand the hardships they undergo and speaking to them has shown me the importance of Social Policy and the role the government plays in improving the lives of people and inspired me to pursue my university studies in this field.
In the introduction, this applicant explains where her interlinking experiences come from: she has personal experiences demonstrating how economics impacts the most vulnerable in society. In doing so, she shows the admissions reader that she has a deep interest in this combination and can move on to discussing each subject in turn.
My interest in these areas has been driven by the experiences I had at high school and beyond. I started attending Model United Nations in the 9th grade and have been to many conferences, discussing problems like the water crisis and a lack of sustainability in underdeveloped countries. These topics overlapped with my study of economics and exciting classroom discussions on what was going on how different events would impact economies, for instance how fluctuations in oil prices will affect standards of living. Studying Economics has expanded my knowledge about how countries are run and how macroeconomic policies shape the everyday experiences of individuals.
Unusually, this applicant does not go straight into her classroom experiences but instead uses one of her extracurricular activities (Model United Nations) in her first paragraph. For students applying for subjects that are not often taught at school (Social Policy in this example), this can be a good idea, as it allows you to bring in material that you have self-studied to explain why you are capable of studying each subject at university. Here, she uses MUN discussions to show she understands some topics in social policy that are impacting the world.
By taking up history as a subject in Grade 11 and 12, I have seen the challenges that people went through in the past, and how different ideas gained momentum in different parts of the world such as the growth of communism in Russia and China and how it spread to different countries during the Cold War. I learned about the different roles that governments played in times of hardships such as that which President Rooseveltâs New Deal played during the Great Depression. From this, I gained analytical skills by scrutinizing how different social, political and economic forces have moulded societies in the past.
In this paragraph, she then takes the nearest possible class to her interest in Social Policy and draws elements from it to add to her case for Social Policy. Taking some elements from her history classes enables her to add some content to this statement, before linking to the topic of economics.
To explore my interest in Economics, I interned at Emirates National Bank of Dubai, one of the largest banks in the Middle East, and also at IBM. At Emirates NBD, I undertook a research project on Cash Management methods in competitor banks and had to present my findings at the end of the internship. I also interned at IBM where I had to analyze market trends and fluctuations in market opportunity in countries in the Middle East and Africa. I had to find relations between GDP and market opportunity and had to analyze how market opportunity could change over the next 5 years with changing geo-political situations. I have also attended Harvard Universityâs Youth Lead the Change leadership conference where I was taught how to apply leadership skills to solve global problems such as gender inequality and poverty.
Economics is explored again through extracurriculars, with some detail added to the general statement about the activities undertaken during this work experience. Though the level of academics here is a little thin because this studentâs high school did not offer any classes in Economics, she does as well as she can to bring in academic content.
I have partaken in many extra-curricular activities which have helped me develop the skills necessary for this course. Being a part of the Press Club at school gave me an opportunity to hone my talent for the written word and gave me a platform to talk about global issues. Volunteering at a local library taught me how to be organized. I developed research and analytical skills by undertaking various research projects at school such as the sector-wide contribution of the Indian economy to the GDP in the previous year. As a member of the Business and Economic Awareness Council at school, I was instrumental in organizing many economics-based events such as the Business Fair and Innovation Mela. Being part of various Face to Faith conferences has provided me with an opportunity to interact with students in Sierra Leone, India and Korea and understand global perspectives on issues like malaria and human trafficking.
The extracurricular activities are revisited here, with the first half of this paragraph showing how the applicant has some transferable skills from her activities that will help her with this course. She then revisits her interest in the course studies, before following up with a closing section that touches on her career goals:
The prospect of pursuing these two subjects is one that I eagerly anticipate and I look forward to meeting the challenge of university. In the future, I wish to become an economist and work at a think tank where I will be able to apply what I have learnt in studying such an exciting course.
UCAS PERSONAL STATEMENT EXAMPLE FOR HISTORY OF ART & PHILOSOPHY
This applicant is also a joint-honours applicant, and again is applying for a subject that she has not been able to study at school. Thus, bringing in her own interest and knowledge of both subjects is crucial here.
