Personal Statements

[Bryan]

Alright guys, any of you that have applied for unis recently or anyone that works at unis, have you got any advice on writing a good personal statement?

Ive got two weeks to right my first draft of my personal statement, before i go on holiday, as when i get back I'm straight back to college and they wont our first draft in so as we can get our uni applications off as soon as possible.

Any help would be greatfully appreciated

[Siobhan]

found this on a BBC site

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/onelife/images/onelife_content_logo.gif (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/onelife/index.shtml) UCAS Forms: Personal Statements

UCAS forms (which you need to use to apply for a place at a university) ask for a 'Personal Statement'. This is your chance to persuade a university Applications Officer to give you a place so it's important to really sell yourself.
Remember to make sure yours is clear, succinct and confident. It's your chance to really show them why they want you so it's important to stress why you're perfect for the course, your academic strengths and your enthusiasm for studying this subject at degree level.
Tell Them:http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/onelife/education/18/images/pers_statements.jpg

Why you've chosen the course - what is it that interests you about the subject?
About any jobs, work experience or placements you've had in your chosen field. If these inspired you to choose this degree - tell them why.
About any non-accredited qualifications - did you do Young Enterprise or Duke of Edinburgh? They want to know about it, and what you learnt from it.
About anything else you've achieved, for example, have you got any Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network awards?
About anything you're proud of that shows you can knuckle down and apply yourself - like running a marathon or raising money for charity.
About anything that shows you've got initiative.
About your future - what are you planning to do with your degree anyway?
If you've got any sponsorships or placements from a company already.
Why - if you're taking one - you're having a year out.
About anything interesting from your progress file or national record of achievement.
About your social, sports and leisure interests - they want well-rounded people after all. The UCAS website which can guide you through your application section by section.
Read on to find out how to defer your entry (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/onelife/education/18/defer.shtml) to university.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/onelife/personal/images/horiz_rule.gif
Related Links
For more information about UCAS and other useful contacts check out our Further Information: General (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/onelife/education/18/18_info.shtml) or Further Information: University (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/onelife/education/18/uni_info.shtml) pages.
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[Bryan]

thanks Siobhan, thats a big help! Along with the sheet provided by my careers department I've finally got started on it. Here is what I have so far. If anyone thinks I can improve this in anyway please say.

Degrees in writing interest me as I have always had a keen passion for creative writing, have wrote many short stories and poems when I was a child. When I was in Primary School I had a poem published in a book of school children’s poems. I have also had experience of playwriting, having wrote two plays “Brotherly Love” and “Stairlift To Heaven”, which were performed by professional actors at the Birmingham REP as part of it’s Transmissions Festival, for young writers in the West Midlands aged between 12 and 25. (See www.transmissions.org.uk for more information) I can write fluently, and have a detailed vocabulary for someone of my age, combined with my creativity and vivid imagination, writing has always been an obvious hobby and career path for me. I am interested in taking a course for scriptwriting or creative writing, so as I can develop my writing skills in hope of making a career out of the talent in the future. Ideally I would like to write scripts for prime time television soap operas or dramas, I have a fine a fine appreciation for television and have had experience of writing scripts for television, for the past year I have created a soap opera called Devon Seas of which I post daily episodes on various internet forums. (See www.freewebs.com/devonseas for more information) Alternatively I would like to become a professional author writing either teenage novels or a series of novels influenced by the extravagant era of the 1980s, as shown through American dramas such as Dallas and Dynasty.

[Katy]

Flipping heck Bryan im so not going to get accepted at any unis as i dont no what to write. I have the joys of writing my personal Statement this holiday to. Its a nightmare. That all sounds really good. Basically i have to tery and make myself look good.

[Layne]

I have a fine a fine appreciation .

You put a fine, twice. Apart fron that, its fab and if i were working at the University i'd let you in :p !

[Chloe O'brien]

Remember to make a few photocopies of the document so you can practice want you want to say. So that when you present the final document it will be well presented, neat with proper spelling and grammar.

[di marco]

i wrote my personal statement last year, this is what we were told to write:

- say why youre interested in that particular subject and why
- what alevel subjects youre taking now that are useful for that degree and what youve learnt from them
- any achievements youve had in that subject, such as getting an award from school/college or any performances you may have been involved in at school/college that you were chosen for cos of your talent (even if you werent chosen for your talent and you just volunteered, lie and say you were chosen cos they will never know and it sounds better!)
- any responsibilties youve had in that subject (at school/college or outside)
- work experience/jobs youve had, especially if they link to the course/career you want to do, if they dont then dont spend too long writing about them
- list your hobbies and interests, especially any sports or team related activities as you can gain lots of transferable skills from those (although dont lie about these cos the interviewer if you get one could ask you about these so you will need to know specifics about them)
- anything youve been involved in outside of school/college thats related to the subject and what you achieved from it
- what you plan to do after uni (if you would want to do a masters or something, or volunteerly work for a while) and what career youd like to do

also, there is a maximum character limit, so make sure you dont write too much, cos of this refrain from writing about your gcses as the unis get sent a copy of your results, also try not to spend too much time on things that happened at school too long ago unless its something unusual. finally try and catch the eye of the person who will be reading your personal statement as that alone could determine whether you get an interview or not

hope that helps :)

