Personal Statement

Guide to writing your personal statement

While we can't tell you what to write in your personal statement, we can tell you how to go about writing it, what the aims are of it and what you should include to give you the best chance of getting on the course you want to be on.

Understanding the aim

The aim of the personal statement is to tell the university you are applying to a bit more about you. This is the only thing they have to go on that will set you apart from the next student with the same grades in the same subjects. Your personal statement should make the admissions tutor want you to study at their university instead of the next student. The tutors will be looking at the your personal statement and using that to decide if they want you at the university and if they want you on their course.

The way to cover this is to give evidence-based answers demonstrating that you can do things like: Work under pressure, communicate with others, demonstrate an interest in the subject, work as a team and as an individual, and many more.

All about me

Now you know the kinds of things you need to convey in your personal statement, you need to come up with evidence of where or when you have demonstrated these qualities, and other things that you think will shed good light on your personality, your desire to do the course you are applying for and your ability to complete a degree.

Get a blank piece of paper and write some headings down to help you formulate some ideas. These could be:

• Why you want to study this particular subject
• Personal experiences
• Part-time or voluntary work
• Achievements
• Future goals
• Work experience
• Projects or coursework
• Out-of-school or college activities
• Sports
• Musical instruments
• Languages

You may be able to think of more, but you will soon have built up a list of things relevant to your course and to your personality to include in your personal statement.

You don't have to have lots of different things under each heading, and it doesn't matter if there are some headings left empty. What is important is that you convey your reasons for wanting to study that particular course.

Why this subject?

This is possibly the most vital part of your personal statement. You should already have some supporting material in the lists you have made to show why you should be chosen to study the course of your choice.

List some of the reasons behind your choice of course or subject area. You should be able to come up with a number of these if this is the right course for you. Go through them and pick the ones you think you can elaborate on best and that more explicitly show your passion and enthusiasm for your chosen subject.

Look at examples

You can find example personal statement on this site. It is a good idea to read examples of statements so you can see how they flow, and how they convey interest in the subject in question. You may know someone who has written a personal statement and who has been successful in gaining a university place, so you can see if they are willing to let you read theirs.

Read example 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?

Language

Look at the words used to describe the course you are thinking of applying for. University websites are good for this, or prospectuses. You could also look at the qualities and the language used in job advertisements for what you hope your degree will lead on to. You may be able to work some of these into your personal statement.

Structure

You should have an idea now of how your personal statement is going to look and what you are going to include in it.

This is not the definitive answer, but here is an example of how you could, not how you should, structure yours:

Paragraph 1: Introduction – what you are interested in regarding the subject and why
Paragraph 2: Achievements etc. related to the subject
Paragraphs 3 and 4: Work experience or voluntary work related to the subject or/and to the qualities needed for the subject
Paragraph 5: Outside interests and responsibilities
Paragraph 6: Future goals and aspirations and a strong closing line

Writing the statement

Now, start writing. You should have a picture of how your personal statement will pan out, what you are going to include and how you are going to conclude it. Remember what your personal statement needs to show the admissions tutors and keep this in mind throughout the writing stage. Write as much as you want, but bear in mind there is a word limit. You can always go back and edit your statement. Be positive, interesting and enthusiastic and qualify what you say with reasons. Show why you are including a particular point in your statement. If you cannot find a reason, it probably doesn't need to be included.

Edit, proofread, show it to others, edit, proofread, and so on. This can be a lengthy process, but it's worth it to get it right and to get that university place.