how to write your undergraduate personal statement undergraduate ucas

How to Write a UCAS Personal Statement [With Examples]

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What are the big challenges students should be aware of before writing their UCAS Personal Statement?

• The essential ingredients for writing a great Personal Statement
• How to write the UCAS Personal Statement [with examples]

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The UCAS Personal Statement can sometimes be a student’s only chance to impress a UK university. Read our in-depth guide to helping your students plan & write a winning application.

There are hundreds of articles out there on how to write a UCAS Personal Statement that will grab the attention of a UK university admissions officer.  

But if you’re working with students to help them perfect their Personal Statement in time for the  relevant UCAS deadlines , we can sum up the secret to success in three words.

Planning, structure and story. 

The UCAS Personal Statement is a student’s chance to talk about why they want to study for a particular degree, course or subject discipline at a UK university. 

As they set about writing a personal statement, students need to demonstrate the drive, ambition, relevant skills and notable achievements that make them a  suitable candidate for the universities they have chosen to apply to . 

But the UCAS Personal Statement requires students to write a lot about themselves in a relatively short space of time. That’s why lots of planning, a tight structure and a compelling story are essential if a student’s Personal Statement is to truly excel. 

As important deadlines for UK university applications grow closer, we at BridgeU have put together a guide, outlining some of the strategies and techniques to help your students to write a personal statement which is both engaging and truly individual.

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Discover the simple steps that will boost the confidence of your native English speaking & ESL students alike in  University Application Essays: The 5 Secrets of Successful Writing .

As they begin to plan their Personal Statement, students may feel intimidated. It’s not easy to summarise your academic interests and personal ambitions, especially when you’re competing for a place on a course which is popular or has demanding entry requirements. In particular, students will likely come up against the following challenges.

Time pressure

Unfortunately, the Personal Statement (and other aspects of university preparation) comes during the busiest year of the student’s academic life so far.

Students, and indeed teachers and counsellors, must undertake the planning and writing of the personal statement whilst juggling other commitments, classes and deadlines, not to mention revision and open day visits!

Because there is already a lot of academic pressure on students in their final year of secondary school, finding the time and headspace for the personal statement can be hard, and can mean it gets pushed to the last minute. The risks of leaving it to the last minute are fairly obvious – the application will seem rushed and the necessary thought and planning won’t go into  making the personal statement the best it can be . 

Sticking closely to the Personal Statement format

The character limit which UCAS sets for the personal statement is very strict – up to 4,000 characters of text. This means that students have to express themselves in a clear and concise way; it’s also important that they don’t feel the need to fill the available space needlessly.  Planning and redrafting of a personal statement is essential .

Making it stand out

This is arguably the greatest challenge facing students – making sure that their statement sets them apart from everyone else who is competing for a place on any given course; in 2022 alone, UCAS received applications from 683,650 applicants (+1.6k on 2021) students. In addition, UCAS uses its own dedicated team and purpose built software to check every application for plagiarism, so it’s crucial that students craft a truly  original personal statement which is entirely their own work .

The essential ingredients for writing a great UCAS Personal Statement 

We’ve already mentioned our three watch words for writing a high quality Personal Statement.

Planning. Structure. Story. 

Let’s dig deeper into these three essential components in more detail.

Watch: How to Write a UCAS Personal Statement with University of Essex

Planning a ucas personal statement.

It might sound like a no-brainer, but it’s vital that students plan their Personal Statement before they start writing it. Specifically, the planning phase could include: 

• Students thoroughly researching the UK university courses they plan on applying to. 
• Deciding on what relevant material to include in their Personal Statement (we’ll cover this in more detail later on). 
• Writing an unedited first draft where they just get their thoughts and ideas down on paper. 

Structuring a UCAS Personal Statement

As we’ve discussed, the UCAS Personal Statement requires students to be extremely disciplined – they will be required to condense a lot of information into a relatively short written statement. This means that, after they’ve written a rough first draft, they need to think carefully about how they structure the final statement. 

A stand out Personal Statement will need a tight structure, with an introduction and a conclusion that make an impact and really help to tell a story about who your student is, and why they are drawn to studying this particular degree. 

This brings us nicely to our third and final ingredient…

Telling a story with a Personal Statement

The UCAS Personal Statement is a student’s opportunity to show a university who they are and how their life experiences have shaped their academic interests and goals. 

So a good Personal Statement needs to offer a compelling narrative, and that means making sure that a student’s writing is well-structured, and that every sentence and paragraph is serving the statement’s ultimate purpose –  to convince a university that your student deserves a place on their subject of choice. 

How to help your students start their UCAS Personal Statement

In order to ensure that a personal statement is delivered on time and to an appropriate standard, it’s essential to plan thoroughly before writing it. Here are some questions you can ask your students before they start writing:

How can you demonstrate a formative interest in your subject?

It may sound obvious but, in order for any UCAS personal statement to have the necessary structure and clarity, students need to think hard about why they want to study their chosen subject. Ask them to think about their responses to the following questions:

What inspired you to study your chosen subject?

Example answer:  My desire to understand the nature of reality has inspired me to apply for Physics and Philosophy

Was there a formative moment when your perspective on this subject changed, or when you decided you wanted to study this subject in more detail?

Example answer:  My interest in philosophy was awakened when I questioned my childhood religious beliefs; reading Blackburn’s “Think”, convinced me to scrutinise my assumptions about the world, and to ensure I could justify my beliefs.

Can you point to any role models, leading thinkers, or notable literature which has in turn affected your thinking and/or inspired you?

Example answer :  The search for a theory of everything currently being conducted by physicists is of particular interest to me and in “The Grand Design” Hawking proposes a collection of string theories, dubbed M-theory, as the explanation of why the universe is the way it is.

Asking your students to think about the “why” behind their chosen subject discipline is a useful first step in helping them to organise their overall statement. Next, they need to be able to demonstrate evidence of their suitability for a course or degree. 

How have you demonstrated the skills and aptitudes necessary for your chosen course?

Encourage students to think about times where they have demonstrated the necessary skills to really stand out. It’s helpful to think about times when they have utilised these skills both inside and outside the classroom. Ask students to consider their responses to the following questions. 

Can you demonstrate critical and independent thinking around your chosen subject discipline?

Example answer :  Currently I am studying Maths and Economics in addition to Geography. Economics has been a valuable tool, providing the nuts and bolts to economic processes, and my geography has provided a spatial and temporal element.

Are you able to demonstrate skills and competencies which will be necessary for university study?

These include qualities such as teamwork, time management and the ability to organise workload responsibly.

Example answer:  This year I was selected to be captain of the 1st XV rugby team and Captain of Swimming which will allow me to further develop my leadership, teamwork and organisational skills.

How have your extracurricular activities helped prepare you for university?

Students may believe that their interests outside the classroom aren’t relevant to their university application. So encourage them to think about how their other interests can demonstrate the subject-related skills that universities are looking for in an application. Ask students to think about any of the following activities, and how they might be related back to the subject they are applying for.

• Clubs/societies, or volunteering work which they can use to illustrate attributes such as teamwork, an interest in community service and the ability to manage their time proactively.
• Have they been elected/nominated as a team captain, or the head of a particular club or society, which highlights leadership skills and an ability to project manage?
• Can they point to any awards or prizes they may have won, whether it’s taking up a musical instrument, playing a sport, or participating in theatre/performing arts?
• Have they achieved grades or qualifications as part of their extracurricular activities? These can only help to demonstrate aptitude and hard work. 

How to write the UCAS Personal Statement [with examples] 

If sufficient planning has gone into the personal statement, then your students should be ready to go!

In this next section, we’ll break down the individual components of the UCAS Personal Statement and share some useful examples.

These examples come from a Personal Statement in support of an application to study Environmental Science at a UK university. 

Watch: King’s College London explain what they’re looking for in a UCAS Personal Statement

Introduction.

This is the chance for an applying student to really grab an admission tutor’s attention. Students need to demonstrate both a personal passion for their subject, and explain why they have an aptitude for it .  This section is where students should begin to discuss any major influences or inspirations that have led them to this subject choice. 

Example :  My passion for the environment has perhaps come from the fact that I have lived in five different countries: France, England, Spain, Sweden and Costa Rica. Moving at the age of 15 from Sweden, a calm and organized country, to Costa Rica, a more diverse and slightly chaotic country, was a shock for me at first and took me out of my comfort zone […] Also, living in Costa Rica, one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, definitely helped me realize how vulnerable the world is and how we need to take care of it in a sustainable manner. 

This opening paragraph immediately grabs the reader’s attention by giving the reader an insight into this student’s background and links their academic interests with something specific from the student’s personal backstory. 

Discussing Academic Achievements 

The next paragraph in this Personal Statement discusses the student’s academic achievements. Because this student has had an international education, they frame their academic achievements in the context of their personal background. They also cite useful examples of other curricula they have studied and the grades they have achieved. 

Example : 

Throughout my academic life I have shown myself to be a responsible student as well as a hard working one, despite the fact that I have had to move around a lot. I have achieved several other accomplishments such as a high A (286/300) in AS Spanish at age 15, and also completed a Spanish course of secondary studies for ‘MEP’(Ministerio de Educacion Publica), which is a system from Costa Rica.   

You’ll notice that this student doesn’t just list their achievements – their strong academic performance is always linked back to a wider discussion of their personal experiences. 

Showcasing Extracurricular Activities

As well as discussing academic achievements, a good Personal Statement should also discuss the student’s extracurricular activities, and how they relate back to the student’s overall university aspirations. 

By the third/fourth paragraph of the Personal Statement, students should think about incorporating their extracurricular experiences, 

Another valuable experience was when my class spent a week at a beach called ‘Pacuare’ in order to help prevent the eggs of the endangered leatherback turtle from being stolen by poachers who go on to sell them like chicken eggs. We all gained teamwork experience, which was needed in order to hide the eggs silently without scaring the mother turtles, as well as making it more difficult for the poachers to find them. 

When the poachers set fire to one of the sustainable huts where we were staying, not only did I gain self-awareness about the critical situation of the world and its ecosystems, I also matured and became even more motivated to study environmental sciences at university.

This is a particularly striking example of using extracurricular activities to showcase a student’s wider passion for the degree subject they want to study. 

Not only does this Personal Statement have a story about volunteering to save an endangered species, it also illustrates this applicants’ wider worldview, and helps to explain their motivation for wanting to study Environmental Science. 