[di marco]

Degrees in writing interest me as I have always had a keen passion for creative writing, have wrote many short stories and poems when I was a child. When I was in Primary School I had a poem published in a book of school children’s poems. I have also had experience of playwriting, having wrote two plays “Brotherly Love” and “Stairlift To Heaven”, which were performed by professional actors at the Birmingham REP as part of it’s Transmissions Festival, for young writers in the West Midlands aged between 12 and 25. (See www.transmissions.org.uk for more information)

i think id take out the web address there cos it will be taking up space that could be needed for something else, also you could add what responsibilities you had while doing them and what you learnt from the experience


I can write fluently, and have a detailed vocabulary for someone of my age, combined with my creativity and vivid imagination, writing has always been an obvious hobby and career path for me. I am interested in taking a course for scriptwriting or creative writing, so as I can develop my writing skills in hope of making a career out of the talent in the future. Ideally I would like to write scripts for prime time television soap operas or dramas, I have a fine a fine appreciation for television and have had experience of writing scripts for television, for the past year I have created a soap opera called Devon Seas of which I post daily episodes on various internet forums. (See www.freewebs.com/devonseas for more information)

i dont know whether id say about posting them on internet forums or not, i dont know how unis would take that bit, but i like the idea about the link cos then they can see your work for themselves


Alternatively I would like to become a professional author writing either teenage novels or a series of novels influenced by the extravagant era of the 1980s, as shown through American dramas such as Dallas and Dynasty.

i dont know what dallas and dynasty are about, so dont know whether writing about those would be ok, but id be careful about refering to tv programmes cos if the person whos reading the personal statement has a different opinion about them then it might go against you, though your career advisor/whoevers helping you at college with the statement would probably advise you whether you should or not

although your statement is very good, a lot better than mine was! good luck with writing the rest, cos i found writing mine really hard!

[Katy]

THis is my first two paragraphs of my personal statement, what do you think?

Law is a subject that I have thoroughly enjoyed whilst studying it for A Level, I would love to have the opportunity to study it further at degree level. As part of the course I looked at sentencing in detail. This fascinated me as I didn’t think that there were so many different types and I can now identify with the sentences given in cases on the news or in the newspaper. I also take Psychology at A Level. This subject is informative about the attitudes and behaviors of different individuals in our society, it had given me the opportunity to try and understand people’s minds. This subject is important to me as I feel it has made me a more observant person in my day to day life.

To further my interest in the subject of I have completed visits to the Magistrates court in Stockport and the crown court in Manchester. I enjoyed the visit to the courts as it showed me the role lawyers play in everyday life and the way they reach a verdict. By visiting both a magistrates and a crown court I was able to witness a broad range of cases.

[Bryan]

Here is the finished article

Degrees in writing interest me as I have always had a keen passion for creative writing, have wrote many short stories and poems when I was a child. When I was in Primary School I had a poem published in a book of school children’s poems. I have also had experience of playwriting, having wrote two plays “Brotherly Love” and “Stairlift To Heaven”, which were performed by professional actors at the Birmingham REP as part of it’s Transmissions Festival, for young writers in the West Midlands aged between 12 and 25. Having my work produced into a theatre production encouraged me to make a career out of my talent of writing. I can write fluently, and have a detailed vocabulary for someone of my age, combined with my creativity and vivid imagination, writing has always been an obvious hobby and career path for me. With my practical experience of writing and my academic achievements in subjects such as English and Media Studies, I feel that a course for script/screen writing would be the most ideal course to take to develop my skills in hope of making a future career out of my writing talent. Ideally I would like to write scripts for prime time television soap operas or dramas, I have a fine a fine appreciation for television and have had experience of writing scripts for television, for the past year I have created a soap opera called Devon Seas of which I post daily episodes on various internet forums. (See www.freewebs.com/devonseas for more information) I would be interested in exploring the Soap Opera genre in more depth as part of the script/screen writing course. Alternatively I would like to become a professional author writing either teenage novels or a series of novels influenced by the extravagant era of the 1980s, as shown through American dramas such as Dallas and Dynasty.

Despite my choice of course being more creative than academic, I have had a successful education, being a productive and intellectual student. I have always enjoy my school and college experience and value the importance of a good education. I have always been a hard working and conscientious student, doing work to the best of my ability and sticking closely to tight deadlines. I have always preferred subjects that have challenged my creativity, which is why I feel a degree in script/screenwriting is best suited to me. As part of my educational experience I have been given various opportunities to work as a team and represent my school. For four years I worked as an assistant Librarian at my school library, giving up my breaks and lunch hours to perform various librarian duties and helping students with their homework and research projects. I was also given the opportunity to widen my skills in wiring and journalism by being a member of the School newsletter team, writing articles on school events and pupils’ achievements. Finally I was given a role of great importance by being a made a prefect, I had to represent the school and guide prospective students and their parents around the school.

