How to write your UCAS personal statement

Anisha gives us a step by step guide to writing your UCAS personal statement

Need help writing your personal statement? Anisha explains the best way.
 
Usually in the first term of returning to college or sixth form, the mysterious world of UCAS (University and Colleges Admission Services) begins to open up. If you do choose the university pathway, all of a sudden, your school and friends will grow a new vocabulary and start spouting up words like ‘admission tests,’ ‘interviews,’ ‘visiting days’ and ‘personal statement.’ It’s this last one I’ll be giving you some clear pointers on. 
 
What is a personal statement?
Quite simply put, it’s a 4,000 character document (which may roughly equate to a page) which universities use to consider you for a course. Whilst you can apply for a maximum of five institutions/ universities, you only write one statement for all. It should contain information about what inspired you to pick the course and any relevant experience and skills you have (and would like to develop).

Start early!
Don’t wait until the last minute. I know it’s cliché, but it makes the whole process less overwhelming. Hopefully, you should have some idea of what you want to do at university from previous research and opening days during summer. Subscribing to the UCAS newsletter also helps you stay on track of deadlines and extra resources, like free webinars and websites, that can further help you write a personal statement. 
 
3. Brainstorm
This is often one of the most exciting stages, because it’s all about discovering (or rediscovering) what made you excited for the course you want to study. Was there a particular book you read last summer? Or an interesting talk you attended? It’s always a good idea to look in detail at the courses you’re applying for. Remember that you’re writing one statement for all options, so it’s a good idea to not make your statement too heavily oriented towards specifics on one course. Or, if there is one particular area which interests you, relate it to a more general theme or subject matter. 
 
4. Plan
Gathering all this information into useful sections will make the transition into writing it up much easier. To make the piece flow better, try to mix in your experiences (work experience, school societies, extra curricular activities) with details on what inspires you about the course material.
 
5. Write, rewrite and edit
The character limit is really not a lot.  It’s best to avoid cliché’s like ‘from a young age,’ and try to be as direct as possible. The planning stage would have helped you filter all your brilliant ideas and experience, so that only the most interesting and relevant content for your course is considered. I would recommend getting a few people to check over your statement, including teachers, family and friends, not just for grammar but also for content, as they may suggest something you hadn’t even thought of!
 
Hopefully this short guide gives you a bit more insight into how to get into the throes of a university personal statement! 

Author

Anisha Jaya Minocha is studying English and Spanish at the University of St Andrews, where she is School President for English. She worked in Andalucía, teaching. She is a writer and poet whose work has been showcased in winning competitions, readings and anthologies. She co-edits SINK Magazine, which gives a platform to Northern creatives, and founded the "Roots"" project with Friends of the Earth, developed during her writing residency with environmental charity Green and Away, exploring intersections between South Asian identity and ecology. Twitter: @anisha_jaya