Writing a UCAS Personal Statement

							            Writing a UCAS Personal Statement
The purpose of a personal statement is to help a university or college to
find out about you and your suitability for the course you are applying
for. It is an opportunity for you to present your goals, experiences,
achievements and qualifications in the best possible way as well as
demonstrating your writing ability.

A lot of universities and colleges do not interview, they will use your
application and personal statement to decide whether or not you are
suitable for the course. It is therefore vital that you spend time and care
on your personal statement. Tutors not only look at your academic
achievements, they want to gain an impression of your motivation,
ability, interests and personality.

What should be included in your statement?

You should provide detail on the following and not just list them.

  • Your reasons for choosing the course
    Explain why you think the subject is interesting, why it is important
    to you, and why you are enthusiastic about that particular course.

  • Reference to any future plans or career aspirations
    What are your short or long term goals and career ideas?
    Have you got any ideas about what you would like to do after
    graduation?

  • Extra curriculum/outside interests and hobbies
    Talk about your hobbies or interests to give an impression of you
    as a person. Include any positions of responsibility held or awards
    you have won. Describe what you have gained from your interests,
    rather than just providing a list.
  • Relevant background or experience
    This may include paid work experience, travelling abroad or unpaid
    work experience, for example, work shadowing, voluntary work or
    being a carer. What did you learn from this experience?

  • Personal qualities and skills
    Do you possess specific skills needed for the course? If so, what
    are they and why are they relevant to the course?


Size and presentation
You can enter up to 4000 characters (which includes spaces) or 47
lines of text (which includes blank lines), whichever comes first. You do
not have to use all the space provided. When you save the text the
UCAS system will tell you how many characters are still available or if
you have used too many characters. You can preview your statement
after you have saved it.

You will not be able to change the presentation of your statement by
using such features as bold, italic or underlined text. If you use these
types of formatting they will be removed from the text when you paste it
onto your application and save it.

An idea would be to prepare a draft copy of your statement as a word
document then copy and paste the final copy onto your UCAS
application.
(Information gained from www.ucas.com)


When you write your statement remember the following:
 • Organise your material so it is informative and interesting to read.
 • What message are you trying to get across in each paragraph?
 • Try to avoid solid blocks of texts
 • Only write things that you are prepared to talk about in an
   interview.
 • Don’t repeat information that you already have on the application
   form.
 • Don’t describe what course you are doing now only mention what
   skills or knowledge you have gained from that particular course.
  • Ensure that all of the information you are providing is relevant –
    don’t waffle.
  • Don’t mention which institutions you have applied to or which
    university you would prefer to go to on your personal statement.
  • Don’t exaggerate about your hobbies or interests
  • Avoid plagiarism – do not use prepared personal statements as
    UCAS have specific software to detect them and they can contact
    the universities that you have applied to.


Applying to multiple courses
The content of your statement should be relevant to all course
choices.

If you are applying for a joint degree you will need to explain why you
are interested in both subject areas of the course. If you are applying for
different subject areas, try to discuss the common themes that interest
you in each subject, for example you could chose a youth and
community course and a law course because your long term career aim
is to work with young offenders. If your chosen subjects do not have a
common theme between them you need to think about the reasons why
the courses appeal to you.

If you have a number of different course choices in mind then if would
be an idea to speak to a Careers Adviser to narrow down your course
choices.
Conclusion
  • Sell yourself!! – Admissions tutors are looking for students who
    can analyse their skills and experience and give reasons why
    these have led to an application for the courses chosen.
  • Your personal statement provides an indication of your
    communication skills, in terms of basic spelling and grammar, and
    also the ability to express information and ideas clearly.

Where to gain further information and advice regarding your UCAS
application, course and career choice
If you are studying at a school, 6TH form college or a further education
college you could gain help with applying to UCAS, personal statements
and UCAS interviews by contacting your Careers Adviser, Personal
Adviser or Course Tutor within your own institution.

If you are not linked to an educational institution and you are applying to
UCAS as an individual you could either: contact your local Connexions
service or contact the Higher Education Access Point.

Higher Education Access Point
University of Huddersfield
Student Centre
Level 4, Central Services Building
Queensgate, Huddersfield
HD1 3DH
Tel: 01484 472124     E-mail: careers@hud.ac.uk

Visit www.ucas.com for further details on how to apply and tips on
personal statements

If you would like this handout in an alternative format please ask at
the Careers Information Point in the Careers and Employability
Service.




September 2008