Outside of college I have participated in numerous group activities and award schemes. From a young age I have been a member of the scouting organisation, starting from Cub Scouts, and moving up to Scouts and then to my present section at Explorer Scouts. Being a member of Scouts has allowed me to grow as a person, finding self-confidence and being able to develop my social skills and knowledge of practical skills, and most importantly appreciating and benefiting from the importance of teamwork. As a scout I have been given many fantastic opportunities, I have travelled to countries such as Iceland and Switzerland and took part in awards such as the Chief Scout Challenge and the Duke Of Edinburgh Gold Award, of which I am currently participating in. As an Explorer scout, we organise many charity events and fundraising events to raise money for the scout group and for our many scout expeditions, we are currently planning to travel to New Zealand in 2008 to do our Explorer Belt. I am also a young scout leader, giving up a lot of my free time to help with younger scout members.

Having always been up for fresh and exciting challenges, and going to university will be a unique life experience, giving me the opportunity to find some impedance as I move away from home and adapt to a new way of life and broaden my horizons. Taking a course in script/screen writing will enable me to further my knowledge and understanding of a skill and hobby that I hold close to my heart. I believe I have what it takes to succeed in this subject and what I have found to be a challenging and dynamic career path.

[di marco]

THis is my first two paragraphs of my personal statement, what do you think?

Law is a subject that I have thoroughly enjoyed whilst studying it for A Level, I would love to have the opportunity to study it further at degree level. As part of the course I looked at sentencing in detail. This fascinated me as I didn’t think that there were so many different types and I can now identify with the sentences given in cases on the news or in the newspaper. I also take Psychology at A Level. This subject is informative about the attitudes and behaviors of different individuals in our society, it had given me the opportunity to try and understand people’s minds. This subject is important to me as I feel it has made me a more observant person in my day to day life.

To further my interest in the subject of I have completed visits to the Magistrates court in Stockport and the crown court in Manchester. I enjoyed the visit to the courts as it showed me the role lawyers play in everyday life and the way they reach a verdict. By visiting both a magistrates and a crown court I was able to witness a broad range of cases.

thats really good cornetgal, especially where youve said what youve learnt from your subjects and your work experience, it shows that youre interested and committed to the subject :)

[di marco]

Here is the finished article

Degrees in writing interest me as I have always had a keen passion for creative writing, have wrote many short stories and poems when I was a child. When I was in Primary School I had a poem published in a book of school children’s poems. I have also had experience of playwriting, having wrote two plays “Brotherly Love” and “Stairlift To Heaven”, which were performed by professional actors at the Birmingham REP as part of it’s Transmissions Festival, for young writers in the West Midlands aged between 12 and 25. Having my work produced into a theatre production encouraged me to make a career out of my talent of writing. I can write fluently, and have a detailed vocabulary for someone of my age, combined with my creativity and vivid imagination, writing has always been an obvious hobby and career path for me. With my practical experience of writing and my academic achievements in subjects such as English and Media Studies, I feel that a course for script/screen writing would be the most ideal course to take to develop my skills in hope of making a future career out of my writing talent. Ideally I would like to write scripts for prime time television soap operas or dramas, I have a fine a fine appreciation for television and have had experience of writing scripts for television, for the past year I have created a soap opera called Devon Seas of which I post daily episodes on various internet forums. (See www.freewebs.com/devonseas for more information) I would be interested in exploring the Soap Opera genre in more depth as part of the script/screen writing course. Alternatively I would like to become a professional author writing either teenage novels or a series of novels influenced by the extravagant era of the 1980s, as shown through American dramas such as Dallas and Dynasty.

Despite my choice of course being more creative than academic, I have had a successful education, being a productive and intellectual student. I have always enjoy my school and college experience and value the importance of a good education. I have always been a hard working and conscientious student, doing work to the best of my ability and sticking closely to tight deadlines. I have always preferred subjects that have challenged my creativity, which is why I feel a degree in script/screenwriting is best suited to me. As part of my educational experience I have been given various opportunities to work as a team and represent my school. For four years I worked as an assistant Librarian at my school library, giving up my breaks and lunch hours to perform various librarian duties and helping students with their homework and research projects. I was also given the opportunity to widen my skills in wiring and journalism by being a member of the School newsletter team, writing articles on school events and pupils’ achievements. Finally I was given a role of great importance by being a made a prefect, I had to represent the school and guide prospective students and their parents around the school.

