UCAS personal statements.
This presentation will cover
the importance of personal statements,
what to include,
the dos and don'ts of personal statements
and where to find out more.
First of all,
What is a personal statement?
A personal statement is a key part of your
UCAS application that will
help you get into university.
It's the part that you write and submit
alongside evidence like your
qualifications and a statement
from your referee or teacher.
It's your opportunity to have
your voice heard in the process.
So it's really important to get it right.
The personal statement is a piece
of writing about you,
your skills and qualities and your
suitability
for your chosen course or courses.
It's a bit like a covering
letter when you apply for a job.
It has to be a maximum of 4000 characters
or letters long and can't be
more than forty seven lines.
This is about one side of A4 paper typed.
It's read by admissions tutors to help
them to decide who they want to offer
a place on their course too.
Not everyone who applies
to university is offered a place.
Certain universities and courses are
particularly competitive,
such as medicine, nursing and teaching.
So your personal statement should be seen
as an opportunity to promote yourself
to the university and let them
know why they should pick you.
There are a range of topics you may want
to cover in your personal statement.
One thing everyone should be including are
their reasons for choosing
their selected course,
which is likely to include
something about your current studies
and how they are preparing you for it.
You can also include things like
your employment work experience
or voluntary work,
extra-curricular activities
like the Duke of Edinburgh Award
and NCS or any other afterschool clubs,
and any extra reading,
research or other activities you undertake
in your own time,
such as visiting university taster days or
attending public lectures or museums.
When discussing any of these,
you need to be able to highlight the
skills you have developed with examples.
You could also tell us
about how the course
will help you to achieve
your future career aspirations.
Although we understand that not
everybody may have this planned out yet.
Ultimately, everyone will have different
things that they want to put
in their personal statement,
which could include anything from
relevant work experience
to your hobbies and interests.
You each have a unique set
of experiences and skills.
So don't try to fit exactly
into a certain template.
Just write about what is relevant
for you and remember that throughout.
You are trying to market yourself
as the best person for the course.
Now a few dos and don'ts.
when it comes to writing
your personal statements,
Do make your
statement focused and concise.
Remember the character limits
and that the same statement will be
sent to all of your university choices.
So make it relevant to all.
Like any other piece of written work,
make sure it has an introduction
and conclusion and put the most
important or relevant information first.
And pay attention to using
correct spelling and grammar.
Always be honest and truthful.
And don't be tempted to make up activities
to make yourself sound more interesting.
But remember that you need to be
positive throughout as well.
Try to find the good side
of your experiences.
If you had to retake a year, for example,
don't focus on the fact you failed
an exam, but instead on the extra skills
and renewed commitments you
discovered during that year.
And make sure that any claims
you make about your skills and qualities
are backed up with specific examples.
This means you need to try and obtain
a broad range of experiences to draw on,
but also be selective
about what you include.
Don't just assert that you are a hard
worker or a team player without being able
to provide a relevant example.
When structuring your paragraphs,
try to stick to the ABC rule
standing for Action, Benefit and Course.
First, outline your action.
What did you do?
Then tell us the benefit.
What skill do you develop and how?
And finally, if you can link this back
to your chosen course and tell us exactly
why it's relevant and how it'll
help you succeed at university.
And what should you avoid when
writing your personal statement?
Some simple things to avoid are repetition
and waffling and being vague about
your skills or exaggerating them.
Don't mention individual institutions
by name as it goes to all
of your universities.
Don't leave writing it
until the last minute
and factor in time for multiple
drafts, allowing teachers or friends
and family to check it
and things to go wrong.
Start as early as you can.
And finally, please don't copy others work
UCAS has an automated
similarity detection service
that will identify any statements
that are too similar.
It'll even know if it's similar
to any templates online,
so don't be tempted to copy these either.
One of the hardest parts of writing
your personal statement
is likely to be getting
the opening sentence right.
You don't have to write it first.
it could even be the last thing you write.
But here are some tips for when
you do come to write it.
Be specific and clear it from the start.
Tell us what you want to study and why
in a few simple and clear
but interesting sentences.
Try to link it to something tangible,
such as your current course,
work experience or some
research you have done.
Don't waste time trying to think
of something catchy or funny.
Just keep it really simple.
Some overused cliche openings are ones
that repeat what you're currently studying
because this is already
in the qualification section
of your application.
Or saying that you have always wanted
to do a particular profession
for as long as you can remember,
try to avoid saying this.
For further advice,
guidance and tips
on writing your personal statement.
There are lots of online resources you can
access, as well as being the place you'll
eventually need to upload
your finished statement to.
The UCAS Website hosts lots of videos,
resources and further tips.
So this is a good place to start.
Studential.com also has some
example statements you can look at,
but don't copy them.
Remember that not all examples are good
and you can view our
Personal Statement booklet
and factsheet
at hud.ac/or
Finally, our biggest piece of advice is
not to panic about your
personal statement.
Just leave yourself plenty
of time to write it,
do some research about your
course that you can include
and write what comes
naturally and you'll be fine.
Good luck.