At the age of four, I remember an argument with my mother: I wanted to wear a pink ballerina dress with heels, made for eight-year-olds, which despite my difficulty in staying upright I was determined to wear. My mother persistently engaged in debate with me about why it was not ok to wear this ensemble in winter. After two hours of patiently explaining to me and listening to my responses she convinced me that I should wear something different, the first time I remember listening to reason. It has always been a natural instinct for me to discuss everything, since in the course of my upbringing I was never given a simple yes or no answer. Thus, when I began studying philosophy, I understood fully my passion for argument and dialogue.
This is an unusual approach to start a UCAS Personal Statement, but it does serve to show how this student approaches the world and why this combination of subjects might work for her. Though it could perhaps be drawn out more explicitly, here she is combining an artistic issue (her clothes) with a philosophical concern (her debate with her mother) to lead the reader into the case she is making for admission into this program.
This was first sparked academically when I was introduced to religious ethics; having a fairly Christian background my view on religion was immature. I never thought too much of the subject as I believed it was just something my grandparents did. However, when opened up to the arguments about god and religion, I was inclined to argue every side. After research and discussion, I was able to form my own view on religion without having to pick a distinctive side to which theory I would support. This is what makes me want to study philosophy: it gives an individual personal revelation towards matters into which they may not have given too much thought to.
There is some good content here that discusses the applicantâs interest in philosophy and her own motivation for this subject, though there is a lack of academic content here.
Alongside this, taking IB Visual Arts HL has opened my artistic views through pushing me out of my comfort zone. Art being a very subjective course, I was forced to choose an opinion which only mattered to me, it had no analytical nor empirical rights or wrongs, it was just my taste in art. From studying the two subjects alongside each other, I found great value, acquiring a certain form of freedom in each individual with their dual focus on personalized opinion and taste in many areas, leading to self- improvement.
In this section, she uses her IB Visual Arts class to explore how her interest in philosophy bleeds into her appreciation of art. Again, we are still awaiting the academic content, but the reader will by now be convinced that the student has a deep level of motivation for this subject. When we consider how rare this combination is, with very few courses for this combination available, the approach to take slightly longer to establish can work.
For this reason, I find the work of Henry Moore fascinating. I am intrigued by his pieces, especially the essence of the ‘Reclining Nude’ model, as the empty holes inflicted on the abstract human body encouraged my enthusiasm for artistic interpretation. This has led me to contemplate the subtlety, complexity and merit of the role of an artist. Developing an art piece is just as complex and refined as writing a novel or developing a theory in Philosophy. For this reason, History of Art conjoins with Philosophy, as the philosophical approach towards an art piece is what adds context to the history as well as purpose behind it.
Finally, weâre given the academic content. Cleverly, the content links both the History of Art and Philosophy together through a discussion of the work of Henry Moore. Finding examples that conjoin the subjects that make up a joint-honours application is a great idea and works well here.
Studying Philosophy has allowed me to apply real life abstractions to my art, as well as to glean a deeper critical analysis of art in its various mediums. My IB Extended Essay examined the 1900s Fauve movement, which made a huge breakthrough in France and Hungary simultaneously. This was the first artistic movement which was truly daring and outgoing with its vivid colours and bold brush strokes. My interest expanded to learning about the Hungarian artists in this movement led by Henri Matisse. Bela Czobel was one of the few who travelled to France to study but returned to Hungary, more specifically Nagybanya, to bestow what he had learned.
Again in this paragraph, the author connects the subjects. Students who are able to undertake a research project in their high school studies (such as the IB Extended Essay here, or the A Level Extended Project or AP Capstone) can describe these in their UCAS personal statements, as this level of research in an area of academic study can enliven and add depth to the writing, as is the case here.
As an international student with a multicultural background, I believe I can adapt to challenging or unfamiliar surroundings with ease. I spent two summers working at a nursery in Hungary as a junior Assistant Teacher, where I demonstrated leadership and teamwork skills that I had previously developed through commitment to sports teams. I was a competitive swimmer for six years and have represented my school internationally as well as holding the school record for 100m backstroke. I was elected Deputy Head of my House, which further reflects my dedication, leadership, teamwork and diligence.
