Making your university application is one of the more important tasks you’ll need to do throughout your student life. After all, it’s what prospective schools will be used to determine whether or not you’ll earn a place on your desired course.
Given that there’s so much more to you than what lies in your application, there is an inherent need to communicate your story, interests and suitability within the personal statement included in your application.
By writing a strong personal statement, you will give the admissions officers a sense of the person behind the application and enhance your chances of being accepted for your desired course.
The aim of this article is to arrive at an understanding of the purpose of your personal statement as well as how you can effectively identify your strengths and move your application to the top of the pile!
Understanding the Purpose and Structure
You should look at your personal statement as an opportunity to stand out by highlighting your unique set of strengths and experiences. By putting your best foot forward, you will be able to show the university why you are a great fit for the course and the university as a whole.
Some of the key points that you’ll want to include are a reflection of your accomplishments, any leadership roles that you’ve taken on in the past, and perhaps most importantly, what sets you apart from others gunning for the same course.
Remember, a key purpose of your statement that you will need to constantly reflect upon while writing your drafts is also to showcase your passion for the subject area and articulate your aspirations throughout your learning and for the career path you envision yourself pursuing after you graduate from the course.
One thing that they’ll be looking out for is tangible examples, so make sure to back up your assertions by linking your experiences to the competencies required for your chosen program. Just like you might do in a job interview when it comes to the desired competencies they are looking for in potential employees.
Before you get stuck into writing up your preliminary drafts, you’re going to want to take note of some of the amendments that have been made to this component of the application for the 2025 entry.
In order to guide your statement, a 4,000-character limit has been set, along with three prompting questions that you’ll need to focus on:
- Why do you want to study this course or subject?
- How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject?
- What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?
There is a minimum of 350 characters for each question, but if you want to put yourself across as an interesting and qualified candidate, then you should aim to write somewhere close to the upper limit!
In many ways, this online application system makes the application process easy: you only need to enter all of your information once, after which you may apply for a place in up to five courses of study.
You will have to be concise yet sufficiently descriptive to get your point across while staying within those boundaries. Naturally, such constraints make formatting your text especially tricky. For instance, knowing that a blank line will cost you, should you insert one between paragraphs?
Keep in mind that if you type up your statement as a formatted Word document and then paste it into the UCAS field, the system will automatically strip your text of any formatting, including paragraph indents.
You might find a happy medium by ending each paragraph mid-line, as we did the paragraph above so that your text has the appearance of paragraphing without sacrificing any precious space allotment.
For mature students - those who have a bit of experience in the workforce, answering this question is a breeze!
Brainstorming Your Unique Selling Points
📚 Academic Achievements
👨🚀 Relevant Experiences
🤔 Skills and Qualities
In order to arrive at a statement that is geared for success, you should adopt a process in your writing, leaving the writing till the very end.
In order to ensure that you touch all bases and convey your suitability for the respective course, you should begin by brainstorming and reflecting on what successes, experiences and distinctive skills you’re going to include. In order to give you a better idea of what to include in your brainstorming, consider the following areas:
Academic Achievements
Studying at university is an academic pursuit above anything else, and while you might have plenty of examples of success throughout your secondary school education, you’ll need to be selective and purposeful in what you choose to include.
So, to kickstart the brainstorming process, a helpful exercise would be to reflect on your past or ongoing educational pursuits that align with the program you are seeking admission to.
Think about what specific areas sparked your enthusiasm and whether you’ve engaged in any projects or research that might showcase your interest in the area! You can find a tutor to guide you through the process of crafting a personal essay on Superprof.
Relevant Experiences
The purpose of the statement is also to give you an opportunity to mention any work experience, internships or volunteer work that has equipped you for your desired field of study.
You’ll definitely have an easier time when it comes to the writing process after having reflected on how these experiences have equipped you for university studies.
Have a good think about any leadership roles you have taken on, whether inside or outside of school, and weave these experiences into your essay to demonstrate your abilities in organising and leading others.
Now join the discussion: what is the best method for choosing a course?
Skills and Qualities
Reflecting on your skills and qualities is another great way to stand out from other applicants. So, throughout the brainstorming process, make sure to consider your strengths and any skills you've honed through your pursuits or extracurricular activities.
Many universities weigh heavily on participation and interest in extracurricular activities, as they provide a good indication of your character.
Throughout your reflection, think about how you can use your skills and qualities to explain your aptitude and suitability outside of the exam results you’ve included in your application, giving a glimpse into your personality and values.
Crafting your personal statement should require a fair amount of looking inward, demonstrating foresight and dedication to your chosen field and how it is a suitable path for you to achieve both your academic and professional goals.
Whether you are British or a prospective international student with focusing on studying in the UK, applying to university is done through UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admission Service.
Crafting a Powerful Opening Statement
Throughout the writing process, make sure to remind yourself of the sheer volume of applications that will be received for your course alone. There is a list of things that you won’t have control over in the application process, but one thing you can make sure of is that your personal statement captures their attention from the start.
This will make it more likely that you will stand out to the admissions office and increase the likelihood of being a successful applicant. In order to do this, you’ll need to strike a balance between being engaging and informative, which may take a number of crafts before you get it right.
One thing that you’re going to want to avoid if you want to stand any chance of standing out is using cliché introductions that admissions officers encounter all too frequently. Avoid using phrases such as "From an early age..." or “For as long as I can remember..." as they tend to make your statement blend in with all of the others.
In order to engage the reader from the outset, you could instead focus on being precise about your interest in the subject and showcase your knowledge from the very beginning.
It’s important that you’re not just telling them that you’re interested in the course or that you are a great applicant; make sure to jump right into your personal statement by showing them. Provide examples of how your work experience, volunteer roles or participation in extracurricular activities sets you apart.
After all, it's a personal statement, so you’re going to want to express your individuality as opposed to following the status quo. In a sense, applying for university in general and, in particular, writing this statement is good preparation for all of the academic writing you’ll do later on!
Getting Started with Your Personal Statement
Hopefully, after reading your article, you will have a set of actionable and structured methods to guide your writing process. With an enhanced understanding of what is being assessed and how to cater your story to demonstrate your suitability as a candidate, you're sure to stand out from the pack.
Now, it’s just a matter of putting all of your points in proper order and fleshing them out. To do so, you should number the bullet points that you have taken from your brainstorming and begin drafting out your preliminary essays. Find more private tutors London here on Superprof.
You can begin putting pen to paper or using whatever word processing software you like to get these drafts together, and you shouldn't worry about character limit so much at this stage as you can always refine your statement and trim away any excess in later drafts!
You might shudder at this unabashed self-promotion, but rest assured: you are expected to sell yourself and your accomplishments. You have to put yourself in as favourable a light as possible on your school application, but then again, you’re not so much highlighting yourself as your accomplishments.
If you need a helping hand in organising your points or ensuring that your wiring is tailored to your course of choice, then you can always get one of the tutors available on the Superprof learning platform. Here, you'll find an abundance of tutors with plenty of experience guiding students just like yourself through the application process.
They will be able to review your personal statement and make sure that it satisfies the necessary criteria so that you can be confident in your application prior to submitting it!
Your turn to chime in: when should students start applying for university?
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