Outside of college I have participated in numerous group activities and award schemes. From a young age I have been a member of the scouting organisation, starting from Cub Scouts, and moving up to Scouts and then to my present section at Explorer Scouts. Being a member of Scouts has allowed me to grow as a person, finding self-confidence and being able to develop my social skills and knowledge of practical skills, and most importantly appreciating and benefiting from the importance of teamwork. As a scout I have been given many fantastic opportunities, I have travelled to countries such as Iceland and Switzerland and took part in awards such as the Chief Scout Challenge and the Duke Of Edinburgh Gold Award, of which I am currently participating in. As an Explorer scout, we organise many charity events and fundraising events to raise money for the scout group and for our many scout expeditions, we are currently planning to travel to New Zealand in 2008 to do our Explorer Belt. I am also a young scout leader, giving up a lot of my free time to help with younger scout members.

Having always been up for fresh and exciting challenges, and going to university will be a unique life experience, giving me the opportunity to find some impedance as I move away from home and adapt to a new way of life and broaden my horizons. Taking a course in script/screen writing will enable me to further my knowledge and understanding of a skill and hobby that I hold close to my heart. I believe I have what it takes to succeed in this subject and what I have found to be a challenging and dynamic career path.

thats really good bryan! :) i like the way youve written about the responsibilities youve had and what youve achieved. also like the end paragraph as it sums the whole lot up. really well written

[Jojo]

Here is the finished article

.......I have also had experience of playwriting, having written two plays “Brotherly Love” and “Stairlift To Heaven”, which were performed by professional actors at the Birmingham REP as part of it’s Transmissions Festival.....

Having always been up for fresh and exciting challenges, and going to university will be a unique life experience, giving me the opportunity to find some independance as I move away from home and adapt to a new way of life and broaden my horizons. Taking a course in script/screen writing will enable me to further my knowledge and understanding of a skill and hobby that I hold close to my heart. I believe I have what it takes to succeed in this subject and what I have found to be a challenging and dynamic career path. Change those two words hun and its brill (I know, I'm a pain :D )

[Bryan]

Change those two words hun and its brill (I know, I'm a pain :D )

you and your spelling ems! :p you should become a part time proof reader, earn a few more pounds! :lol:

[Jojo]

THis is my first two paragraphs of my personal statement, what do you think?

Law is a subject that I have thoroughly enjoyed whilst studying it for A Level, I would love to have the opportunity to study it further at degree level. As part of the course I looked at sentencing in detail. This fascinated me as I didn’t think that there were so many different types and I can now identify with the sentences given in cases on the news or in the newspaper. I also take Psychology at A Level. This subject is informative about the attitudes and behaviors of different individuals in our society, it had given me the opportunity to try and understand people’s minds. This subject is important to me as I feel it has made me a more observant person in my day to day life.

To further my interest in the subject of I have completed visits to the Magistrates court in Stockport and the crown court in Manchester. I enjoyed the visit to the courts as it showed me the role lawyers play in everyday life and the way they reach a verdict. By visiting both a magistrates and a crown court I was able to witness a broad range of cases. Thats great, and like Di M said, by saying about visiting the Magistrates and Crown Courts, it shows that you have a great interest in the field to the point where you will spend your own time gaining more experience.

[Jojo]

you and your spelling ems! :p you should become a part time proof reader, earn a few more pounds! :lol: lol - I know - its one thing I used to do when I was working (oh those many years ago :rotfl: ) As part of my PA work, I would have to proof read other secretary's work and submit it back for corrections.

I could be a part time proof reader, director, accountant, secretary and mother - how much do you get paid for that?! :rotfl:

[Katy]

Thank for your comments Its been a nightmare to write. got to do a concluding paragraph and my intersts outside of college.

And Bry yours is really good.

[Abi]

Personal Statements are annoying. Does anyone know roughly how long is ideal?

[Abigail]

Personal Statements are annoying. Does anyone know roughly how long is ideal?

I think it's somewhere between half and a page of size twelve type.
We started ours on Friday and I didn't write much. I found it really hard to think of my strengths and what I've contributed to things and why I actually want to do the course.

And to cap it all, I've forgotten my user info for UCAS :rolleyes:

[Katy]

So glad i havent got to do this again bought it all back reading this thread.

I thought it was no more than 4000 characters which is about 600 words. I remember mine was a page in size twelve font.

Good luck with it.

JB - Did you not make a note of it anywhere, that was the first thing we were told to do. I think theres a number somewhere you can call up. My friends lost theres numerous times.

[DaVeyWaVey]

I'm in this position right now... I have to finish off a draft and hand it in sometime next week. I have nearly finished mine.. do you mind if I post it here once I've finished it? ... Some advice would be greatly appreciated especially as I'm struggling with it at the moment.

[di marco]

I'm in this position right now... I have to finish off a draft and hand it in sometime next week. I have nearly finished mine.. do you mind if I post it here once I've finished it? ... Some advice would be greatly appreciated especially as I'm struggling with it at the moment.

yep sure, go ahead. im sure its no where near as bad as you think :)

[DaVeyWaVey]

My first draft of my statement (I am hoping to apply for English Language, maybe combined with Creative Writing)

Since I’ve been young, writing using the English Language has been an extremely strong interest of mine. In primary school, I had a number of short stories and poems published in books and magazines and a few years ago, I received a “Talent For Writing” Award after my work was selected to be published in a book. From this I knew that writing was one of my talents and that a career path using English and my writing skills would be a relevant option.