As in the previous examples, this statement gives a good overview of the applicantâs extracurricular activities, with a mention of skills that will be beneficial to her studies at university. She then concludes with a brief final sentence:
I hope to carry these skills with me into my university studies, allowing me to enrich my knowledge and combine my artistic and philosophical interests.
UCAS PERSONAL STATEMENT EXAMPLE FOR LIBERAL ARTS
A good range of UK universities now offer courses called âLiberal Artsâ (or similar titles such as âFlexible Combined Honoursâ), which allows students to study a broader topic of study–perhaps combining three or four subjects–than is typically available in the UK system.
This presents a challenge in the personal statement, as within the 47 line / 4000 character limit, the applicant will have to show academic interest and knowledge in a range of subjects while also making the case to be admitted for this combined programme of study.
As a child I disliked reading; however, when I was 8, there was one particular book that caught my attention: The Little Prince. From that moment onwards, my love for literature was ignited and I had entered into a whirlwind of fictional worlds. While studying and analysing the classics from The Great Gatsby to Candide, this has exposed me to a variety of novels. My French bilingualism allowed me to study, in great depth, different texts in their original language. This sparked a new passion of mine for poetry, and introduced me to the works of Arthur Rimbaud, who has greatly influenced me. Through both reading and analysing poetry I was able to decipher its meaning. Liberal Arts gives me the opportunity to continue to study a range of texts and authors from different periods in history, as well as related aspects of culture, economy and society.
Here we have a slightly longer than usual opening paragraph, but given the nature of the course being applied for this works well. A personal story segueing from literature to modern languages to history and cultural studies shows that this student has a broad range of interests within the humanities and thus is well-suited to this course of study.
Liberal Arts is a clear choice for me. Coming from the IB International Baccalaureate Diploma programme I have studied a wide range of subjects which has provided me with a breadth of knowledge. In Theatre, I have adapted classics such as Othello by Shakespeare, and playing the role of moreover acting as Desdemona forced me to compartmentalise her complex emotions behind the early-modern English text. Studying History has taught me a number of skills; understanding the reasons behind changes in society, evaluating sources, and considering conflicting interpretations. From my interdisciplinary education I am able to critically analyse the world around me. Through studying Theory of Knowledge, I have developed high quality analysis using key questions and a critical mindset by questioning how and why we think and why. By going beyond the common use of reason, I have been able to deepen greaten my understanding and apply my ways of knowing in all subjects; for example in science I was creative in constructing my experiment (imagination) and used qualitative data (sense perception).
Students who are taking the IB Diploma, with its strictures to retain a broad curriculum, are well-suited to the UKâs Liberal Arts courses, as they have had practice seeing the links between subjects. In this paragraph, the applicant shows how she has done this, linking content from one subject to skills developed in another, and touching on the experience of IB Theory of Knowledge (an interdisciplinary class compulsory for all IB Diploma students) to show how she is able to see how different academic subjects overlap and share some common themes.
Languages have always played an important role in my life. I was immersed into a French nursery even though my parents are not French speakers. I have always cherished the ability to speak another language; it is something I have never taken for granted, and it is how I individualise myself. Being bilingual has allowed me to engage with a different culture. As a result, I am more open minded and have a global outlook. This has fuelled my desire to travel, learn new languages and experience new cultures. This course would provide me with the opportunity to fulfil these desires. Having written my Extended Essay in French on the use of manipulative language used by a particular character from the French classic Dangerous Liaisons I have had to apply my skills of close contextual reading and analysing to sculpt this essay. These skills are perfectly applicable to the critical thinking that is demanded for the course.
Within the humanities, this student has a particular background that makes her stand out, having become fluent in French while having no French background nor living in a French-speaking country. This is worth her exploring to develop her motivation for a broad course of study at university, which she does well here.
Studying the Liberal Arts will allow me to further my knowledge in a variety of fields whilst living independently and meeting people from different backgrounds. The flexible skills I would achieve from obtaining a liberal arts degree I believe would make me more desirable for future employment. I would thrive in this environment due to my self discipline and determination. During my school holidays I have undertaken working in a hotel as a chambermaid and this has made me appreciate the service sector in society and has taught me to work cohesively with others in an unfamiliar environment. I also took part in a creative writing course held at Keats House, where I learnt about romanticism. My commitment to extracurricular activities such as varsity football and basketball has shown me the importance of sportsmanship and camaraderie, while GIN (Global Issue Networking) has informed me of the values of community and the importance for charitable organisations.
