How to Support Students with
Personal Statements
Phil Lumby Birmingham City University
Kim Eccleston University of Warwick
What we will cover today…
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• Personal statements in the UCAS process
• What are personal statements?
• What are admissions tutors looking for?
• Areas to cover in a personal statement
• Hints and tips for a good personal statement
The UCAS application form
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7 sections to complete:
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Personal details
Choices
Education
Employment
Personal Statement
Reference
Pay/send
Personal Statements
• The majority of courses do not interview, so this is may
be your students’ main opportunity to make an
impression on the Admissions Tutors.
• Ultimately, the Personal Statement is the students’
responsibility (not that of their teachers, tutors,
School/College).
• An Admissions Tutor can see hundreds of forms in a day,
so it is imperative that it is easy to read, otherwise it
might be put to the bottom of the pile!
Personal Statements
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• Enter up to 4,000 characters or 47 lines of text (includes blank
spaces/lines).
• Unable to use features such as bold, italic or underlined text.
• Students should not include information that is available
elsewhere on the form.
• Structured text should be used - not bullet points.
• We recommend that the statement is word processed offline,
then copy and paste into the Apply system.
What are Admissions Tutors looking for?
• Students with the academic potential to benefit from the
course.
• Students who are motivated towards studying this particular
course.
• Students with relevant experience for the course.
• The personal skills a student can bring to the course
• The interests that a student has.
• Remember that that although each university cannot see
the student’s other choices, they will all see the personal
statement.
How NOT to get started…
• ‘‘VE Day, in 1947, heralded the end of the Second World
War…’’
• ‘‘I’m motivated to tackle any problem, any fear, any adversary
that I shall encounter at University with great passion and
panache…’’
• ‘‘I’ve been attracted to books for over three years…’’
• ‘‘From a very early age, I’ve always had the ambition to put
my arm up a cow’s backside…’’
The Course (1)
• The part of most interest to the Admissions Tutor.
• The more competitive the course, the more students should
write about the subject.
• Should be around 30 – 50% of the personal statement.
• Students should demonstrate enthusiasm for the subject and
indicate how it first developed.
The Course (2)
• Which parts of the subject are of particular interest to
the student?
• If studying the subject at the moment, the student
should mention particular coursework or assignments
they have enjoyed.
• Mention any extra reading around the subject they have
done.
• If the course ties in with any career aspirations students
may have, they should say how they became interested
in this career.
General skills and attributes
• Personal:
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Caring
Responsible
Trustworthy
Enthusiastic
Approachable
Hard working
• Related to
work/studies:
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Good communicator
Team worker
Good organiser
Problem solver
Self motivated
Leadership
Initiative
Personal Skills/Attributes/Interests
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Evidence from part time work.
Sports and other leisure pursuits.
Volunteer or Charity work.
Student reps/prefects/mentoring.
Social activities
– Students need to think about the skills gained from
these activities!
Experience relevant to the course
• Work experience is really important for courses
leading to some professions e.g. medicine, nursing,
physiotherapy, teaching.
• For other courses, attendance at conferences or any
other out of school visits related to your chosen
subject is important.
• Say what insights this has given you into your chosen
area of study/profession.
– Think about any experience you can gain that will
strengthen your application.
And Finally…
• Students should be themselves.
• They should NOT Plagiarise! UCAS uses a similarity detection
service
• Personal Statements are checked against a library of those
already in the system, and from a variety of websites and
paper publications
• Each new statement is added to the library after processing
• Check spelling and grammar thoroughly
• Keep a copy
• Don’t put something down you can’t talk about!
Punctuation
Dear John: I want aa man
man who
who knows
knows what
what love
love is.
is
all
All about.
about You
you are generous, kind,
kind, thoughtful.
thoughtful
People
like you.
you admit
people, who are not like
Admit to being
useless and inferior.
inferior. You
You have
have ruined
ruined me.
me For
for
other men,
men. I yearn.
yearn for
For you.
you II have no feelings
whatsoever
whatsoever. when
Whenwe
weare
are apart.
apart, II can
can be forever
happy
willyou
youlet
letme
mebe.
be Yours,
yours? Gloria
Gloria
happy.–Will
Any Questions…?