Concluding the UCAS Personal Statement

The conclusion to a UCAS Personal Statement will have to be concise, and will need to tie all of a student’s academic and extracurricular achievements. After all, a compelling story will need a great ending. 

Remember that students need to be mindful of the character limit of a Personal Statement, so a conclusion need only be the length of a small paragraph, or even a couple of sentences. 

“ After having many varied experiences, I truly think I can contribute to university in a positive way, and would love to study in England where I believe I would gain more skills and education doing a first degree than in any other country.  “

A good Personal Statement conclusion will end with an affirmation of how the student thinks they can contribute to university life, and why they believe the institution in question should accept them. Because the student in this example has a such a rich and varied international background, they also discuss the appeal of studying at university in England. 

It’s worth taking a quick look at a few other examples of how other students have chosen to conclude their Personal Statement. 

Medicine (Imperial College, London) 

Interest in Medicine aside, other enthusiasms of mine include languages, philosophy, and mythology. It is curiously fitting that in ancient Greek lore, healing was but one of the many arts Apollo presided over, alongside archery and music.   I firmly believe that a doctor should explore the world outside the field of  Medicine, and it is with such experiences that I hope to better empathise and connect with the patients I will care for in my medical career. 

You’ll notice that this example very specifically ties the students’ academic and extracurricular activities together, and ties the Personal Statement back to their values and beliefs. 

Economic History with Economics (London School of Economics)

The highlight of my extra-curricular activities has been my visit to Shanghai with the Lord Mayor’s trade delegation in September 2012. I was selected to give a speech at this world trade conference due to my interest in economic and social history. […] I particularly enjoyed the seminar format, and look forward to experiencing more of this at university. My keen interest and desire to further my knowledge of history and economics, I believe, would make the course ideal for me.

By contrast, this conclusion ties a memorable experience back to the specifics of how the student will be taught at the London School of Economics – specifically, the appeal of learning in seminar format! 

There’s no magic formula for concluding a Personal Statement. But you’ll see that what all of these examples have in common is that they tie a student’s personal and academic experiences together – and tell a university something about their aspirations for the future.

Watch: Bournemouth University explain how to structure a UCAS Personal Statement

Know the audience

It can be easy for students to forget that the person reading a personal statement is invariably an expert in their field. This is why an ability to convey passion and think critically about their chosen subject is essential for a personal statement to stand out. Admissions tutors will also look for students who can structure their writing (more on this below). 

Students should be themselves

Remember that many students are competing for places on a university degree against fierce competition. And don’t forget that UCAS has the means to spot plagiarism. So students need to create a truly honest and individual account of who they are, what they have achieved and, perhaps most importantly, why they are driven to study this particular subject.

Proof-read (then proof-read again!)

Time pressures mean that students can easily make mistakes with their Personal Statements. As the deadline grows closer, it’s vital that they are constantly checking and rechecking their writing and to ensure that shows them in the best possible light. 

Meanwhile, when it comes to giving feedback to students writing their Personal Statements, make sure you’re as honest and positive as possible in the days and weeks leading up to submission day. 

And make sure they remember the three key ingredients of writing a successful Personal Statement. 

Planning, structure and story! 

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How to write your undergraduate personal statement

Writing a personal statement is probably one of the most difficult parts of the UCAS application form .

Many students will not have done much creative writing since GCSE, and even if you have, it's still very hard to write about yourself.

We've produced this short guide to help you with the process, and make sure you don't end up with a poor UCAS personal statement that won't sell you to university admissions tutors.

What is a personal statement?

Some students are unsure what a personal statement is exactly (and rightly so!).

Unfortunately, some students forge ahead with their personal statement without stopping to check what it's supposed to encompass.

So, what is a personal statement, and what should it include?

The UCAS personal statement is a 47 line (or 4,000 character ) piece of writing that allows you to tell the universities and colleges you are applying to why they should offer you a place on their course.

In order to do this successfully, you need to convey your passion and enthusiasm for the subject to the admissions tutors, as well as demonstrate your suitability to the course.

Please be aware that application personal statements and essays vary between countries, and that the guidance below is only applicable to those applying to a UK higher education institution through UCAS .

Our guide will help you put together a personal statement, although you may find that using your own ideas gives a better reflection of yourself than using advice from anywhere else.

Our personal statement template may also help you structure a decent first draft.

Here is an outline of what you can expect to find in our personal statement writing guide:

• UCAS advice - read what UCAS have to say first to get a general overview 
• Aims of the personal statement - so what actually is the point of a personal statement? what should it do for my application?
• Notes about yourself - Make notes about what you might put in your personal statement before you start
• You and your subject - Why do you want to take this subject?
• Applying for a joint degree - how to handle talking about two subjects
• Applying for different subjects - be careful about trying to apply for completely unrelated subjects
• Read example personal statements - Read statements written by previous applicants to give you some ideas
• Goals of your personal statement - What do you think should be included to make your statement sound good?
• Language of your personal statement - How to make your statement read well
• Structure of your personal statement - How are you going to layout and write your statement?
• Writing your personal statement - A few last minute tips before you begin
• I've written my first draft - now what? - What to do after completing your first draft
• Formatting your personal statement - How to format your statement once you have your final draft.

Choose your university course first

We suggest you have a pretty good idea of what course you want to study before continuing much further with your UCAS personal statement .

Generally, personal statements are quite specific so if you decide to change the course you are applying for you would need to rewrite your personal statement.

If you’re still uncertain as to which course you want to apply for, take a look at our advice on choosing a degree .

This tells you about all the things to consider when selecting your degree course , in order to ensure you make the right choice for you, as well as links to other resources to help you make a decision.

Once you're certain you've settled on a course, you can think about starting to write your personal statement.

1. Read the UCAS advice

In the 'Your personal statement' section at the UCAS website , you are given a brief introduction to personal statements, and then a set of advice on how you should go about writing it.

It's important to read and pay attention to this, as UCAS will be processing your application, which means their own tips on writing your personal statement will be extremely valuable. Once you have taken on board their advice, feel free to go on to the next section below for more help.

2. Write down the aims of your personal statement

Many universities don't interview applicants, so the only information they have about you is on your UCAS form . A majority of the application form contains your details - the bits the universities are interested in are your grades, your references and your personal statement. The personal statement is the only part you really have full control over, so this is your chance to present a good image to the admissions tutor, even if your grades don't really seem to reflect this. If you are applying to an oversubscribed university course, e.g. Physiotherapy , Medicine , etc. and everyone applying is likely to have good grades, the personal statement is the only thing that will set you apart from other applicants, so you want to try and make yours as good as possible. When the admissions and subject tutors look at your personal statement, they are likely to be asking two main questions:

1. Do we want this student on this course?

2. Do we want this student at this university?

These questions can then be broken up further to make it easier to answer them thoroughly:

• Is the student suited to the course that they are applying for?
• Does the student have the necessary qualifications and qualities for the course?
• Is the student conscientious, hardworking and unlikely to drop out?
• Will the student do their best and cope with the demands of the course?
• Can the student work under pressure?
• Will the student be able to adjust to their new environment at university?
• What are their communication skills like?
• Are they dedicated to this course and have they researched it well?
• Do they have a genuine interest in the subject and a desire to learn more about it?

These are the sorts of questions you need to answer in your personal statement.

Unfortunately you cannot answer them directly with a simple 'yes' or 'no' -  you need to provide evidence and make it sound believable. Ultimately, admissions tutors are human too, and may well have hundreds of personal statements to sift through, so even if you think you've answered all these questions really well you may still be unlucky. There are other techniques you can use to make your statement stand out and appeal to admissions tutors, but remember people are all different and therefore may have different ideas about what they look for in a prospective student.

3. Make notes about yourself

Now you have some idea of why you're writing a personal statement, you need to think about what you're going to put in it. You don't need to start thinking about the wording or structure yet - the first thing to do is get down some ideas on what you could include. The best way to do this is to use a set of headings and write bullet points about how you relate to these headings. Here are some example headings you may wish to think about:

What you want to study at university and why

• Specific aspects of the courses that interest you
• Examples of coursework you have completed
• Practical work you have enjoyed
• Books, articles, etc. you have read related to the subject area
• Work experience or voluntary work in this area
• Conferences you have attended
• Personal experiences that lead to the decision to take this subject
• Where you hope a degree in this subject will take you in the future
• Experiences that show you are a reliable and responsible person, e.g. part-time job, business enterprise, community and charity work, sixth form committee, helping out at school events and open days,  Young Enterprise , World Challenge, Duke of Edinburgh award , Asdan Award, debating societies, and what you have gained from these experiences.

Your interests and skills

• What you like to do in your free time
• Sport and leisure activities
• Subjects you study that are not examined
• Musical instrument(s) you play
• Languages you speak
• Prizes you have won or positions achieved in your interests

Gap year (if applicable)

• Why you want to take a gap year
• What you plan to do
• How this may relate to your course

International Student (if applicable)

• Why you want to come and study for a course in the UK  
• How your experiences in your home country have influenced you.

Please note, you don't have to mention your gap year plans in your personal statement, but if you choose to leave it out, you may be asked why you're taking one at an interview . You should now have lots of bullet points about yourself, all of which will be useful in preparing your personal statement. Don't worry too much if you don't seem to have done many of the things outlined above - just think about things you've done that show all your qualities, or could be written in a way that displays The important thing is that you have a good reason for why you want to study the course. It doesn't matter if the reason sounds silly at the moment - you can work on the language later. All admissions tutors will be looking for people who are enthusiastic and passionate about the subject(s) they want to study, so make sure you really are. If you're choosing this course just because you can't think of anything better to do, that's not a good enough reason, and maybe you should consider looking for a course you would enjoy more.

4. Talk about why you enjoy this subject

Saying why you want to take your course is possibly the most important part of your personal statement. You can have perfect grades, great extra curricular activities and be a really wonderful person, but if admissions tutors feel you aren't committed to your course, you won't get a place. Hopefully the notes you have written for the section above have already given you a good idea of what to write about why you want to take your course. If not then you should at least be sure you want to take that subject - writing a personal statement is a lot of work, and you don't really want to get to the end of it and decide you want to study a different subject. So before you go much further, it's important to be abolutely sure you have chosen the right subject for you. As mentioned earlier, if you’re still not certain about your choice of course, check out our section on choosing a degree to help you make a final decision.

Remember you don't actually have to choose the course you want to take yet, just have a rough idea of the subject area (or areas) you might be interested in. Now you need to think about exactly why you want to take this subject. Even if you are 100% sure that this is the course for you, you still need to get this across to the admissions tutors. If they accept you, you are going to be studying this course for at least the next three years, and you need to convince them that you are committed to it.