The extracurricular paragraph here draws out a range of skills the student will apply to this course. Knowing that taking a broader range of subjects at a UK university requires excellent organizational skills, the student takes time to explain how she can meet these, perhaps going into slightly more detail than would be necessary for a single-honours application to spell out that she is capable of managing her time well. She then broadens this at the end by touching on some activities that have relevance for her studies.
My academic and personal preferences have always led me to the Liberal Arts; I feel as though the International Baccalaureate, my passion and self-discipline have prepared me for higher education. From the academics, extracurriculars and social aspects, I intend to embrace the entire experience of university.
In the final section, the candidate restates how she matches this course.
Overall, you can see how the key factor in a UCAS statement is the academic evidence, with students linking their engagement with a subject to the course of study that they are applying to. Using the courtroom exercise analogy, the judge here should be completely convinced that the case has been made, and will, therefore issue an offer of admittance to that university.
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How to write your undergraduate personal statement
Stand out from the crowd by showcasing who you are and what you can bring to a university as you begin your undergraduate journey.
How to start a personal statement: the attention grabber
The personal statement is your opportunity to talk about you, and why you want to enrol on a particular course. But how do you start it strongly? Read our advice below on what to include, what not to do, and how to approach it.
The personal statement is your opportunity to talk about you, and why you want to enrol on a particular course. Youâve got this far â showing your passion for the subject. But how do you end your personal statement in a way that truly does it justice?
Introducing the personal statement builder
The personal statement is your opportunity to talk about you, and why you want to enrol on a particular course. But it can be hard to know how to structure the information, which is where the personal statement builder can really help.
The personal statement is your opportunity to talk about you, and why you want to enrol on a particular course. Use these easy-to-digest bullet points to help you decide what you should and shouldnât include in your personal statement.
What to include in your personal statement
The five things every student should include on their personal statement.
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Youâve done all the hard work creating your personal statement, but have you thought about how you can use what youâve written for different purposes? Whether youâre thinking about applying for an apprenticeship, or thereâs a job youâd love, and you need a covering letter, your personal statement can be a great place to start.
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Postgraduate personal statements
How to write your postgraduate personal statement.
Stand out from the crowd by showcasing your expertise and passion for your subject.
What are the differences between an undergraduate and postgraduate personal statement?
Weâve asked experts in the field and created a simple list to tell you about the important differences between undergraduate and postgraduate personal statements.
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COMMENTS
Weird problem after I've pasted in my personal statement on UCAS. A. sleepless steve. When I've pasted my statement in and clicked on 'preview', some of the lines leave too much space at the end when it could've fitted an extra word or two from next line. For example: The cat sat on the tree and. had two lemons.
Ignore it. As long as it fit the word/character count, you're fine. If this happens, go back to the section where you actually type your personal statement in and zoom out (cmd - /ctrl - ). It should fix itself. Beep beep, we noticed this is a UCAS post.
Jessica_evans234. 5. Hello, I just copy-pasted my ucas personal statement from MS word. But unfortunately the preview looks very weird. I tried to check if its normal if I manually typed a paragraph but its still malfunctioning. It looks something like this-. xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxx xx xxxx xxxxxxxx xxxx xxxx. xxxxxx xxxxx xxxx xxx.
Preview of personal statement on UCAS. Hi guys, Ive written my personal statement, checked it 50 times ect and its in the line/character limit. But when I go to preview it, it shows everything but on one line it basically does this.. the single word on the second line is still classed as within the same line on UCAS, is this a problem because ...
problem with personal statement formatting. đ UNI / UCAS. I even wrote out my personal statement word by word onto the ucas website, but it still has this weird formatting that skips lines. Example: The cat sat on hat but then. saw dog on tree and. thought about man. Have no idea what the problem is, and I keep having to shorten everything ...
We've previously given you some tips on how to write an effective personal statement, but in this article, we tackle some of the common issues head-on and show you how to make sure your personal statement still shines. 1. Writing a personal statement for a joint honours course. Economics and Italian sounds like a great course, but the ...
