If you are applying to an oversubscribed university course, e.g. physiotherapy, medicine, etc and everyone applying is likely to have good grades, the personal statement is the only thing that will set you apart from other applicants.

During 2010/11 over 600,000 of them will have been written…there were only 400,000 places.

1 out of every 3 people who apply to University are unsuccessful.

The most competitive selection procedure of your life.

Personal statement – why so important?

Honest Important Concise Individual

Why my chosen course? Current studies Future

Skills Qualities Chosen course

Relevant Examples Time consuming

Drafts Confidence Positive Structured

Accurate Scary Motivation

The UCAS Personal Statement

You must:

Sell yourself – make yourself stand out from other candidates

Be honest – you may need to back up your statement at an interview at a later date

Be concise – NO waffling!

Structure…….. Beginning, middle and end

With possibly thousands to read, your start needs to convince the admissions tutor to keep on reading!!

You can enter up to 4,000 characters (including spaces) or 47 lines of text (including blank lines).

Clear font e.g Times New Roman or Arial font size 12

Prepare your statement by reading through and redrafting several times.

Ensure you have saved the document somewhere safe!

The sales pitch……… why me?………

Real examples

Some UCAS applications are stored online. It is important that you get a feel for the type of language and style that is used in the particular field you are looking to study in.

http://www.studential.com/personalstatements/

Please select the course that you like and read through some application examples before you begin to draft your own effort.

So what do they say?......Time spent reading the personal statement varies from 1 to 10 minutes

I look for students who are interesting to teach

It provides the information for a meaningful interview

The only way to tell those who are just good at the subject from those who are really interested

All I want to know is whether they have a burning desire to study the subject

A good statement can make the difference for borderline cases

http://www.bham.ac.uk/videoaudio/video/applytouni.shtml

“Careful research is the key to finding the right course at the right university. When assessing applicants, I look for individuals who understand and show motivation for the course of their choice and who have taken the opportunity to find out about and gain a feel for our university.”

(Admissions tutor, engineering, UMIST)

Things to avoid

Spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors

Repetition

Failure to demonstrate passion for chosen course

Lack of structure

Mentioning a particular institution or course

Bullet points or a list

Don’t waffle!

A last minute attempt

What are universities looking for?...

Relevant academic ability Motivation Study skills Relevant experience (initiative) Enthusiasm for the subject Personal achievements Commitment Someone who will be interesting to teach

http://www.ucas.ac.uk/about_us/stat_services/stats_online/data_tables/subject/

Average number of applications per place for all subject areas, up to 2009

Useful websites

www.ucas.com lists all the full time higher education courses in the UK

http://www.studential.com/guide/write_personal_statement.htm

www.prospects.ac.uk Graduate jobs and IAG. Careers advice, jobs, post graduate study, info on graduate destinations

www.agr.org.uk Association of Graduate Recruiters – if you search around the site there’s some useful info relating to the graduate job market.

www.connexions-direct.com/jobs4u great source of career info lists jobs, qualifications and salaries

www.yourfuture-eastmidlands.co.uk lists all vocational courses available in the east midlands- a very comprehensive site

www.aimhigher.ac.uk national site with general Higher Education information

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/datablog/2010/jun/15/university-tables-spreadsheet - University league tables by subject

www.direct.gov.uk/studentfinance

Some common questions How far back should I go when mentioning my hobbies and

interests? Only mention things which help support your application; a long list of

everything you’ve done is much less impressive than picking one or two things and writing about the skills you learned through them. Activities undertaken recently will certainly carry more weight than those you did in junior school.

I’m not interesting or unique…what should I do? Everyone has aspects to their personality that make them interesting,

it’s just a case of putting them into words. You may find it helpful to ask someone close to you like a friend, relative or teacher.

How should I end my personal statement?Don’t just let it fizzle out; this is your final chance to impress. Avoid being too general by writing something like “I am looking forward to becoming a psychologist”; be much more specific and end on a very positive note by closing your statement with something like “I am passionate about working with young children in the future and therefore highly detrmined to make the most of my degree and achieve my ambition to become a developmental psychologist.”