Have a think about exactly why the subject appeals to you, and write down as much as you can about it.

It doesn't matter if you only scribble a few notes - you can modify them before you write the statement. You just need to be sure of the key reasons why you want to take the subject.

Write down as many as you can, and if you end up with quite a few, you can always just pick the best.

Remember - if you can't think of any good reasons - should you really be taking that subject?

5. Applying for a joint degree

There are two options you can use to tailor your personal statement to joint degrees (a degree where you take two subjects e.g. Economics and Politics ). You can talk about the subject you feel is most important, and not mention the other. This has the advantage that you can apply for two different joint degrees and only talk about the common element e.g. for Economics and Politics and Law and Politics, you would only talk about politics. If you decide to do this, make sure you talk about the qualities you have which show you are suitable for the other half of your joint degree. Alternatively you can just talk about why you want to do both subjects, although the approach you choose will probably depend on how closely related your subjects are.

6. Applying for different subjects

There is no easy way to write a personal statement for two unrelated subjects. If the subjects are similar, such as Maths and Statistics, or Accounting and Business Studies , you may find you can write a general personal statement that applies equally to both courses.

If this is the case you many not want to mention either of the subjects by name, and instead talk about the related work that you've already done and why you have enjoyed it. If your subjects are totally unrelated there is no way you wan write a personal statement that will cover all of them. Instead you need to come up with a statement that gives you the best chance of being accepted. For example, if you are applying for one subject at four of your university choices and another subject at the other two, you may just want to write a statement related to the subject you chose to study at four universities and either forget about, or change the course, at your other two choices. You also want to consider your predicted grades in relation to the universities you are applying to. Universities that normally make lower offers are less likely to be concerned about a badly targeted personal statement, whereas for universities that make high offers, the personal statement will be much more important. Try and alter your personal statement so it is more specific to the universities asking for higher grades, as this will give you the best chance of being offered places at all your choices. There will probably be some cases where there is nothing you can do, for example, if you are applying for three totally unrelated subjects, each at two different universities. There is no advice that will help in a situation like this, except just to consider whether this is really what you want to do, and that you may be seriously reducing your chances of being offered a place on your chosen courses.

Even if you do apply for three different courses, you will only be able to study one of them, so it helps if you try to limit your choices to similar subjects.

7. Read example UCAS personal statements

Some people may know exactly how they are going to lay out and write their personal statement, but for the rest of us it's a bit more difficult. Even though you now know what you're going to put in your statement, do you know how to make it read well? The best way to get an idea of how to go about producing your personal statement is to look at example personal statements . This gives you a chance to see the sort of structure and language other people use, how they explained why they wanted to study their chosen course, as well as their own interests and abilities. When you read through sample personal statements, have your own notes from the section above ready. If you find anything you've done but haven't already thought about, make a note of it. Reading through lots of personal statements will allow you to judge which ones you think are good or bad, and find parts of statements you really like or dislike. This exercise will come in useful in the next section. Hopefully your school or college will give you some example personal statements, but if they don't, we have a collection of over 2000 personal statements , making us home to the largest catalogue of personal statements on the web.

These can be browsed by the following categories:

• International student
• Mature student .

8. Work out your personal statement goals

Now you’ve looked at some example personal statements , you may have some idea of how you might put your own together. However, even if you’re still stuck, you should have seen lots of statements you like, as well as a few that you don't. Use this knowledge to decide how you are going to write your personal statement. From the personal statements you have just read through, you may have gathered the following guidelines:

• Don’t sound arrogant and pretentious
• Try to have an interesting phrase or paragraph to start and finish on
• Try not to quote books, magazines or publications in a way that makes it sound like you’ve only read them to put them on your statement.
• Do not lie outright and stay as close to the truth as possible
• Don't try to be funny or make jokes in your statement
• Don't start every sentence with I
• Don't include your hobbies and interests unless they are relevant
• Don't use vocabulary you don't normally use and just looked up in a dictionary
• Don't use famous quotes in your statement unless you back them up with information on how and why this person’s quote influenced you. Dropping them in just for the sake of it makes you look silly and that you haven’t given serious thought to your personal statement.
• Don't repeat things already on your UCAS form, e.g. predicted exam grades.
• With the exception of a gap year, don't make claims you are going to do something before you come to university
• Don't include clichés
• Don't take any political or religious viewpoints.

Guidelines like these should give you an idea of what to focus on and think about when writing your own personal statement.

They also stop your statement from looking too much like one of the examples that you might have copied bits from. Remember - you don't have to use any of these goals as your own. If you think you are really witty and some light humour will go down well in your statement, then take the plunge and put it down. These goals are really just ideas you might want to use to help you come up with your first draft - remember a personal statement is supposed to be personal , and you should stick with writing whatever you think will work best for you.

9. Use positive language

From looking at example personal statements you have probably found some language that you like or think works well. The first thing to remember is: do not directly copy any of it! Not even a single sentence! The reason is, copying statements is plagiarism , and if an admissions tutor sees a statement they recognise they will probably reject you instantly. You should also not copy single sentences for the same reason - sentences that stick out in your mind may stick out in the examiners also. It is ok to find a sentence or paragraph that says what you want to say, but make sure you adapt it yourself and don't just copy it.

Remember that UCAS also uses its Copycatch software to check for statements that are too similar to each other, and if they find you have copied a previous statement too closely, your application will be penalised. In terms of language, you need to use words and phrases that makes you sound enthusiastic about your courses and portrays you as an interesting person. If you're still wondering what sort of language to use look at existing personal statements , prospectuses and on the web to find sentences you feel fit your views. University prospectuses are another good place to look - find your course, see how it is described and see if you can work anything similar into your personal statement.

Write down a list of words or sentences you would like to use like this:

• to gain greater understanding of the world around you
• sends a signal to prospective employers and graduate schools
• students of economics become problem-solvers
• the fact is economics affects our daily lives
• a challenging and diverse discipline
• develops analytical skills, quantitative skills, research skills
• it is interesting and relevant

Don't copy the sentences you find outright - change them or write your own sentence in a similar style. If you can't find any sentences you like, try and write your own - it is a personal statement after all.

10. Add structure to your statement

Now it's time to think about the structure of your personal statement - you should have read lots of example statements by now and may have a fair idea about how yours is going to look, but this section should clarify things a bit if you don't.

Most statements are written in an essay format, but you don't have to do yours like this. We don't recommend you write it as one large block of text. Even though you can fit more words in, this just makes it hard to read. This means you need to break it up into paragraphs, or use headings.

Not many personal statements are written using the latter format, but if you think yours would work better like this, then go ahead. A starting guideline is to simply spend half the statement talking about the course and why you want to take it, and spend the other half writing about yourself and your own abilities, though once you get into it this can be easily changed.   Another approach is to split up your notes into a few categories and write a paragraph on each one. For example:

• Paragraph 1: Introduction to the subject, the aspects you’re interested in and why
• Paragraph 2: What you have done related to the subject that isn’t already on your UCAS form
• Paragraphs 3 and 4: Work experience placements and relevant activities at school
• Paragraph 5: Your interests outside of school, particularly those that show you are a responsible and reliable person
• Paragraph 6: Your goal of attending university and a memorable closing comment

Again, this is only a guideline - depending on yourself and your course you may want to change things. The last option is to use our personal statement template , which will guide you through the process. Our tool allows you to save your statement and come back to it later. We recommend you spend most of your time on the start and finish of the personal statement .   A good opening will grab the readers’ attention and cause them to read the statement properly, rather than just scanning it. A good conclusion will mean the reader remembers what you wrote, and hopefully will recommend you. In our opinion it's best to start with why you want to take your subject, and finish with why you want to go to university or what you want to do afterwards.

Our Personal Statement FAQs has more information on each area of your personal statement and how to write them.

11. Write the first draft of your personal statement

Hopefully you now have all your notes ready - you've thought about the language you want to use, as well as the structure and the goals of your statement. You are almost ready to start writing your personal statement, but here are a few things to bear in mind first. Remember the aims of a personal statement . You need to show the admissions tutor why you should be accepted on your chosen course at your chosen university. In addition to what you say in your pesonal statement, the language you use and the way it is laid out will be judged as well. Also remember you only have a limited amount of space (47 lines, or 4,000 characters) , but don't let this put you off too much. A long personal statement can be easily trimmed down. It's harder to increase the length of a short personal statement, but if yours it too short to begin with, don't worry. There is no requirement that you fill the entire space, but it's better to have a short and well written personal statement than a long and irrelevant one. You can see how long your personal statement is with our handy length checker . Be positive and interesting - if there is something you are unhappy about, try to portray it in an attractive light, or failing that, remove reference to it altogether.

Before you begin, take a look at the websites and prospectuses of the universities you are applying to, and see if they say anything about writing personal statements. This information would probably be written by the admissions tutors, and would give you a much better idea of the sort of things you should put down!

12. Back everything up with examples

Remember - you need to write in a way that is informative, interesting and useful. Along with writing about what you've done, try and explain why you did it, or what you think you learned from it. For example: I currently have a part time job and this has taught me about teamwork, responsibility and time management in the workplace. From this point, you're more or less on your own, so move on to the next section when you've got a complete first draft of your personal statement .

To help you with this first draft, we have a handy UCAS personal statement template tool you can use for free.

13. Ask for multiple rounds of feedback

Congratulations on putting together the first draft of your personal statement! Don't worry if it sounds disjointed, you have missed bits out or it's too long or too short - you can correct these things later on. First of all, read through what you've written slowly and try to read it from someone else's point of view. Make sure it's easy to read and not confusing. Have you said everything you want to say without under or over-selling yourself? If you are confused by reading your own personal statement, it is likely anyone else reading it will be too (including the admissions tutors!). Next - get other people to read it. Ask your family, friends, teachers and anyone else who you think will be able to give you a good opinion. As well as checking for spelling and grammar mistakes, they will be able to tell you if they think there are some things you may have missed out. Also show it to your head of year at school or career adviser, as people like this will have seen a lot of personal statements and therefore know what a good personal statement looks like. You could also get people on the Internet to look at your statement, and see what they think. There are many web based communities where you can post your personal statement or email it to people, and they will happily give you advice for free.

