Tips and tricks for writing your personal statement

19 Jun 2024
Person writing in a notepad with a pencil, pencil sharpenings on the paper

The personal statement is your opportunity to bring yourself to life for your chosen universities. If you’re at any stage of working on a personal statement here are some tips for how to approach it when it is feeling overwhelming. There is no right or wrong way to go about writing a personal statement, so go with what feels best for you.

Top tips

Work(sheet) it out

Our lovely Schools and Colleges team have made you a worksheet to help guide you through the process of writing a personal statement. They literally travel around the country delivering talks on this exact subject, so you know this is solid stuff. Give the Personal Statement Worksheet a try.

Here’s a really good way to structure it

Just write

Don’t edit yourself as you write. Own the fact that you are not producing the best thing ever as you write it for the first time, just write. The power of the personal statement is in the editing and polishing. You’re likely to do that a lot before you’re happy with it.

Why University?

You definitely want to show off your knowledge, skills and past experiences that make you a great candidate for your subject or career. However, you want to make sure that you demonstrate that you are not a finished product. You’re keen to learn more, push yourself further and develop your skills. Make sure you communicate how your experience at university can help you to achieve your career dreams or engage in an academic community you are passionate about.

Getting the right information in there

If you’re unsure what to write, use the websites of the universities you are applying to and look at what modules or topics you’re going to be studying. Talking about one or two of those can really help to show your understanding of the course.

Type and edit on a separate document

Don’t draft your personal statement straight into the UCAS application as it times you out. Save often and create new copies of each draft. If you take something out and then wish you hadn’t, at least you can go back to a previous draft to retrieve it.

Read it out loud

Really. You’ll catch spelling and grammar errors, be able to crop those run-on sentences that just go on and on for no good reason at all, and you’re more likely to hear if you’ve used the same word lots of times. If you get called for an interview remember to reread your personal statement beforehand to remind yourself of your key points.

FAQs

You can do it!

Believe in yourself. That stands both for the content of what you are writing and the very act of writing your personal statement. Keep it in perspective; you’re doing this all for the bigger purpose of getting you onto the next amazing step of your life.

Have any questions?

Feel free to get in touch with us on Live Chat, we’re always happy to hear from you. You can ask for contact details for the Schools and Colleges team if you would like some advice on writing your personal statement.

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