Writing a great personal statement!

If you are currently thinking of applying for university then you may be in the process of writing your personal statement for your UCAS application.

I think the most important thing to think about when writing a personal statement is to tell the person reading it 1) why you want to study the course 2) why you’re right for the course, and 3) what sets you apart from other applicants.

It’s important that you tell them why you want to study the course – you want to make them believe that studying this course matters to you because they will want to take on students they think will work hard and enjoy the course. Talk about what it was that made you decide to study this subject, this could be because you enjoy it at school or it could be because you had another experience that lead you to the decision.

After you’ve convinced them you really want a place on the course you need to tell them why you’d be awesome on it! Obviously you need to meet the academic requirements they are looking for, but you also need to show them that you know what the course involves and that you will be able to meet these requirements. Try to do this by highlighting skills you’ve gained already (for example communication skills that you developed when volunteering as a peer mentor at your school) and explain how these will help you succeed on the course you are applying for (for example because being able to communicate effectively will enable you to engage actively in debates which are often a component of a politics course).

Finally show them what makes you special! Talk about volunteering you’ve done, any student leadership groups you’ve been part of and anything else extracurricular you might do that would impress the admissions officers! Try to link these to skills you have gained through doing them. For example if you play for a sports team you could talk about the fact that fitting in training and studying for you’re A levels means that you are good at organising your time, which will help you to stay on top of university work and deadlines.

Remember that unless all the courses you are applying to are exactly the same (unlikely) you may have to generalise slightly to meet them all with one application. Also never mention a specific uni or course in your application, the admissions tutors won’t expect you to but it will reduce your chances with the other unis you apply to!

Finally, it’s okay not to have a plan for after uni. If you do and it’s a related career to your degree you can mention it, but if you don’t, you don’t need to try and make something up. No one expects you to have that all worked out yet.

I hope this might help you get started with what to include. Make sure you start it early and do several drafts! Get a variety of people (teachers, friends and relatives) to read it and get feedback from, you don’t have to take their advice but it’s a good idea to hear a few different opinions!

B x