There is one downside though: if you post your statement on a message board or forum, anyone can look at it, so you may get people who steal parts of your statement (or the whole thing!). Hopefully by looking at your personal statement again and showing it to other people you should have a whole bunch of changes to make to your original draft. Before making these changes, save a copy of your original statement so you can go back to it if you need too. Keep making changes, showing people your statement, and making more changes - it's not unusual for people to have done 10-20 drafts (though many do much less) before they are completely happy with their statement. Once you've got a personal statement that reads well, and you are happy with it, it's time to look at the size of it.

14. Format your personal statement

Personal statements can no longer be submitted on paper, so not much formatting is required. The software used to upload your personal statement to UCAS can be quite temperamental, so carefully check through your statement line by line once you've submitted it. We've also put together a personal statement length checker so you can see whether your statement is going to fit into the space provided in your online UCAS application form.

15. Check the length

You have 47 lines in which to write your personal statement.

However, you should take care using them, as they will only clear you through the automatic preview – you can’t tell how it will appear to the admissions tutors.

16. Word, character and line limits

Firstly remember, there is no word limit – instead you're concentrating on a character limit (4,000 characters including spaces) and a line limit (47).

Both of these must be satisfied to allow you to save your personal statement. Checking you’re within the character limit is easy - just use our Personal Statement Length Checker . The line limit is more difficult, as the length of the lines is predetermined - any lines longer than 93 characters (including spaces) are wrapped onto the next line.

You can check you don’t go over the line limit using a word processor that shows the cursor position (the upright bar showing where you’re typing) and creating a new line after you’ve typed 93 characters – if you’re doing this make sure your word processor doesn’t wrap lines automatically before this.

17. Other things to remember

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 no longer possible to indent lines. Single spaces at the beginning of lines will also be removed. You have a very limited set of 'special characters' to use along with all the upper and lowercase letter and numbers. You can use the following symbols: !"£$%^&*()_+' |/ ,.;:'@#~[]?*-= Common symbols not allowed are €, long dashes (–) and the special quote characters “ ‘ ’ ” which will simply be removed from your statement.

So remember to replace long dashes with - and quotes with " and '.

Some of these problems stem from Microsoft Word's autoformat feature, so you might want to turn if off before starting your personal statement. Backslashes (\) are also not allowed but will be replaced with forward slashes (/) and curly brackets will be replaced with normal ones.

Further information

For more tips and advice on writing your personal statement, please see the following articles at Studential:

• UCAS Personal Statement Examples
• Top Rated UCAS Personal Statements
• Personal Statement Editing Services
• Personal Statement Tips From A Teacher
• Analysis Of A UCAS Personal Statement
• The 15th January UCAS Deadline: 4 Ways To Avoid Missing It
• UCAS Personal Statement FAQs
• UCAS UCAS Personal Statement Template
• UCAS Personal Statement Timeline
• 10 Top Personal Statement Writing Tips
• What To Do If You Miss The 15th January UCAS Deadline
• 6 Personal Statement Writing Tips
• How to write a personal statement - UCAS.com
• Tips for writing a personal statement - Complete University Guide
• How to write an excellent personal statement in 10 steps
• 10 Personal Statement Writing Tips

How to write a UCAS personal statement

Writing a great personal statement

Read our guide on what it is, what to include, how to start, length and what makes a good personal statement 

Once you've decided which universities and courses to apply for, completing your application is pretty simple – until it comes to how to write your UCAS personal statement.

This guide covers everything you need to know about how to write a personal statement for university. We look at what it is and how you can start your personal statement. We've also got questions to guide you and a suggested personal statement structure you can use so you know what to put in it.

If you'd like even more resources, support and UCAS personal statement examples, you can sign up to access our personal statement hub .

What is the UCAS personal statement?

How universities use your ucas personal statement, how to start a ucas personal statement.

• Get feedback on your UCAS personal statement

The personal statement is part of your UCAS application. It's how you show your chosen universities why you'll make a great student and why they should make you an offer.

Your personal statement also helps you think about your choice of course and your reasons for applying, so you know you’ve made the right decision.

Get feedback on your personal statement

Sign up to our personal statement hub to get feedback on your draft. You'll also get access to videos, help sheets and more tips.

Sign up now

UCAS personal statement word limit

Your personal statement length can be up to 4,000 characters long. 

This may sound a lot, but it's a word limit of around 550–1000 words with spaces and only about 1 side of typed A4 paper.

You need to keep it concise and make sure it's clear and easy to read.

Applying for multiple courses

Although you can apply for up to 5 courses on your UCAS application, you can only submit 1 personal statement. So it needs to cover all your course choices.

If you really want to show your commitment to applying for different courses, we will accept a second personal statement from you to reflect your application e.g. if you are applying for Law elsewhere, but Criminology and Criminal Justice with us.

Lots of students who apply to university have achieved the basic entry requirements and many more students apply than there are places available. Admissions teams can use your UCAS personal statement to get to know you and decide why you're more suitable than other applicants.

Some universities read every personal statement and score them. Then they use them alongside your qualifications and grades to decide whether to offer you a place or interview. Other universities put less emphasis on the personal statement and use it with students who have borderline entry requirements.

Universities might refer to your personal statement again on results day if you don't get the grades you need. So a good personal statement could clinch you a uni place even if your grades aren't what you hoped for.

Starting your personal statement can seem scary when you're staring at a blank screen. But, things will seem less daunting once you start.

• Set aside some time in a place where you're comfortable and won't be disturbed. Grab a notepad or computer.
• Write down anything and everything that's influenced your decision to go to university and study your chosen subject. Jot down your skills and experience too.
• Use the questions below to guide you. Don't worry about the personal statement length at this point – you can cut things out later.

When to start your UCAS personal statement

Ideally, you want to leave yourself plenty of time – a few weeks or even months – to plan and write your personal statement.

Try not to leave it to the last minute, as tempting as this may seem when you've got so many other things to think about.

Questions to guide you

Your motivation.

• Why do you want to study at university?
• Why do you want to study this subject?
• How did you become interested in this subject?
• What career do you have in mind after university?

Academic ability and potential

• How have your current studies affected your choice?
• What do you enjoy about your current studies?
• What skills have you gained from your current studies?
• How can you demonstrate you have the skills and qualities needed for the course?
• What qualities and attributes would you bring to the course and university?

Your experience

• What work experience (including part-time, charity and volunteer work) do you have and what have you learnt from it?
• What positions of responsibility have you held? (For example, prefect, captain of a team or member of a committee)
• What relevant hobbies or interests do you have and what skills have they helped you develop?
• What transferable skills do you have, such as self motivation, team working, public speaking, problem solving and analytical thinking?

Research and reading

• How do you keep up with current affairs or news in your chosen subject?
• What journals or publications relevant to your chosen subject do you read?
• Which people have influenced you, such as artists, authors, philosophers or scientists?

Now it's time to write your personal statement using your notes. It's best to draft it on a computer, and remember to save it regularly.

You can copy and paste it into your UCAS application when you're happy with it.

Personal statement structure

While there's no set template for a personal statement, you may find it useful to follow this personal statement structure when you decide what to put in your statement.

What to include in a personal statement

• Reasons for choosing this subject(s)
• Current studies and how these relate to your chosen subject(s)
• Experiences and how these relate to your chosen subject(s)
• Interests and responsibilities and how these relate to your chosen subject(s)
• Your future after university
• Summary including why you'll make a great student

Further tips for a good UCAS personal statement

• Use information on university websites and the UCAS website. This often includes the skills and qualities universities are looking for in applicants
• Ask friends, family and teachers to remind you of activities you've participated in. They might remember your successes better than you do
• Don’t include lists in your application, like a list of all your hobbies. Focus on 1 or 2 points and talk about them in depth to show their relevance to your application
• Explain and evidence everything. It’s easy to say you have a skill, but it's better to demonstrate it with an example of when and how you’ve used it
• Avoid clichéd lines such as ‘I've always wanted to be a teacher’ as it says nothing about your motivations or experiences
• If you’re applying for a joint degree or different subjects, give equal time to each area and try to find common aspects that show their similarities
• Never lie or plagiarise another statement – you'll be caught and it could result in your application being automatically rejected
• Proofread your personal statement by reading it out loud and ask friends, family or a teacher to check it for you

Sign up to our personal statement hub

Watch videos, get top tips and download our help sheets – that's what our personal statement hub is for. It's for you to write your story, so you can show your strengths, ideas and passion to your chosen universities.

You'll also be able send us your draft, so you can get feedback and feel confident about what you've written.

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How to write a great UCAS personal statement

What is a personal statement.

The personal statement is the most important part of the UCAS process. It is your opportunity to explain why you have picked the subject you want to study and demonstrate your personality, passion and knowledge about your chosen subject.

Although your personal statement is the most important part of your application, it can also be the most difficult to put together. Writing your personal statement requires you to think seriously about your goals and aspirations. You might even change your mind about these as you are putting together your statement. However, this is a key part of working out what you want to do in the future.

How long can my personal statement be?

Your personal statement can be up to 4,000 characters (including spaces) or 47 lines of text long – whichever comes first.

Seven tips for writing a great UCAS personal statement

1. Do your research

You can use websites such as the National Careers Service to research the sort of jobs you would enjoy and the recommended routes into those careers. The UCAS website features details about every UK university course. Use this to find out subject specifics such as minimum entry requirements, available additional funding, career prospects and more. Visit campus open days and take the opportunity to speak with lecturers and see university facilities in person.

2. Take your time to plan and draft

A good personal statement cannot be written the night before. Take your time to plan what you want to say, and use multiple drafts to make sure you say it in the right way. As well as this, make sure you have enough time before the deadline to give yourself a break before rereading and sending off your statement. Taking a break can help you notice things you might not otherwise see and catch mistakes that might otherwise damage your chances of success.

3. Show off your personality

Hundred of thousands of students apply through UCAS every year — but only one of them is you. Your personal statement needs to reflect your personality and show universities what makes you unique. Talk about specific personal experiences and interests that have led to you choosing your subject. What do you do outside the classroom that is interesting and related to your chosen course? However, avoid using jokes or humour, even if it is a natural part of your personality.

4. Show off your passion

Above all else, university admissions staff want to see how enthusiastic, motivated and focused you are on your chosen subject. Devote over half of your personal statement to talking about the subject area you are applying for and why you are passionate about it. Talk about specific areas of the course that interest you — but avoid mentioning anything that only one of your chosen universities offers. Keep in mind that you can only submit one personal statement, no matter how many places you are applying for.

