A personal statement holds the key to your future. When you decide to apply for a UK university programme, the personal statement will be the most important part of your application process as it makes the case for why you’d be a great fit for the university.
How to write a personal statement for UK Universities
1. How To Write a Personal Statement
For UK Universities?
2. Tip-1: Make an Impressive Start
Tip-2: Showcase Your Passion and Skills
Tip-3: Keep the 80/20 rule in mind
Tip-4: Be Clear and Concise
Tip-5: Stay Humble
Tip-6: Keep It Formal and Professional
Tip-7: Proofread Multiple Times
Tip-8: Make A Mental Mind-Map
Tip-9: Make a Lasting Impact
3. A Personal statement holds the key to
your future. When you decide to apply
for a UK University Programme the
personal statement will be the most
important part of your application
process as it makes the case for why
you’d be a great fit for the university. If
you are wondering 'How to write a
personal statement for your UK
university programme We are here to
help you as it can be a daunting task. This
article will discuss some valuable tips that
will help you write an excellent personal
statement.
4. Tip-1: Make an Impressive Start
For UK universities, you have to follow the Universities and Colleges Admissions
Service’s (UCAS) guidelines. According to UCAS, your statement should not exceed
more than 4000 characters, which means that you have room for approximately 700-
720 words. You need to lay all emphasis on the opening paragraph of your personal
statement to catch your admission tutor's attention. Keep in mind that your tutor
scans through thousands of statements, so you have to make yours extremely
intriguing to make it stand out. One rule of thumb to follow when writing the
opening paragraph is to avoid using run-off-the-mill statements and clichés. It sets a
poor example and makes you appear immature in front of the reader. Instead, you
should use anecdotes or an inspirational story to get the reader hooked and
intrigued to find out more about you.
5. Tip-2: Showcase Your Passion and Skills
Apart from catching the reader's interest, another important
objective of your personal statement is to reflect your
commitment and skills. You need to prove to the reader that
you are extremely passionate about the degree programme
you selected and possess the right skills to take it further
ahead.
To make things easier for you, you can follow the ABC rule
explained below. According to the ABC rule, A stands for
Action, B for Benefit and C for Course.
6. Action: Talk about your experiences and the things
that inspired you to choose the selected programme
and take more interest in it.
Benefit: Look at the brighter side and talk about
your learnings and key takeouts. Give personal
examples to make it more convincing.
Course: This is all about relevancy. Keep in mind that
the information you share in your personal
statement should link back to your
selected course. Do not add any irrelevant examples
that have nothing in common with your programme.
7. Tip-3: Keep the 80/20 rule in mind
Your personal statement needs to be a mix of
academic and non-academic achievements. 80% of
the content should focus on academic- and the rest
on non-academic experiences. The latter will
comprise extracurricular activities, including music,
sports, travelling, etc. You can highlight multiple
personality traits through these examples like
leadership, teamwork, etc.
8. Tip-4: Be Clear and Concise
There is no use in beating around the bush when it comes
to writing your personal statement. Your admissions tutor
will not be interested in reading content that does not
reflect a clear-cut intention.
Try to keep your paragraphs short, concise. and to the
point. Each paragraph should focus on a specific point and
be relevant to it. For example, if you are talking course
selection, explain clearly what made you opt for it and
how it will benefit you in the future.
9. Tip-5: Stay Humble
It is highly essential to maintain a humble
personality throughout the personal
statement. As your statement primarily
revolves around highlighting your success
and achievements, getting carried away
while tooting your own horn is quite easy.
However, you would not want to oversell
yourself or come across as arrogant in
front of your tutor. Moreover, strictly
refrain from adding any false information
in the statement. Admission tutors have
years of experience in identifying facts
from fiction.
10. Tip-6: Keep It Formal and Professional
It's a common misconception that a personal
statement can be informal or candid. Yes, you have
the liberty to talk about personal life experiences
and include examples. However, the tone of voice
needs to be formal throughout.
Avoid adding unnecessary information that would
not add any value to your personal statement. Avoid
using contractions or any slang words.
11. Tip-7: Proofread Multiple Times
As mentioned earlier, your academic tutors
are expert professionals with years of
experience. If your personal statement is
copied from someone else, it will take them a
few minutes to figure it out. As a result, your
personal statement will land straight in the
rejected pile.
Make sure that you triple-check your work for
any grammatical or spelling errors. You should
also perform a thorough plagiarism check for
the safe side.
12. Tip-8: Make A Mental Mind-Map
To put things into a clearer perspective, write
everything down on a piece of paper. This
should include all the pointers that come to
your mind, including your skills,
achievements, memorable experiences, and
other examples.
Now you can match these with your selected
course programme and filter out irrelevant
ideas. Moreover, you can colour coordinate
two relevant items to make it easier for you
to write about them.
13. Tip-9: Make a Lasting Impact
The last paragraph is your last opportunity to
make a lasting impression; use it wisely. Try
to end your personal statement with a
valuable and memorable piece of
information.
One way to approach this is by mentioning
how your selected course will help carve
the way for your future. Another approach
involves discussing your determination,
steadfastness and how you deserve
to get selected for the desired course
programme.
14. Final Thoughts
We hoped that the tips shared above would help
resolve all your queries and concerns regarding
writing a Personal Statement for UK Universities.
Just keep in mind that your personal statement
should reflect your skills, achievements, and
personality in a captivating manner. Please share
your draft with your friends, teachers, and
mentors and make improvements based on their
feedback.
Are you still struggling with writing your
personal statement for a UK university
programme? Reach out to our team of expert
professionals, and they will guide you
throughout the application process.