I have always enjoyed writing. After writing short stories and poems, I developed my writing skills and began writing for my school newsletter and also I am part of a Journalists group where I write newspaper articles for my local paper once every three weeks. I have also done work experience at two different newspapers and these work placements made me develop my writing skills, as I built up an understanding of how to write formally and informally depending on the nature of what I was writing and how to write my articles depending on circumstances, whether it was to persuade, inform or shock my audience. For example, I recently ran for the Head Boy position at my sixth form and I had to write a speech and I successfully managed to reach my objective of writing my speech to persuade, as I gained a place as Deputy Head Boy. Recently, I did an Open University course in Fiction Writing and passed, writing two short stories. On this course, it gave me a taster of the workload that a degree entails and made me realise that I can knuckle down and apply myself suitably enough, to be able to complete a degree. Doing the course not only made me think creatively, but it made me think deeply on how I structured my sentences and how they contributed to the meaning of my writing and how it helped convey the feeling I was trying to get across to my reader. As well as writing, I am also a keen reader. Amongst my favourite authors are Chris Ryan, Oscar Wilde, Shakespeare and Patricia Cornwell. Studying Shakespeare at English and Drama A Level has made me fascinated on how language has developed from Shakespeare using verse written as iambic pentameter, to the present day, where text speak and ‘slang’ has started to become popular within our society. Looking at your course, I would in particular be looking forward too how mental disorders effect the way people speak because as a long term career plan, I aspire to be a speech therapist or to teach English to those who have trouble speaking the language. I used to have speech therapy myself, so I would feel I would be able to empathise whilst studying this particular module of your course and be able to empathise with those I help with speech problems in the future.

In my spare time, I like to take part in a wide variety of activities that help me to socialise. I have been a part of Scouting for 10 years and I am currently an Explorer Scout. Being a part of scouting has helped me develop my communication skills to a confident level and has helped me improve on my team building skills and working with other people, to help complete a specific task. As well as this, I took part in the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme and gained a Bronze Award. Taking part in this scheme made me learn more about myself as a person as I was tested and challenged to my limits and it helped me learn that I should always work on something to the very end and too not give up on something too easily. I have also helped backstage at my local operatics society, helping moving props and scenery when they have held shows and pantomimes. Starting to earn money independently is also something I have started doing as I have had a paper round for five years and this has made me a reliable person to other people and has made me faithful in doing and completing a job successfully independently.

Going to university would be a fantastic experience for me as a person. Not only would I study a subject that I enjoy but it would also help me find myself as a person, as well as make some great friends for life. It would also be a great achievement to get to degree level as I suffered from learning difficulties and speech problems when I first started school, so getting to university and completing a degree would be something I would feel extremely proud of as I would have come so far and exceeded the expectations that were originally set for me when I first started in education.

[Perdita]

Well, I work in HR and see many CVs and job applications. I would take you on based on this statement. Well done. :clap:

[di marco]

thats really good davey :)


Looking at your course, I would in particular be looking forward too how mental disorders effect the way people speak because as a long term career plan, I aspire to be a speech therapist or to teach English to those who have trouble speaking the language. I used to have speech therapy myself, so I would feel I would be able to empathise whilst studying this particular module of your course and be able to empathise with those I help with speech problems in the future.

one thing, how many unis are you applying to? this section is really well written as it includes personal experience and future career as well as showing you have looked thoroughly into the course, but does it apply to all your uni choices? cos you write the same personal statement for all of them, you have to make sure its not too specific to a particular uni if it doesnt relate to the others

[DaVeyWaVey]

Good point Di M. I have looked at most courses that do English Language, some of them offer looking at speech problems for dissertations, whilst others offer modules on it... some courses don't offer modules on it though. All courses I have looked at have said people who have done the course have gone onto do speech therapy or teach English as a career.

Thanks for the feedback Perdita and Di M - I appreciate it. That's my first draft, so I'm hoping to improve it slightly.

[di marco]

Good point Di M. I have looked at most courses that do English Language, some of them offer looking at speech problems for dissertations, whilst others offer modules on it... some courses don't offer modules on it though. All courses I have looked at have said people who have done the course have gone onto do speech therapy or teach English as a career.

maybe then say that youre interested in that area specifically and say about wanting to do it as a future career but maybe dont mention about wanting to do the modules on it. that way you say what you wanted to say about it without talking about modules if some unis dont offer it, if that makes sense

[Abigail]

Great ps. Couple of corrections, could be typos but considering you're applying for an english course, you need to be spot on with your SPAG.


Looking at your course, I would in particular be looking forward too how mental disorders effect the way people speak

Should be affect.


Taking part in this scheme made me learn more about myself as a person as I was tested and challenged to my limits and it helped me learn that I should always work on something to the very end and too not give up on something too easily.