5. Be specific and relevant

Everything in your personal statement should show universities that you have the skills and qualities they are looking for. This means you should talk about your experience and aspirations in relevant ways. For example, if you have experience working in a shop, talk about how it has helped you develop the strong communication skills needed for a business management degree. Make sure you provide evidence for why you are the skilled, experienced person that your chosen universities are looking for.

6. Use your own language

Keep your writing simple and to the point. Avoid cliched words like ‘passionate’, as these can come across as inauthentic to the person reading your personal statement. Stick to vocabulary that you are familiar with — if you do not use a word in your day-to-day life, then do not use it in your personal statement. Make sure that you do not plagiarise other people’s work: UCAS has software to detect any writing that is copied or paraphrased from anywhere else, and some universities will reject you outright if your application is plagiarised.

7. Keep it brief

Admissions tutors have a lot of personal statements to read, so make sure you get to the point and do not take up more reading time than you need to. Use short paragraphs, straightforward language, and only include information that is relevant. A good idea is to write your opening and closing sentences last, as writing the rest of your statement might help inspire you and help cut down unnecessary words.

How to structure your personal statement

1. explain the reasons for your choice of subject.

Do not just talk about the importance of your chosen subject: the person reading your statement already knows this.

2. Explain why you are suitable for the course

You can use this section to explain how certain aspects of your chosen degree will help you progress and succeed.

3. Discuss your career aspirations

Demonstrate your knowledge of your chosen sector and your ambitions within it.

4. Describe the person behind the application

This can be a relatively short section: a few lines of interesting, relevant information will do.

5. Conclude by linking back to your introduction

Be brief: your conclusion is necessary, but everything above it is more important.

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Writing a personal statement

Here is our advice on how best to show us what you have to offer and give us a sense of who you are as an individual. 

What are we looking for?

We are looking for excellent writing and a statement that is personal and unique to you. We want to understand:

• Your passion for your subject
• How you are a good fit for your chosen programme
• What you will bring to the university community

Before you start

Read the programme description and the modules offered.

Think about what skills, qualities, and experiences might be needed for a programme like this. 

Think about examples from your life that demonstrate these skills, qualities and experiences.

• Academic studies
• Extra-curricular activities
• Personal interests
• Achievements
• Exhibitions visited
• Competitions
• Work experience
• Taster days 
• Field trips
• Volunteering experience
• Were you inspired by the experience? What was inspiring about it?
• Did it make you want to learn more about something? 
• What did you learn through this experience about the subject? 
• Did you learn anything about yourself through this experience?
• Did you gain transferable skills through this experience? For example, teamwork, communication, or leadership skills? 

Your main focus should be on demonstrating your interest in, and describing your engagement with, the subject itself. The majority of your statement, around 75-85%, should focus on this subject, with the remaining 15-25% on extra-curricular activities or career aspirations. 

First draft

From all of your examples, and bearing in mind the structure, choose a few that are most relevant, and write about them in a detailed, specific, and reflective way. Relate these back to the skills, qualities, and experiences that you have identified are relevant to your chosen programme. 

Don’t forget: 

• Allow your passion for the subject to shine
• Show why are a good fit for your chosen programme
• Show what you will bring to our UCL community

Before you submit

Ask a teacher, advisor, friend or family member to read your statement and support you to think of other examples that you might have missed. Ask them to do a final spelling and grammar check.

Read your statement aloud to check that it flows well.

Make sure it is truthful and honest; some courses have an interview element so the admissions selector may ask you to expand further on something you wrote in your statement. 

Make sure it is applicable to all five of your UCAS choices; remember you can only submit one personal statement with your UCAS form.

Proofread for a final time. 

Our top tips

• 75%-85% of the statement must be about the subject
• Select only your best examples
• Reflect on your experiences
• Stay focused and relevant
• Let your passion for your subject shine
• Avoid clichés and bland, vague statements
• Proofread before submitting

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Tips for writing a UCAS personal statement

A personal statement is a short, reflective piece of writing that you submit as part of your UCAS application to universities. We use it during the admissions process to decide if you’re suitable for the course you’re applying for – and so we can understand why you want to study your chosen subject.

Tips for writing your UCAS personal statement

Your personal statement

A good personal statement can mean the difference between receiving an offer and being unsuccessful, so it’s important you take the time to consider what you want to include in it.

Your personal statement is where you highlight you have what it takes to study on one of our undergraduate courses.

The personal statement is one of the most important parts of your UCAS application and gives you the chance to tell us how you stand out from other candidates.

For some of our courses you may be invited for interview, but for the majority the personal statement is the only opportunity that you will have to sell yourself.

Plan your personal statement

You can only submit one personal statement for the five courses and universities you apply for, so it is a good idea to plan out what you want to say before writing your personal statement.

There is no one-size fits all method when you are writing your personal statement, so try to be original and engaging.

We are looking for evidence of your interest in, enthusiasm for, and understanding of your chosen course.

Think about:

• why you are interested in the subject
• your ambitions and how taking the course will help you achieve them
• why you are interested in progressing on to higher education.

It is also important to tell us about:

• your reasons for choosing the course (this is the most important part of the statement)
• your skills (and their relevance to your chosen subject)
• wider reading you’ve undertaken
• work experience (especially where this is relevant to the subject)
• any achievements or prizes you have won during your study or work
• your wider interests and hobbies (providing they are relevant)
• any career plans you might have.

You may want to apply for a variety of different courses – if this is the case, write about common themes relevant to all courses.

If you are a mature student you can use your personal statement to talk about your wider experience and the skills and knowledge you have gained; as well as why you are now thinking about returning to education.

Be sure to include any personal circumstances that may have affected your education. For example, a physical or mental health condition, caring for a family member or changing schools due to being from an Armed Forces family. You can also let us know about any financial hardships you may have experienced during your studies.

Structure your personal statement

Use a clear structure in your personal statement and make sure each paragraph logically follows on from the one before. You are limited to 4,000 characters (and 47 lines).

Start and end your personal statement by highlighting your positivity and passion for the course and your future career options (if you have any at this stage).

When writing your personal statement, you should:

• be honest and write in your own words – the best statements are always the most genuine
• use clear language and avoid extravagant claims
• be analytical rather than just descriptive – don’t just tell us what you’ve read or what you’ve done, we want to see what you gained from this, or how it changed your perception of your chosen subject
• explain your motivations in choosing the degree you’re applying for and demonstrate your existing passion for the subject (whether that’s from studies you’ve already undertaken in school or college or wider reading you’ve pursued)
• where you are applying to courses linked to a particular profession (such as Teaching or Social Work), also reflect on your understanding of that vocation. For example, this may be reflections on what you gained from relevant work experience or it could be other research you’ve undertaken which has given you an insight into that profession
• draw on your other experiences – for example, are you a member of a society, have you won any awards, scholarships or prizes?
• provide evidence of your transferable skills, including research, critical thinking, communication, organisation, planning and time-management
• highlight any career aspirations you might have and show how the course will help you achieve them
• use accurate grammar, punctuation and spelling
• proofread your statement and ask a friend or relative to read it.

Make sure you allow enough time to plan and structure your personal statement, ensuring you include everything you want to say. You may need to redraft your statement a number of times.

If you are invited to interview, go back to your statement so that you can familiarise yourself with the information you have given us.

For more advice, see UCAS tips for writing a personal statement .

Use our UCAS personal statement checklist to make sure you haven’t missed anything.

You might also be interested in:

• how to apply for undergraduate courses
• student support
• your offer and confirming your place
• transferring from other universities
• writing a Masters personal statement .

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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 you’re 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 isn’t 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 can’t overly cater to one. Look at all of the details, including the structure, modules and examination methods, as well as what they’re looking for from a student. This will support your first draft, though bear in mind you’ll redraft a few times before it’s 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 it’s just one side of A4 paper. There’s plenty of information to include, so make sure it’s concise, clear and easy to read.

When to start writing it

It’s never too early to start thinking about your Personal Statement and what you’re 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 it’s perfect for submission.

Your Personal Statement is the first thing Oxbridge Admissions Tutors will see about you. It’s 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 you’re 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 you’ve got involved with that further demonstrate you’re an ideal candidate. Reflect on the skills you’ve gained from these (as long as they’re transferable to your studies). Admissions Tutors will be looking for such information, as well as your unique selling points — give examples of things you’ve 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 — keep it academic.

Show you’re 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 don’t shy away from expressing your love for your chosen subject, though you don’t need to say you’ve 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 — since it’s personal to you — 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 you’ll 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 reader’s 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 “passionate”, “deeply fascinating”, and “devotion”.
• Avoid using clichéd quotes like the infamous Coco Chanel’s “fashion is not something that exists in dresses only”.
• If you are going to use a quote, then put some effort into researching an obscure yet particularly powerful one – don’t forget to include a reference.
• Draw on your own personal experiences to produce something both original and eye-catching.

Once that’s 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: ‘History is all around us’, rather than ‘I have always been interested in History because…”

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: “from a young age, I have always been interested in” was recently used more than 300 times in Personal Statements in a single year, and substituting “young” for “early” gave an additional 292 statements – 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.

Here’s 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 you’ve 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, don’t 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 – 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 shouldn’t 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 – 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

Successful personal statement for economics at cambridge, successful personal statement for land economy at cambridge, successful personal statement for chemistry at oxford, successful personal statement for geography at oxford, successful personal statement for classics at oxford, successful personal statement for law at oxford, successful personal statement for classics at cambridge, successful personal statement for engineering at cambridge, successful personal statement for philosophy at cambridge, successful personal statement for veterinary medicine at cambridge, successful personal statement for psychological and behavioural sciences at cambridge, successful personal statement for psychology at oxford, successful personal statement for history at oxford, successful personal statement for physics at oxford, successful personal statement for cambridge mathematics and physics, successful personal statement example for computer science at oxford, successful personal statement for english at cambridge, successful personal statement for oxford english language and literature, successful personal statement for medicine at oxford university, successful personal statement for modern languages at oxford, successful personal statement for engineering at oxford, successful personal statement for natural sciences (biological) at cambridge, successful personal statement for economics & management at oxford, successful personal statement for ppe at oxford, successful personal statement for law at cambridge, successful personal statement for dentistry at king’s college london, successful personal statement for medicine at cambridge, our personal statement do’s.

1. Show passion for your subject

Admissions Tutors aren’t going to pick a candidate who doesn’t 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. It’s no good saying you’re passionate if you don’t prove that you are. Write in a natural style to show off your personality, making sure it’s 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

It’s all well and good saying you love medical science, but this is going to fall flat if you can’t 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 — 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 it’s written to the highest standard before submitting it.

