The UCAS Personal Statement plays a vital role in the University admissions application process today. Although there is much conflicting advice as to how best to approach writing a UCAS Personal Statement it is important to first focus on the basics. To keep it simple try using the following 3 steps when thinking through and planning the content, organisation and structure of your Personal Statement.

  1. It is your job to understand and reflect what skills, attributes or experiences are most important in the applicants that the tutors are looking for – in other words their demands from applicants for a place on the course.
  2. The next step is to connect yourself with these demands – your experience, skills, attributes, qualities, relevant interests, as ways of providing evidence of your suitability. Here you should try to connect evidence of your subject ‘passion’ with what they are looking for and why your evidence is relevant. This is where you articulate in your words how evidence of subject ‘passion’ plus your motivation for the sought-after qualification, gives strong indications of likely performance on the course and beyond.
  3. The final step is to articulate what you would hope to bring to the course and your related aims for the future, with the course as a key step in your career plan. Remember, it is a competitive process and you need to collect, organise and articulate your evidence regarding your achievements.

Try to say something which is not clichéd or has been used a million time already – but do not overdo things either with phrases or quotes which are beyond your normal use. Always provide evidence of anything you claim or aspire to and try to say why. So try to make your Personal Statement original – simply by being yourself.

Finally, a few other do’s and don’ts
Don’t
  • Try jokes, start every sentence with ‘I’ or offer political or religious views.
  • Copy existing Personal Statements as UCAS has a search feature and will spot it.
  • Compose your draft Personal Statement using the UCAS website, as you will revise and edit it several times before you finally send it.
But Do
  • Use personal stories or quotes which are relevant and well known to you. – and which help you express yourself as being well-informed, well-intentioned and well researched.
  • Look up existing Personal Statements and learn from them – the good and the not so good all have learning points.
Personal Statement review service

At Express Proofreading, we understand the vital role a Personal Statement plays in the application process today. We’re committed to helping you write to the best of your ability whilst still retaining ownership of your work. As part of our Personal Statement editing and review service we will not only proofread your Personal Statement to ensure that it has no grammatical errors but we also recommend changes that may assist you in writing an engaging and compelling Personal Statement that stands out from the crowd.