Think this is a typo but should be to

[DaVeyWaVey]

Thanks for spotting those Abigail. :o How embarrasing it would have been to apply for an English course with SPAG mistakes. :rotfl:

[Abi]

If i were you, i would write less about extra-curricular stuff, because the unis aren't that interested in it, and write more about texts and books you've read and relate them to your course. Not just naming authors you like, but going into more depth as to how those authors have brought about your interest in studying it.

Don't just state "'The Canterbury Tales' by Chaucer have brought about my interest in English Language" but say HOW. Be very specific.

Also, really go to town on your work experience. Name the papers you worked at. Say what articles you wrote, what you learnt from it, and how the course will help you develop further.

I don't think your structure is the best in the world either. The second paragraph is a bit all over the place. You need to make it much clearer.

I think your PS is good, but you can improve it. Especially as you want to do English Language, it needs to be top-notch. I had to write a similar PS (My subject is pretty similar to yours), so i know how hard it is.

[DaVeyWaVey]

Thanks for your advice Abi. I will try and expand more on my work experience as I might do English Language combined with Journalism or Creative Writing or something along the English lines.. I think that would be best seeing as I've had two placements at newspapers and I have a portfolio of articles.

I will try and expand more on the books I've read too - though I really don't know what else to say about them apart from that I enjoyed reading them lol - should I just say what kind of techniques they've used in their writing? or what the books are about? .. this is all pretty hard lol but I hope to do many more drafts before/during September to try and get it as perfect as I can! I still haven't finalised what subjects I want to do - all I know is that I want it to be English/writing related - this is all really difficult! I seem to change my mind every day.....

[Abigail]

Talk to your tutor about your statement. Mine had lots of ideas on what I could expand on and how. Our year 13 tutors have been doing UCAS and personal statements for years so they know what to put in and ways to improve.

[di marco]

Thanks for your advice Abi. I will try and expand more on my work experience as I might do English Language combined with Journalism or Creative Writing or something along the English lines.. I think that would be best seeing as I've had two placements at newspapers and I have a portfolio of articles.

I will try and expand more on the books I've read too - though I really don't know what else to say about them apart from that I enjoyed reading them lol - should I just say what kind of techniques they've used in their writing? or what the books are about? .. this is all pretty hard lol but I hope to do many more drafts before/during September to try and get it as perfect as I can! I still haven't finalised what subjects I want to do - all I know is that I want it to be English/writing related - this is all really difficult! I seem to change my mind every day.....

i dont think that they would want to know what the books are about but im not sure how you would expand on what youve said either. as abigail said, maybe ask your teacher before you have to hand it in and see what they say

[Abi]

Thanks for your advice Abi. I will try and expand more on my work experience as I might do English Language combined with Journalism or Creative Writing or something along the English lines.. I think that would be best seeing as I've had two placements at newspapers and I have a portfolio of articles.

I will try and expand more on the books I've read too - though I really don't know what else to say about them apart from that I enjoyed reading them lol - should I just say what kind of techniques they've used in their writing? or what the books are about? .. this is all pretty hard lol but I hope to do many more drafts before/during September to try and get it as perfect as I can! I still haven't finalised what subjects I want to do - all I know is that I want it to be English/writing related - this is all really difficult! I seem to change my mind every day.....

Well i'm doing English Language, Linguistics and Journalism from September, so mine is basically what you want to do :p

Its all about work experience though, all the unis will tell you that at the open days, particularly if you want to combne it with Journalism. Base the whole thing about that.

With the books, you should say how they have made you want to do English Language. Don't describe techniques, because thats irrelevant. For example, say you read Chaucer and enjoyed it. You could say something along the lines of;


My reading of 'The Merchant's Tale', part of 'The Canterbury Tales' by Geoffrey Chaucer sparked my interest in the development of the English Language and its origins in the French Language. The varying interpretations of language by different critics was very apparent, and helped my understanding of how the english language can be used for different purposes or meanings. Learning more about the development of language over time is something which is of particular interest to me

Kinda rough and the diction isn't too great, but you get the idea.

With the Work Experience, you again need to relate it to the course, and say what you learnt from it and why doing the course would be great. For example...


As part of my work placement with 'Newcastle Today', a local newspaper, i shadowed a reporter on various assignments around the city. I was then involved in the editing process, learning how articles are structured in such a way to appeal to such a wide readership. I am keen to develop this skill further, particularly in relation to the internet, and how articles on this medium are structured in a different way to appeal to a much wider readership.

Again, very rough, but you see what i'm trying to get at.

You need to get a more powerfull opening as well, to grab their attention.

I'll try and track down my persona statement to give you a better idea. Cause those examples arent the best in the world.

[DaVeyWaVey]

Thanks again Abi. This is fully appreciated. :) I understand a lot better over what you mean now - I will concentrate on expanding my work experience/the books I read a bit more in my statement, then see where I can go from there. Thank you.