Our Personal Statement dont’s

1. Write a clichéd beginning

Don’t waste time thinking of a catchy opening. The best Personal Statements get to the point quickly, so avoid starting with phrases like “From a young age”, “I am applying for this course because”, and “Throughout my life I have always enjoyed…”. 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 you’re not a serious student. It’s essential you don’t 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 don’t waffle too much — you’ll 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, you’re likely to be asked about specific parts of your statement, and if you’re caught off-guard, you’re 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 it’s 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!

First impressions count. Learn how to craft the perfect Personal Statement that demonstrates your suitability to Oxbridge Admissions Tutors.

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Writing your personal statement

Your personal statement should show your interest in the subject and demonstrate your skills and abilities.

It should set you apart from applicants who have similar qualifications. If you're interviewed , your personal statement can help set the agenda for the interview discussion.

To help you write a persuasive personal statement, we've prepared some top tips to help you understand what we're looking for.

Be specific and give examples

If you have a record of achievement or an up-to-date CV, it can remind you which activities to include, but the key is being selective about what you write. Make sure what you write is relevant to the courses and universities you're applying to, rather than writing a list of your skills or attributes.

As a rough guide, you should only refer to current or recent activities.

If you have any questions about the application process, our Admissions team will be happy to help.

[email protected] +44 (0)1904 324000

Related links

• UCAS guidance: Writing a personal statement

Nailing your personal statement

Law student Sharon gives advice for the most important part of your uni application, from showing skills to avoiding distraction.

Personal statement tips

Student Recruitment Officer Vicki gives some top tips on how best to approach writing your personal statement.

Be clear about why you're applying to the course

This is especially important if you are applying for something you haven't studied before.

• Why have you applied for these courses?
• Why do you want to study the subject?
• How has your interest for the subject developed, or how have you pursued it?

Give evidence of commitment beyond the curriculum

For competitive courses, this is vital.

• How do you stand out from the crowd?
• Have you shown that you're prepared for the breadth and depth of a university degree?

Work experience

Describe any work experience you have, especially if it's relevant to the course. For some courses, such as Medicine or Nursing, work experience may be essential. You may also wish to consider other online opportunities, such as MOOCs or online work experience.

Extracurricular activities

Your statement should give information about extracurricular involvements, such as sporting achievements, voluntary work or additional activities, such as listening to relevant podcasts or reading journals. If you're not in school or college, you should talk about life experience and previous employment.

These can help to show that you are enthusiastic and have the ability to set priorities and manage your time. They may also be relevant to the course you're applying for.

You should point out the relevance of your experience, even if the bare facts are mentioned elsewhere on the form:

• maybe mention any career plans or gap year plans
• give information about yourself, in greater detail than what you have already supplied on the UCAS application

Get feedback

Allow time for proofreading and editing your personal statement, and ask other people to read it; they may spot problems or opportunities.

Remember to ensure that this is all your own work. UCAS uses the Similarity Detection Service, which means they will scan through your personal statement to spot anything that has been submitted before.

Consider your presentation

Leave some space by skipping a line between paragraphs – this will make it easier for admissions selectors to read. You will still find you can produce a text of about 450-500 words in the space available.

Download the guide 

If you wish, you can also download our printable guide, which includes a space for you to write some notes about your statement.

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How to write your personal statement for University

Your ucas personal statement, what is a personal statement.

A personal statement is an important part of your UCAS application, which will need to be submitted to study in the UK. It will support your application to study at university or college, and is a great way to showcase your personal qualities, skills and passions. Crucially, it gives you a platform to demonstrate to admissions tutors and lecturers how you are the perfect candidate for your chosen course or subject.

How long should a personal statement be?

Your personal statement can be around 47 lines (there is no word limit but there is a character limit of 4,000 characters, which is roughly 1 side of A4). You will only write one statement for all of your choices, so it needs to be relevant/applicable for all.

Tips on what makes a good personal statement

• Think about what gets you excited about the course you are applying for and just start writing - you will be amazed at how effective it is to get all your thoughts on paper. • Be positive when you describe how you get motivated about the course you want to study, and what inspired your decision. • Talk about your transferable skills and knowledge - e.g. leadership, teamwork, problem solving, communication, organisation, that will help you on the course. • Talk about you and what makes you unique, exciting, interesting. What makes you stand out? • Back it up with evidence - use evidence from relevant work experience, extracurricular activities, outside reading, and all the other things you do. • Don’t overcomplicate things, leave out flowery language and stick to plain English.

In summary, strive to make your personal statement authentic, a good combination of head and heart that captures your enthusiasm. Take your time and you’ll produce something special that sums up what you are all about.

How to write your personal statement

Writing a personal statement for your university application can be daunting, but it shouldn’t be. We would suggest that you complete this section once you have selected your university course choices, as this will allow you to tailor your personal statement to your chosen subject or course(s). You should explain your motivation for applying to University. It is important to showcase your drive and passion for the subject area, and any skills or experience you may have which will help you become a successful student. Suggested plan : How to begin your personal statement - Start off with a great opening sentence that conveys how excited you are about the course and shows that you really understand what you’re getting into. Middle - Your middle paragraphs should emphasise your skills and knowledge, provide evidence that proves your interest in the course and your personal qualities. How to end your personal statement – this bit is about what makes you unique, what will make you fit into the course you are interested in?

DOs & DON’Ts

• Be authentic • Be positive • Be enthusiastic • Be clear and concise • Plan your statement like an essay • Make sure your statement is appropriate for all of your course choices • List your skills and qualities but avoid sounding big-headed • Draft, redraft and seek feedback • Be careful when using quotes – only use those which are relevant, and well thought out • Back it up with evidence • Allow plenty of time

DON'T 

• Copy someone else’s statement – there is software that will catch you out on this! • Waffle – it is better to be short and relevant • Use clichés • Rely on spell check – proofread • Rush or underestimate the time it takes to write an excellent statement

We know that it's been difficult to carry on with sports and other hobbies during the lockdown periods. In your personal statement, can you tell us how you adapted your activities at this time? Did you do any virtual activities, remote training sessions or organise social events? Did you take the opportunity to listen to podcasts, broaden your reading or watch programmes about your chosen subject? Did you volunteer to support your local community or to help the NHS? We want to hear about your resilience, your patience and your adaptability. In your personal statement, consider telling us about: • How you adapted your activities at this time? • Any virtual activities, remote training sessions you attended or social events you organised? • How you took the opportunity to listen to podcasts, broaden your reading or watch programmes about your chosen subject? • Any volunteering to support your local community or to help the NHS that you did? We want to hear about your resilience, your patience and your adaptability.

How to create a winning personal statement

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Personal statement

The quality of an applicant's personal statement is very important at LSE. The School does not interview for places so this is an applicant’s only opportunity to demonstrate they are a good fit for the course. Applicants should consult the advice here, as well as advice from UCAS when preparing to complete this section of their application. 

Please note that writing a personal statement following the guidelines below does not guarantee an offer of admission. Personal statements are looked at on a comparative basis and there is a great deal of competition for places at LSE. 

LSE does not accept additional or supplementary personal statements. We can only consider the personal statement submitted via UCAS.

Writing your personal statement

We expect that your submitted Personal Statement is structured and coherent and that you fully utilise the space available on your UCAS application form. We expect that you have checked spelling, punctuation, and grammar and that your Personal Statement flows in a logical order. We expect that your Personal Statement is entirely your own original work. We reserve the right to reject your application where it has been found that a statement has significant similarities to a previous submission or has been created with the use of Artificial Intelligence.

Before you start writing, do your research

Before you start writing your personal statement, you should visit our course guides . These guides give information on the course content of each of our undergraduate programmes. 

When assessing your personal statement our Admissions Selectors will look at how well your academic interests align with the LSE course. So, for example, the Anthropology Admissions Selector is likely to prefer a statement which focuses mainly on social anthropology - which is taught at LSE - over one which suggests the applicant is very interested in biological anthropology, or a combined degree with archaeology, as these courses are not offered at the School. 

Similarly, a personal statement which shows an interest mostly in modern international history (the focus of LSE’s International History course) is likely to be more competitive than one which shows a significant interest in ancient history, as LSE does not offer any ancient history units.   

If you are applying for a range of slightly different courses, we recommend that you focus your personal statement on the areas of overlap between them, so that your statement appeals to all of your UCAS choices. It is important to note that LSE does not accept replacement or supplementary personal statements. 

What to include in your personal statement

Your personal statement should discuss for the most part your academic interest in the subject you wish to study. One way to think about the personal statement is to reflect on what we expect from LSE undergraduates: we ask them to learn about topics relevant to their course, through reading or other experiences, and then discuss the ideas they have encountered in academic essays. This is the skill we look for in the personal statement and we recommend at least 80% of your statement should be dedicated to this type of academic discussion. 

How you show your wider engagement with your subject is entirely up to you. Our Selectors look for students who can best reflect on the experiences and academic ideas they have encountered through the opportunities available to them, not those who have had the best opportunities. If you are not sure where to start, you could try listening to podcasts of LSE public events or look in the prospectus for examples of suggested reading. Remember we are interested not just in a list of what you have read/encountered, but evidence you have reflected on the academic ideas. 

To help you begin, there are several questions you could think about:

• Why have you chosen the course? What attracted you to the subject? Which aspects of the subject have interested you sufficiently to want to study it at degree level? Is there a specific area of the subject you wish to focus on? What are the big issues in the subject, and what do you find most interesting about them? What are your thoughts on these topics?
• Have you developed your subject interest outside of your school studies? For example, have you undertaken any additional reading to broaden your knowledge of the subject? Have you attended lectures or explored online material relating to the subject? What did you find interesting in your reading/in the lectures you attended and what are your thoughts on the topics covered?
• Have you gained any skills from your other school subjects that complement your application to study your chosen subject? Have you had the opportunity to undertake work experience relevant to your application? If you did, how did this experience give you a wider understanding of the topics you will study at university?
• Have you attended any schemes or activities at LSE or other universities, such as Summer Schools, Saturday Schools, LSE Choice, etc? What you have learned from these? Have they furthered your knowledge of or interest in your chosen subject?

If you are applying for deferred entry, as well as thinking about the questions listed above, you may also wish to indicate (briefly) why you are taking a gap year and what you plan to do during the year. 

If you are applying as a post-qualified student (ie, you have already received your final results), you may wish to mention briefly what you have been doing since your exams. 

