Volume 23, Number 1, September 2013
Politics at uni
How to write a personal
statement for politics
Rowena Hammal
Writing a personal statement is a real test for would-be politics students. You’re reaching the
culmination of years of study and the prize of a place at university is within sight, but first you need to
distil all your enthusiasm and knowledge of the subject into a maximum of 4,000 characters. It’s hardly
surprising that it can seem overwhelming when you first put pen to paper.
There are a number of ‘golden rules’ that you should remember when writing your personal statement:
(1) First and foremost, you are selling yourself. Try not to sound over-confident or arrogant,
but do make the most of your abilities. This is not the time for false modesty.
(2) Be honest. Your statement will probably be read by an expert in the subject who has read
thousands of personal statements. If you exaggerate, they are likely to pick up on it. If you are
invited to an interview, the interviewer could ask you about anything on your personal
statement. So don’t claim to have read a book if you haven’t, and don’t say you’re interested
in, for example, events in the middle east, if you’re not. There’s nothing worse than the
awkward silence that follows being caught out in an interview.
(3) Presentation matters. Check your spelling and grammar carefully, and make sure that you
have written in paragraphs.
(4) Don’t be too fancy. Many students struggle with the tone of their personal statement. It is a
formal piece of writing, not a letter to a friend. However, don’t be worried that you need to
swallow a dictionary to impress the admissions tutor. Simple, unpretentious language is much
better than wordy sentences.
(5) Ask someone to check it for you. The best person to ask is a politics teacher, but if politics
is not taught at your school or college then a teacher of a similar subject (such as history or
economics) would be ideal. Give them your draft several weeks before your deadline, so that
you have time to take on board their comments and rewrite your statement accordingly.
Planning your statement
A detailed plan will make your personal statement much easier to write. Start by making a list of
anything you’ve done that is relevant to politics. This might include attending a debating club or
political societies, reading relevant books, or researching a topic that particularly interested you. Make
sure that you include all of these points somewhere in your statement.
Philip Allan Updates © 2013
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Here is one possible way to structure your statement:
Paragraph 1
Start by explaining why you want to study politics at university. In a sentence or two, give a sense of
why it interests you. You can then go on to talk about specific areas that you have independently
researched. Avoid simply listing books that you have read or talks that you have attended. This tells
the reader very little about you. It is much better to focus on just one or two books and explain why
you found each one interesting. Sometimes reading one book can spark an interest in a subject and
prompt you to read another book — this shows that you are directing your own learning.
Paragraph 2
This is a good place to talk about the academic subjects that you have studied at sixth form. Start with
the most relevant subjects, such as politics, history, and economics. Focus on the areas of the course
that have particularly interested you, and link them to politics if possible. If you’ve carried out
independent research related to these subjects, perhaps in a coursework assignment, you might want
to briefly highlight the skills that this helped you to develop.
End the paragraph with the less relevant subjects. You should spend less time on these, and ideally
focus on the skills they have taught you which might be useful to politics. For example, mathematics
teaches problem-solving and the ability to critically assess statistical information.
Try to sound enthusiastic about all your subjects. Even if you’ve found one of them very difficult or
boring, this is not the place to mention it.
Paragraph 3
This should be a fairly short paragraph, focusing on your extra-curricular activities. Start with any
activities that are relevant to politics, such as debating club or Model United Nations. Then move on to
music, sports and other activities. Rather than simply listing things that you have done, explain how
they have contributed to your development. For example, ‘Captaining the hockey team has helped me
develop my leadership skills’ sounds much more interesting than ‘I am captain of the hockey team.’
Paragraph 4
This need not be longer than a few lines. It is your chance to sum up why you would make a good
student. Highlight your commitment and enthusiasm for your subject, and your eagerness to be fully
involved in the wider life of the university.
Writing it up
Once you’ve planned your statement, write your first draft. You’ll probably then need to do several
drafts to reduce it to the correct length. Cut out any unnecessary words so that every point you make
is contained in just a sentence or two. When you’re inside the word limit, read it carefully to check that
it reflects you. If you were to be invited to interview, could you talk confidently about everything in your
statement?
Rowena Hammal teaches politics at The Portsmouth Grammar School,
and is online editor of POLITICS REVIEW
Philip Allan Updates © 2013
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