I will ask my teacher about it too Di M and Abigail. I did hand in my first draft to her but now we've broke up for summer/work experience, I won't see her until September, but I will ask her about it when I get back and hand in a second draft by then too.

[di marco]

I will ask my teacher about it too Di M and Abigail. I did hand in my first draft to her but now we've broke up for summer/work experience, I won't see her until September, but I will ask her about it when I get back and hand in a second draft by then too.

do you not have an email address which you could email her and ask for advice? or has the whole school broke up or just your year, cos otherwise you could maybe go into school if you can and ask if you can speak to her after school or something?

[DaVeyWaVey]

I did a redraft of my personal statement.. going into more detail on my work experience and the books i've studied in school and what i've read at home.. it's way too long though! I need to cut it down, i think.

Also decided what courses I am applying for now and where:

English and Creative Writing at Cardiff, Bangor, Southampton, Glamorgan and Aberwystwyth.

[Kirsty :]]

Ugh I cannot do my Personal Statement at all. I think I should do alot more work experiecen.. btu I don't knwo how. I want to do teaching.. so I would imagine that would be difficult to find voluntary work for, the only thing I can think of is half term and summer playschemes. My gardes at AS suck too... I just can't big myself up lol.

[di marco]

;608203']Ugh I cannot do my Personal Statement at all. I think I should do alot more work experiecen.. btu I don't knwo how. I want to do teaching.. so I would imagine that would be difficult to find voluntary work for, the only thing I can think of is half term and summer playschemes. My gardes at AS suck too... I just can't big myself up lol.

do you do work experience at school? or ask a local junior school if you can go and help in there in your free lessons if you have any in the afternoons

[Kirsty :]]

Yeahh I went to the same place (my old infants school) in both Year 10 and Year 12 with the same Year group too, ahh good idea! I think I'll speak to my head of year about that, or the careers lady, even though she's actually useless!

[Abi]

How about helping at a brownies group?

[Kirsty :]]

That's a really good idea! I used to go to Brownies aswell! Haha
I don't know how I'd go about that though..

[Abi]

Grab a phonebook or google your local area, and give the leader person a phone :)

[Kirsty :]]

Aww thanks very much :) I'll get onto that Monday asap :D

[DaVeyWaVey]

For personal statements, I am finding this site very useful:

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/

[Abbie]

I have pretty much no work experience in the area I want to go into :(

[StarsOfCCTV]

Nor do I, just use what you have done. :)

[DaVeyWaVey]

My personal statement is 600 characters too long - arrgghh the frustration.

[StarsOfCCTV]

Ahh I know it's so annoying!! I guess it's easier to take away rather than add but still.

[di marco]

i had that problem when i did mine, i thought i wasnt going to be able to write enough and then ended up going way over!

[Trinity]

Guys, it is never too late to do work experience or voluntary work.

Arrange it now - quickly, and say,

"I will be shadowing a teacher/doctor during the half term break'

0r what ever.

'I have started voluntary work and will have six months experience by xx/xx/09.'

[Kirsty :]]

Made progress on the whole vlolunteer front :)
In school they have a man whos a 5x60 something or other (basically, he's involved in a scheme to get school kids doing excercise 5 days a week for 60 minutes) so our Form teachers had to ask us all if we would help do some sort of somethign for an hour like after school, and it can be anything and my friend nominated me to do dancing, but I don't mind because that will help my Uni application.. because I'll be teaching dances along with some of the other girls in my group :) So that should be fun.

And also I'm going to be an English Buddy, where you sit and help Year 7 children struggling with english to read and that, so you sit every so often in form time and go through a work booklet to help them progress which should also help :)

[DaVeyWaVey]

I got my statement down to 3,955 characters... the maximum is 4000 characters, I don't know if it's still too long.. I don't want to bore the reader by having it to long

[di marco]

I got my statement down to 3,955 characters... the maximum is 4000 characters, I don't know if it's still too long.. I don't want to bore the reader by having it to long

as long as you havent rambled, im sure its not too long

[DaVeyWaVey]

My personal statement is done and dusted, finally after 20 + times of changing it!

[Kirsty :]]

My personal statement is done and dusted, finally after 20 + times of changing it!

Whatttttttttttttttttttt
Oh dear, I ahven't even started mine. I haven't got a clue what to write!
Luckily I spoke to my form teacher so she said she will helpme and the rets of our form do them... but I'm like the only one or one of like 2 that want to go to Uni in my form.. so maybe I'll be able to get a bit more extra help.

[Chloe O'brien]

A good point is to have someone look over your draft copy, like Kirsty did ask you form teacher or course tutor, they can identify your strengths were you have seen weakness. Try and look at it from a third party point of view. Imagine you are assessing a diffrent person and you are praising their acheivements.

[Abbie]

We also have a career and job office at my college where we can go for them for advice adn they will read our statements for us if we wish.
Basically we've been told to ask to get as many people as possible to read it

[Layne]

I have found my personal statement soooo hard.
My psychology teacher has looked at it and told me i need to cut things down, i did, and then added more in - its now longer :eek: AHHHHHHHHHH!