Please note : You are not expected to simply answer all of the questions above; these questions are merely intended to give you some guidance as to what to think about when writing your statement. 

Extra-curricular activities

At LSE you are admitted to study a particular degree course so the majority of your personal statement − at least 80% − should focus on your academic interest in that subject. Many students like to include some details of their extra-curricular activities such as involvement in sports, the arts, volunteering or student government. As our Selectors are most interested in your academic interests, we recommend that no more than 20% of your statement is spent discussing extra-curricular activities. 

Applying to combined degree programmes

LSE offers a number of combined degree programmes. If you are applying to one of these programmes, you are advised to give equal weighting to each subject in your statement. For instance, if you are applying to our Politics and Economics degree, you must show evidence of interest in both subjects; a statement weighted towards only one aspect of the degree will be significantly less competitive.

Example of a poor personal statement

"I have always dreamed of coming to LSE since I was young. It has been a dream of mine to study at this institution, which is well renowned for its social science courses.  

I am currently studying History, English and Business and Management at Higher level and Italian, Maths and Chemistry at Standard level in the International Baccalaureate, and feel that these subjects are providing me with a solid background for university study.  

I want to study History because I want to be a world class Historian, and feel that this degree will help me. I am especially interested in Ancient History, particularly the history concerning the Roman Empire. I am fascinated by the way in which the empire was run, and the events that led to its downfall.  

"I was the captain of the school football team, and this has taught me the importance of working together as a team, and allowed me to prioritise my time between my studies and football practice. I feel that this has provided me with the experience to successfully balance my academic and social life, and I plan to continue this balance whilst at university.  

It is my dream to become an alumnus of the School, and I am sure that as I am the top student of my class, you will offer me a place."  

This brief example of a personal statement is poor. The applicant has mentioned an interest in history but they have not discussed this in depth or shown any evidence of wider engagement with the subject. Where the applicant does talk about history, the discussion is superficial and focussed on ancient history, which LSE does not offer as part of our history course. 

The applicant has specifically mentioned LSE, which is likely to be unattractive to their other choices, and has wasted space listing their International Baccalaureate subjects, which would be shown in the qualifications section. The applicant has described how a history degree will help them get the job they later want, rather than what they are looking forward to studying during the degree. 

The applicant has reflected on the transferable skills they have developed leading the football team. This is good, but it would be nice to see the same level of reflection applied to academic topics - this student has spent more time talking about football than about history. 

UCAS reference Your teacher's reference: what we're looking for

Watch this presentation LSE Admissions Specialist Paul talks about personal statements

Study at LSE webinars Watch our Personal Statement FAQs webinar

Explore our Virtual Undergraduate Open Day Resources, guidance and videos on applying to LSE and more

Use our programme finder Explore our undergraduate degrees

UCAS personal statement examples

Having managed successfully to navigate through the 370,000 courses at over 370 providers across the UK, it is now time to make a start at drafting your personal statement.

Students often find this the most daunting of tasks within the application process. This guide will help you through putting together the statement that is going to help get you a place on your ideal course.

Knowing where to start and what to say to when setting out your reasons for applying and convincing the admissions tutor to offer you a place can be a challenge. Looking at examples of how other students have approached this can sometimes be helpful.

Example one

Things to consider when reading this example.

• Consider the structure – what are your thoughts around this?
• Think about spelling, grammar, and punctuation– how does this fare?
• What course do you think this personal statement may have been for?

“The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Mahatma Ghandi

From a young age this quote has inspired my chosen career path to become a children’s nurse. Being one of many siblings I have the role of supporting my nieces and nephews when they become ill and providing comfort. Working with children in my family has motivated along this career path as it has taught me to take responsibility in life, become more organised and mature.

I am currently undertaking a health and social care course. This course has given me insight into the different aspects of health care and its overarching infra structure. Caring for children and young people helped me gain an understanding of the risk that children and young people may be put in and the exploitative and abusive behaviour that they may encounter. We focused on the tragic case of Victoria Climbie. This brought home the significance of multi agency working.

I am committed to ensuring that children and young people in my care are safe,healthy, enjoying and achieving, economic well being and putting in a positive contribution. A core element of the course has been work placement, working with children. This came in very useful for me because it taught me how to deal with children at different ages and what I need to do in order to meet their needs. During this work experience I was responsible for supporting and maintaining the children’s hygiene needs and encouraging them with their speech. I learnt different approaches to meeting the needs of children; for example I was taught to talk the children in a calm, but stern tone of voice when they misbehaved and to use very positive gestures and praise when children listened and kept to task.

I consider myself as having very good communications skills I am able to reassure people positively in any circumstance, I am the committed to ensuring that children and young people in my care are safe and healthy and I am confident when dealing with both children and parents, For example when a child injured herself in the nursery I shadowed one of the senior staff while they administered first aid, it was then my responsibility to explain to the caregiver exactly what had occurred.

I take part in many activities which are helping me to become independent ad preparing me for my course that I want to take part in, in university; I presently volunteer in a nursery. I take part in planning and creating activities and I have a duty to observe the children throughout the day and then give feedback to the parents and carers.

I have many qualities which will be ideal for my future career path I am honest, patient and a reflective individual, this is something that I feel is most important when dealing with children and adolescents.

I have many hobbies that I carry out in my spare time. I have taken part in being a team leader to raise money for a charity that supports children who have been abused because I believe strongly in the cause. We raised awareness, held a campaign, fundraising and protest.

I also enjoy travel, I have visited countries such as Egypt, Eritrea, Holland, Germany and Italy - this has allowed me to explore the outside world and has given me a taste of different cultures and traditions; and ultimately giving me a better understanding of diversity.

I would like to be given the opportunity to study at university because I believe it will be the perfect platform to launch my career. Having the chance to study Paediatric Nursing at university will allow me to fulfil my career path and make a change to my life as I will feel that I am achieving new things on a day to day basis with what I am able to offer children and young people when it comes to having a positive impact on their health.

Being given the opportunity of Working in an environment with children daily would be my dream goal in life that I wish to achieve.

Example two

• Thinking about the experiences gained from a gap year, how has this applicant drawn on these transferrable skills?
• How does experience both in and outside the classroom environment relate to the chosen subject area?

I am a hardworking, talented and motivated young woman looking forward to studying at degree level and taking an active part in university life.

I have a keen interest in the world around me, and enjoy taking part in a variety of activities for example: volunteering at my local brownies, volunteer marshal at Brighton Marathon; textile and weaving classes; completion of the Trinity Guildhall award at both Bronze and Silver level; and a Stand Up Paddle board instructor. These activities, coupled with part time work whilst at sixth form college, have not only been enjoyable but have also helped me to develop skills in communication, organisational, leadership and interpersonal skills.

Although having been accepted to start university in 2014 (Primary Education) I realised that I was not ready to fully commit to the course and took the decision to gain some real life experience and reflect on what I really want from university and my future career.

Since leaving sixth-form college I have been working full time as a waitress/ bar assistant at a local hotel, which has been hard but interesting work demanding stamina, patience and an open mind. I have also secured 3 weeks work at a trade exhibition in New York, where I will have the chance to attend networking dinner and I plan to go inter-railing across Europe in Summer 2015. As a result of these experiences I am more self-assured and resilient. I am ready to commit to full time study and have much to contribute to university life.

I realise that I am most interested in people, what makes them the people they are and how this manifests in their behaviour and opinions.

I enjoyed studying sociology at A level and gaining an insight into how the study of sociology helps us to understand how society works. This coupled with my recent experience in the hospitality world and observation of the behaviour of those who use and manage the service, has fuelled my desire to study Sociology in depth at degree level. I am completely fascinated by the behaviour of others and why we act the way we do. I believe that studying sociology at degree level will allow me to begin to explore and understand aspects of human social behaviour, including the social dynamics of small groups of people, large organisations, communities, institutions and entire societies.

I believe that the skills and knowledge that I will accrue whilst studying will be applicable to a wide variety of careers and that is why I have chosen to study the topic at degree level.

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How to write a personal statement for university – by admissions tutors

University admissions staff explain what they’re looking for, and how to make your case when applying for courses

Perhaps the hardest part of the Ucas application is the personal statement, where students are expected to sum up their entire identity within 4,000 characters and no more than 47 lines.

If you’re freaking out about the approaching deadline – which rolls around on January 15th – don’t worry: everyone’s in the same boat. According to Ray Powell, an admissions tutor at Greenwich University, increasing numbers of applicants are leaving applications to the last minute. However, if you want to start university in the 2021/22 academic year and haven’t yet tackled the form yet, now’s a good time to start.

So how important is the personal statement? “It’s a really useful document in terms of determining which students we want to join our academic cohort each year,” says Kirsty Wilkinson, school and college liaison manager at Loughborough University. After predicted grades or practical work, the personal statement is your best shot at showing why you want and deserve a place.

As such, the personal statement can feel intimidating. Here, admissions staff explain what they’re looking for, and how to argue your case.

Show you care about the subject

At its heart, the personal statement tells a story about why you’re ready to commit to a course. Powell says, “you’ve got to choose the degree programme that you’re interested in, because if you don’t, it’s going to be a long hard three years. If people have thought it through I would expect to see that in the personal statement.”

How to show it: Write about why the course excites you and where that interest comes from. It could be an experience you’ve had, or a difference you’d like to make in the future. Powell suggests using I want to study this subject because… as a prompt and going from there.

Talk about transferable skills

Most undergraduate courses won’t expect specific experience or knowledge. Instead, admissions staff are looking to see how you’ll adapt and contribute to the course.

Wilkinson adds: “a lot of courses don’t require you to have a huge amount of academic knowledge in advance – we teach you that. But we haven’t got time to teach you that plus how to work nicely with a group.”

How to show it: Use course descriptions to identify relevant soft skills – they’re things like communication, leadership or time management. Then find examples and evidence for each from your previous studies, part-time work or hobbies.

Don’t take a scattergun approach, though – be selective. Rosalyn Dobrzanski, Head of Admissions at the University of Nottingham says that for each skill, “write how this will help you on the course and even in your future career.”

Show engagement

If you have work or voluntary experience, show how they intersect with your course or life goals. Reference hobbies, sports, community and clubs, too.

Will Jones, Student Recruitment Manager at Teesside University, says universities understand Covid has disrupted many activities and opportunities. They’ll be interested instead to see how you’ve adapted .

How to show it: “There are a lot of things you can do at home and online to show that you are passionate about your course and that you’re doing your research about the industry and university,” Jones says. You can draw on books, blogs, videos, online courses, remote events, and even discussions you’ve had. Remember to show why these matter to you and your course.

