Personal statement

The format for writing a personal statement is changing for students starting university in 2026.  The new format will require you to complete three separate sections instead of writing a single, long piece of text. We’ve put together some useful guidance to help you write a great personal statement that highlights your skillset.   

Remember, your personal statement is the only place for you to focus on any relevant skills, experience, attributes and work experience if you’re not being interviewed for a place at university.   

We may look at your personal statement to consider your application if you narrowly missed out on achieving the necessary entry requirements. It might also be read by different university staff such as our Admissions team and academics. You’ll also need to remember that one personal statement will be sent to all your university choices, so it’s really important that you make sure it makes sense for all the courses you’ve selected. 

Your personal statement could be used to shortlist you for an interview, so it is extremely important that you evidence in your statement: 

• Why you want to study on the course you are applying for
• How your qualifications and studies have helped you to prepare for the course
• What else you have done to prepare outside of education and why these experiences are useful 

When writing your personal statement, it’s a good idea to start by exploring the university course pages. These often highlight the skills we’re looking for in an ideal candidate. Rather than simply listing your skills or experiences, focus on demonstrating them. Show how you’ve applied these skills, provide examples, and explain how they’ve shaped your plans for future study. Evidence and context are key to making your statement stand out! 

Write positively about yourself and your skills, but please be honest! For courses where you will be required to attend an interview, your personal statement will have been used as a basis and the interview panel may have prepared a list of questions based on what you have written.  

To complete your personal statement, you will be required to complete three sections. You will be prompted with questions to help guide you. In previous years, people you may know will have had to write one long piece of text. Now that personal statements are being split into three sections, you will receive guidance on writing clear, structured paragraphs that include exactly what universities want to see in your application.

1: Why do you want to study the course? 

This is your opportunity to tell us what you find interesting about the course you are applying for. It could be because you’re studying it at the moment, or that it’s a new subject area that you would like to gain a deeper understanding of. We really do want to know what motivates you about the course you’re looking at. What made you want to study that programme? What sparked that interest and what might you want to do with it one day? Is there something that you’ve read or engaged with that has left a particular impression on you? 

2: How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for the course? 

Think about how your current studies relate to the course you are applying for. For example, you might already be studying psychology and are applying for a psychology degree, but what other skills have you gained from non-related subjects? Perhaps the research skills you’ve gained from studying biology could be transferred to a psychology degree where you may have to complete research projects, and this will be true for all the skills you’re gaining across your studies, no matter what the subject is. 

Focus here on what’s relevant to your future studies and draw out those direct and transferable skills, but tell us where you’re drawing those skills from. 

3: What else have you done to prepare outside of education and why are these experiences useful?

This is your opportunity to talk about the other areas of your life outside of pure academics that will make you a great university student. You might wish to reflect on experiences you’ve had at school or college, such as music, sport or drama, or broader experiences in your personal life. This is a good section as well to mention any work experience, employment or volunteering you’ve done. Again focus on the why here: why are you telling us and why do these experiences better prepare you for university study.

The maximum you can write is 4,000 characters. There’s also a minimum character count of 1,000 characters. These characters need to be split across all three sections with a minimum of 350 characters per section. Once you’ve hit that minimum, you can use the rest wherever you want to focus. 

Writing a personal statement is never an easy task, so it’s best to start early and give yourself plenty of time. Use people around you who know you well, such as teachers, relatives, even friends from school or college who can sense check it for you and make sure that you haven’t forgotten anything important.  

And don’t forget to check your spelling! UCAS won’t do it for you.  

Good luck!