[di marco]

I have found my personal statement soooo hard.
My psychology teacher has looked at it and told me i need to cut things down, i did, and then added more in - its now longer :eek: AHHHHHHHHHH!

when i did mine, i found it so difficult to get everything i wanted to say into the little amount of words youre allowed to use!

[Trinity]

Remember a personal statement is not supposed to be a descriptive essay. Be clear and concise. Summarize the points you want to make.

it is important not just to say what you have done, but also what you have got out of it; e.g.

Part-time work in the corner shop - experience of working with all sections of society; responsible for cashing up and pricing. Gained insight into how a small business operates.

[Kirsty :]]

I cannot do my personal statement at all!
I'm doing fine at helping my friend with what to write on hers... jsut don't have a clue what to write on mine. Grr :(

What do they mean by "what would you contribute to Uni?"

Any help at all is much much appreciated, thankyou :)

[Abbie]

I didnt know we had to write what we would contribute, I know we have to write why we think we should do the course at the uni and what makes us want to do it

[DaVeyWaVey]

Yeah, I only wrote down on my personal statement why I wanted to do the course/why I wanted to go to uni and why the course would suit me - I didn't put anything about what I would contribute to university, seeing as I'm applying to 5 different ones.

[Kirsty :]]

Oohhhh ok thankyou lol. I don;t even know what it means so I'll leave that bit out.
I've made a start but it just sounds so cheesy..

[Abigail]

I don't know if this has been said, don't tailor your statement to one specific course at a university you're applying for.

Don't worry about it, it took me several months to think of what to write then it came all at once.

[Layne]

Did about 7 drafts and finally got it right :) All has been sent off - woo!

[Kim]

My school are getting us to start on personal statements now. I've made some notes on what I want to put in but I'm not having much luck getting any further than that. I start it then abandon it because I don't like the way it turns out.

[DaVeyWaVey]

Hopefully this will help in some way to people who might be writing personal statements this year. This is how I did mine and I got 5 offers.

Introduction: Why will you enjoy the particular subject you want to study at university? Why do you plan to study it at university? e.g. I have a talent for it - mention contributions you've made in your classes that helps support this.

Paragraph 1: Talk about any relevant work experience and the skills you learnt on that work experience that would be useful whilst studying for a degree e.g. independence. If you have had any work experience that can be related to your chosen subject, I would write about it. I worked at 2 newspapers for mine and talked about that, followed by saying "and I would consider pursuing Journalism as a career after completing my degree".

Paragraph 2: Talk about two things you have studied in detail. One thing you've learnt in your classes, another that you've learnt in your own time to show you have a passion for your subject outside of the classroom. Say how you taught yourself, what you learnt from it and how it benefits to your understanding of the subject as a whole. Mention at the end of this paragraph that you would like to study a particular module in your degree that will help expand on the knowledge you have learnt from studying your subject at A Level.

Paragraph 3: Talk about any ECs for 2 or 3 sentences at the most and say what skills they have taught you.

Conclusion: Round up the reasons why you want to go to university. Think carefully and try and not make it too much of a cliche!

Hope this helps in some way..

[Abigail]

Conclusion: Round up the reasons why you want to go to university. Think carefully and try and not make it too much of a cliche!


Yes, don't include any cliches. Especially not "it's my dream to study xyz" or "I've always wanted to/had an interest in xyz,"

Remember, admissions tutors have to read hundreds, if not thousands of personal statements and choose very few applicants to offer a place to. Make yours stand out

[di marco]

as well as extra curricular activities, we were also told to add any other achievements/qualifications such as being a prefect/duke of endinburgh etc though dont spend too long on it

[Abbie]

as well as extra curricular activities, we were also told to add any other achievements/qualifications such as being a prefect/duke of endinburgh etc though dont spend too long on it

Yeah thats we got told, I never put in about being a prefect though, I didnt have room :lol:

[Abigail]

Was you a prefect Abbie?

[Abbie]

Yes I was :p at high school

[Abigail]

Oh wow. We never had prefects. Reckon I'd be a good prefect though, although I do like to make a bit of mischief :D

[Abbie]

lol :p

Well we had houses, so there were heads of houses, deputy heads and then sports captains and of course prefects

[Abigail]

Going off topic here...

We were put into houses in our last year. It lasted a few years then the head realised what we said all along: it didn't work and the integration between the years wasn't happening.

[Abbie]

Oh right, it worked quite well at my school cos of all the interhouse activites like dance, drama, music and all the sports, and inter house langauge and speaking

But yeah I didnt have space to put it on my personal statement :p

[di marco]

we didnt have houses either but apparently theyve introduced them now. we just had forms with the same letter in each year and did our interform sports stuff with them although it was only really through year groups not the whole school. we just had sports caption for each form (which i was for a few years - got me out of a lot of lessons! :D) cant remember if i wrote about it on my application or not. i had houses in my junior school though