Look to the future

Getting into university can sometimes feel like the destination, but admissions staff want to see how you’ll use your degree, and to get a sense that theirs is the right course for you.

Matthew Rayson is Outreach Officer at the University of Cumbria. He says: “What you put in your personal statement now may not be what you want to do at the end of your degree, but it’s about having that drive and that vision for the future.”

How to show it: Connect your course and interests to your career or personal goals. Rayson adds: “Where do you see yourself after university? What is it that you want to go on to achieve?”

Be yourself

While there’s no shortage of templates online, always write your own statement. Ucas checks submissions for similarity, so lifting sentences or ideas is a no-no. Likewise relying on someone else’s input can short change you if you’re asked to discuss your essay at interview.

If nothing else, the personal statement is a chance to check your course and university choices are right for you. And no one else can answer that as well as you.

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How I wrote my UCAS personal statement

Need help writing a great UCAS personal statement? Pharmacy student Parsa is on hand to share her personal statement tips with you.

Hi, my names Parsa, I am a 4th year pharmacy student at University of Central Lancashire. Writing a personal statement can be very stressful and time consuming, I hope my tips help you to write the very best statement.

A personal statement is precisely what it sounds like: personal. Personal to your strengths, weaknesses, hobbies, and passions. Your personal statement is a great way to display your passion for your chosen subject and show the university you’re applying to why you’re the best match.

Do your research to find the right course for you, this is the most important factor to ensure you get the most out of your university life and set the foundations for your future career path.

Applying for university can be very daunting, it’s essential to research as much as possible what course you would like to apply to. Think of your strengths, weaknesses, what professions you find interesting. Have you ever imaged yourself as a pharmacist, doctor, nurse, engineer, occupational therapist, or vet? I would recommend spending some time looking through university a course catalogues and visiting Open Days. This will help narrow down your options and help you decide which route you’re interested in going down.

When I began my personal statement, I started by mapping out my experiences, skills, and goals.

After mapping out the above, I started writing the introduction. Within this paragraph I reflected on my experiences, both academic and extracurricular. I thought about the skills I had developed and the achievements I was proud of. I spent some time planning out these ideas, working out how to connect these experiences to my chosen field of study which is Pharmacy. I found mind maps very useful as a great planning resource. I began with a captivating introduction to grab the reader's attention, making sure it showcased my passion for Pharmacy. You should discuss any research/academic interests you have and how they align with the courses offerings. This provides an insight on how passionate you are to pursue this course.

Throughout the personal statement, I used specific examples and anecdotes that showcased my knowledge and personal growth. I made sure to connect these experiences to my future goals and how they would align with me being a pharmacist. You should aim to include any relevant work experience or volunteering activities that demonstrates your commitment to your chosen course. I included specific examples of projects I had been involved in and how they had impacted my understanding and passion for becoming a pharmacist. This helped to show my enthusiasm and motivation for pursuing further studies within the pharmacy industry.

Throughout my statement, I focused on being authentic, genuine and allowing my personality to shine through. I avoided clichés and instead focused on providing unique insights into my journey and motivations. I also paid attention to the structure and flow of my writing, ensuring that each paragraph transitioned smoothly into the next.

Once I had completed my first draft, I proofread it multiple times to ensure it was clear and error-free. I checked for grammar, spelling and any punctuation errors.

I sought feedback from trusted mentors, friends, and family members to gain different perspectives and make improvements. I made sure to conclude my personal statement with a strong closing statement that summarized my main points and left a lasting impression on the reader. I ended my personal statement on a positive and memorable note.

An excellent personal statement will not be ready within a couple of hours, it can take a few days, and this is okay. Sometimes taking a break can help refresh and energise your brain. Remember Rome was not built in a day. Good luck!

• You can apply for up to 5 courses on UCAS, however you can only submit 1 personal statement. Ensure all your points cover all your choices, limiting confusion for the reader.
• Have teachers, friends and family proofread. Be open to take feedback on board and then initiate this once you have understood the feedback.
• Show passion in your chosen subject, be open and honest as to why they should choose you. Why do you think you’re the best fit out of thousands applying?
• Use tools like Grammarly, an amazing website, assisting writers with eliminating spelling, punctuation, and grammar mistakes.
• Don’t wait until last minute to write your personal statement, as you don’t want it to seem rushed. Planning out is essential, I’d recommend mapping out your personal statement on a A3 sheet of paper, this helped me create a strong structure, limiting any repetitiveness.

Be confident in sharing your unique experiences and how they have shaped your aspirations. Good luck, we are to support you every step of the way!

How to write your personal statement

Now you've got an idea of which Uni you want to apply to, it's time for your personal statement. Here are some top tips on how to make a great impression.

How to apply to university

You’ve found the perfect course and are finally ready to apply for University. Take the next step towards your future career and apply to study one of our courses using the guidance and information on this page.

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What's on this page?

• What’s a special statement?
• Preparing to write their personal statement
• How toward open your personal statement
• Owner personal skills and achievements
• Work experience and future designs
• How to end your personal opinion

What’s a personal statement?

An undergraduate personelle statement is a risk to retrieve noticed in the unique talents and experienced you have. It’s an importantly part of the login litigation since it’s an opportunity to talk about ourselves and your passions, outside of your grades.   Doesn sure why your CV's letting you down? It could be as simple the changing the first-time fewer sentences. Here's our list of personal statement dos and don'ts.

For this featured, we’re going to talk they through how to write an scholar personal description this stays out, without leaving it feeling overwhelmed.

Chilly Ng, HE Career Coach, Manchester Metropolitan University

Preparing to write you personal statement.

You’ll have heard the phrase preparation your key, and that’s no different when you’re going your personal statement. There are two things at think about when you’re planner. The practical and factual information you need to get across, and the more moving, human parts of you that make you different to everyone differently.  

Before them start writing, taking couple time to think about of key stuff you’d want an admissions tutoren to know about you, and get them down on paper. Don’t worry too much about making your notes perfect – this is more about manufacturing sure you know why it should be offered one pitch. Sometimes this smallest detail can let a whole CV down. Your personen statement is aforementioned firstly thing on own CV that a potential employer wish read so i want to make sure it broadcast all the right news. Writing a personal statement belongs not an easy task and might seize some zeitlich also effort, speciality […]

You can also look at the course specifications as this’ll help you with what to include and give you a good key of what each uni remains looking for. 

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Here are a few matters you capacity answer to help you get started:.

• Why have you chosen this flow?
• What excites you about the subject? 
• Is my previous conversely current study relevant to the course?
• Have you got any work experience that might help you?
• What life experiences have you had that you could talk about?
• What achievements what you proud on?
• What skills do you got that perform you perfect for the course?
• Where plans and ambitions do they have available your future professional?

Select to open get personal statement

Admissions Tutors will are reading a lot of personal instructions so it’s important to grab its focus right from who start. 

Recollect, it can only becoming 4,000 characters, where is about two sides of A4. So, you’ll need up use your words smarter to fit everything in.

You can find a full guide on Like to startup one private statement: the attention grabber , although click are the main things to think about . 

• Don’t overthink the opening. Just startup by showing your enthusiasm for the subject, showcasing you knowledge and understandings, and release your ambitions starting what you want to achieve. Discover some resume do's and don'ts to implement consequently that you can enhance your professional display and improve your chances of securing an interview.
• Avoid cliche! Remember, this opens separate your simply about introducing yourself, so let the recordings tutor reading your personal statement get to know you.  Personal Command Do's and Don'ts Personal statements have an ...
• Keep it relevant press simple. You’re finite with how much you can include so avoid long-winded explanations. Why use 20 words although 10 capacity make own point?  “Dos and Don’ts” for a Personal Statement — Inside and Match

Annabell Fee, L’Oréal degree learner (Professional Products Division)

Thine personal skills or achievements.

Next, you’ll needed to write about your personal competencies and achievements. Technical favorite to knows the skillset yourself have that’ll related to on the price, other generally with life at university.

Don’t forge to involve verification to back up why you’re so exciting about which course(s) you’ve chosen.

• Can bolded and chat about the achievements you’re proud from.
• Include positions of responsibility to hold, or have held, both in additionally out of school.
• What are the things such make you interesting, exceptional, or unique? 

Your work experiential and future plans are important to include. To should share details of jobs, placements, work experience, or voluntary work, particularly if it's relevant to your course. 

Try to link any experience to skills press qualities that’ll make yours successful.

If you know whats you’d like to do after as a career, explain how you schedule to how the knowledge plus experience so you’ll gain to launch your career.

Work experience the future plans

Your how experience or future plans are important to include. Her should share details from jobs, placements, work experience, with voluntary work, particularly if it's relevant to your course.  USMLE Personal Statement How and Don'ts

• Try to join any experience to skills alternatively qualities that’ll make you successful.
• If you knowing what you’d like to do after since a hurtle, explain how you plan toward use the knowledge and experience that you’ll gain to launch your career.

How to exit your personal command

It’s always good up couple the beginning starting your statement to the finalize and a wide way at reinforce what she saying at the start.

Him want to discern the ending as your chance to finish in a way that’ll make the entries tutor remember you. 

This final parts off your personal statement must emphasise the great items you’ve already constructed and answer aforementioned question of why they should be offered an place off the course. 

Read our comprehensive guide on How to finish your statement the right ways.  

The personalstand statement instrument image

Don’t be tempted to make or share thine statement.

UCAS scanning all personal statements tested a similarity detection system to compare them with previous statements.

Anywhere similarity greater than 30% wants be flagged and we'll tell the academic and colleges to which you hold applied. 

Find out more

Will to read see.

Check out our full list of Personal Statement Dos and Don’ts

See methods you bucket use a personal statement above a university application

What to include in a personal statement

Immediate you’ve written choose undergraduate personal statement, you’ll need to doing an pairs of finale things before you submitted it. 

• Have you proofread it?

Don’t just rely on spellcheckers. We’d recommend reading it out loud as that’s one wonderful way to spot any fault the well as checking it sounds like you.  8 Resume Do's and Don'ts To Improve Your Job Prospects

• Have you asked for feedback?

Question friends, family button ampere careers advisory to have a take through your custom statement and take their reaction on board.

Want more advice on your my statement? Uses the links below.

More advice

Use the UCAS’ personal statement apparatus alongside this guide to help you structure their ideas. Are you interested inches how you can spin you Personalize Statement into your CV?  Read our advice here

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