The university application personal statement is changing in 2025. University admissions service Ucas has announced that a new style of personal statement will be launched in 2025. This will affect anyone making a university application from autumn 2025 onwards. Find out more about how the Ucas personal statement is changing in 2025 here.
UCAS Personal Statement Formatting-- Beware. by SteveDH » Sat Sep 21, 2013 9:34 am. Hi. My DD Submitted her application yesterday. She was a little surprised that when she previewed her PS it turned from a nicely laid out PS with a number of separate paragraphs into 1 large chunk of text. So I'd suggest checking out a preview of a PS early in ...
The personal statement is your opportunity to talk about you, and why you want to enrol on a particular course. Use these easy-to-digest bullet points to help you decide what you should and shouldn't include in your personal statement.
Your personal ID is: 153-354-8461. Your personal statement is too long to be saved. Click 'save' within 19 minutes so that your work is not lost. Your statement is 1 line (s) over the 47 limit, based on the preview. Your completed statement must be between 1,000 and 4,000 characters (maximum 47 lines) including spaces.
Writing a UCAS Personal Statement requires a student to convey a lot of information in a short space of time. Mistakes are easy to make. Read our run down of the most common ones and how to avoid them Writing a Personal Statement for UCAS is, in many ways, like asking a student to tell the story of their life in 4,000 characters or less.
Our personal statement FAQs will help ease the pain of writing a personal statement for your UCAS form, with information on when and what to write, and more.
The Ultimate UCAS Personal Statement Guide First impressions count. Oxbridge tutors want to see the person behind the UCAS application and understand why you're a suitable candidate for your chosen course. Our ultimate UCAS Personal Statement guide will help you get started.
The personal statement is an opportunity for students to show admissions staff evidence that they're passionate, curious and knowledgeable about the subject area they're looking to study further and have the relevant skills and potential to be a great student who has a genuine interest in the subject and a desire to learn more.
What do English tutors look for in a personal statement? If you're about to start drafting your personal statement, thinking about this question is a good place to kick off your thought process. Here's what a couple of admissions tutors we spoke to said...
Schools never tell people that they should roughly aim to write around 3,600-3,700 words to hit the 4,000 word limit in UCAS therefore you have to regularly copy and paste in order to preview and see how many lines/characters you've taken up. Some people argue unis like paragraphs, others not. It depends what matters to you, whether it looks ...
WHAT IS THE UCAS PERSONAL STATEMENT? The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) Personal Statement is the main essay for your application to colleges and universities in Great Britain. UCAS gives a nice explanation here, but in short, this is your chance to stand out against the crowd and show your knowledge and enthusiasm for your chosen area of study. You've got 4,000 ...
What's a personal statement? An undergraduate personal statement is a chance to get noticed for the unique talents and experiences you have. It's an important part of the application process as it's an opportunity to talk about yourself and your passions, outside of your grades.
Previewing the Personal Statement on UCAS... A i'm no superman 15 Is the preview EXACTLY how unis will see and read our PS? I ask since when I copied and pasted my personal statement from Microsoft Word onto UCAS, the alignment of the text didn't appeal to me whatsoever.
How can we help? I made a mistake - can I change my personal statement? Once you've sent your completed application to us, we cannot change your personal statement or upload a new one. You may be able to send a new statement directly to your choices. If you do, remember to quote your UCAS PID.
UCAS Personal Statement format messing up please help!!! My ucas personal statement looks normal in drafts, but when I click "preview" it changes to very strange formatting that looks terrible. It looks like this on my laptop, but looks fine on a different PC. But when I copy and paste on the other PC to a word document it looks bad again.
17. Try copying it into notepad, and then pasting it from there to the PS bit on UCAS. This removes all the extra formatting that MS Word puts in. Reply 4. 15 years ago. A. louboutin*. 2. Mine did this too and on the view all section it appeared normally, however when I printed it off the line spacing went all weird again.Neither of my teachers ...
How to write a personal statement for a conservatoire. The personal statement is your opportunity to talk about you, and why you want to enrol on a particular course. You should describe the ambitions, skills, and experience that'll make you suitable for the course.