This document provides guidance on writing a personal statement for a UCAS university application to the UK. It discusses the key components of the personal statement, including focusing on suitability for a particular subject rather than extracurricular activities. The document offers tips on structure, with a suggested 5 paragraph format, and common mistakes to avoid. It emphasizes showing evidence of academic skills and interests through specific examples. An exemplar personal statement for a history program is also provided.

1. PERSONAL STATEMENT
WORKSHOP
2ND JUNE 2016

2. UCAS (WWW.UCAS.COM)

3. UCAS Application
(5 choices)
Teacher Reference
(teacher survey?)
IB Predicted Grades
Your Personal
Statement
UCAS APPLICATIONS
+
Make sure your teacher knows
he/she is writing a UK Reference!

4. An Introduction to the Personal Statement
What to Include
What not to Include
Some Tips and Advice
A Suggested Framework + Example
Mistakes Students Make
Questions and Answers
Useful Resources
WORKSHOP AGENDA

5.  Fun
 Dynamic teacher
 Interactive
 Popcorn!
US COLLEGE ESSAY WORKSHOP

6. Dark, wet and cold
Gets dark at like 2pm
Shops close at 3pm
No such thing as a
warm fuzzy
Endless exotic,
nutritional daily diet
of deep fried Fish and
Chips
In short, life is
miserable & bleak
YOU’RE GOING TO THE U.K.

7. More Conservative
Focused on your suitability for
your particular program of choice
Read by subject
tutors/professors
COMPARED TO THE US STYLE ESSAY
Three key ideas

8. THE BASICS

9. RECAP

10.  Punchy Opening Paragraph
 Why you’re so excited to study the subject
 Communicate how you really understand the course and
what you are getting to
 Evidence
 To prove your interest in a particular course
 “Sprinkle” in all your skills and good qualities to show you
can do it
 The End Bit
 The Personal Touch
 You are unique…things you are interested in that will help
you fit into university life as a whole
“WHAT MAKES YOU STAND OUT”

11.  Your chance to stand out from other applicants
 The one part of the process where you are in
complete control
 More conservative than a US College Essay
 You start with a blank piece of paper not a
response to a prompt (unlike the Common
Application)
 The same personal statement is sent to all of your
chosen universities
THE PERSONAL STATEMENT
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

12.  Four thousand characters maximum including all
punctuation and spaces
 Approximately five six-line paragraphs
 Must be succinct with no repetition or padding
 Everything that you choose to include should be
there for a reason
 It will require several re-writes (share it)
 Eventually you will copy and paste it into your
UCAS application
FOUR THOUSAND CHARACTERS

13.  Partly about you but mostly about your suitability
for a particular subject
 75% of it should be academically focused with 25%
about the all round student
 It should focus on particular skills and aptitudes
that will help you succeed
 Try to demonstrate a commitment to a subject or
subject area
WHAT TO INCLUDE
This is why it is so difficult, if not impossible to apply to different subject areas with your
UK universities.

14.  Why do you want to study that subject?
 When did you first realize this?
 What academic skills make you be a good fit for
that subject?
 The skills will depend on the course you have
applied to study
 What is it that they are they looking for?
ACADEMIC ATTRIBUTES

15.  Be as specific as possible about your academic
abilities
 Studying Science requires data analysis
 Studying History requires strong research skills
 Studying Business improves presentation skills
 Studying English encourages critical thinking
 Extended Essay requires time management
 Theory of Knowledge needs collaborative skills
BE SPECIFIC

16.  Being specific as possible about your academic
abilities means supplying evidence
 Try to show evidence of interest and a level of
commitment to a particular subject
 What things have you done that can be used to
show this commitment?
 What have you read?
 What have you learnt?
 What do you still have time to do?
EVIDENCE

17.  How important are extra-curricular activities?
 Internships and work experience
 Summer courses
 Leadership, service, sports, orchestra, plays,
hobbies, passions, significant events etc.
 The focus should be on the skills acquired as
consequence of these activities
 Showing is better than telling
EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
“Being on student council I developed my leadership and organizational skills.”
“Being on student council I was responsible for ??? and ??? while and ensuring that ??? And ??? were
completed in a timely manner”

18.  Don’t be too quirky or tell jokes
 Only use quotes that have genuine relevance
 Be careful trying to play too much for one
university
 Do not plagiarize other’s material
 Be simple, be honest, be yourself
 It should be written by you not Mom or Dad or your
Counselor
WARNING

19.  Avoid providing information held elsewhere
 Spelling, punctuation and grammar
 Make sure every sentence counts
 Avoid name dropping to impress, ahead of
including things that are more important
 Don’t Lie
 Keep it positive
 Be smart about word choice and don’t be overly
wordy/poetic
TIPS AND STRATEGIES

20. WHAT DO PROFESSORS SAY?

21. A SUGGESTED FORMAT (5 PARAGRAPHS)

22.  Why this course?
 When did you first become interested in your
subject?
 Can you recall an event or occasion when you
realized that you wanted to study your subject?
 How many schools have you attended?
 How has your multi-cultural upbringing shaped
you?
 Do you have any specific career plans?
PARAGRAPH 1

23.  Are you an IB Diploma student?
 What motivated your choice of subjects?
 What have you learned from your higher level
subjects?
 Give evidence to demonstrate this learning
 What have you enjoyed?
 What interests and motivates you?
PARAGRAPH 2

24.  What inspired your Extended Essay?
 What did you learn from it?
 Talk about the Theory of Knowledge essay and the
presentation
 What other major pieces of work did you enjoy or
were you successful in?
 What kind of learner are you?
 Have EE and TOK helped in other subject areas?
PARAGRAPH 3

25.  Extra curricular activities
 Class Councils and clubs
 Individual or team sports
 Dance, Drama, Music
 Hobbies outside of school
 CAS, ICare and service learning
 Less can be more
PARAGRAPH 4
Skills acquired that are
transferable to your
course of study and study
at the university level in
general

26.  A summary or synopsis of your enthusiasm,
attributes and suitability
 Return to some of the themes in the introduction
 Why the UK?
 Career aspirations?
 End with a bang not a whimper
PARAGRAPH 5

27. ONE REAL EXAMPLE

28. PARAGRAPH 1
• Why History?
• An event that contributed to wanting to study the subject
further
• The importance of History in his life

29. PARAGRAPH 2
• Where he’s studied and how that has helped him
• Historical connection to the countries he’s lived in (rich
historical backgrounds)
• Resiliency, adaptability, wider perspectives
• IB Diploma program and its benefits

30. PARAGRAPH 3
• Choice of Subjects for IB / Extended Essay Topic
• Highlighting what was learned / personal strengths
• Skills learned that are immediately applicable to university study

31. PARAGRAPH 4
• Extra-curricular and the skills learned
• Leadership, responsibility, inter-personal
• Develop maturity
• Skills learned that are immediately applicable to university study

32. PARAGRAPH 5
• Extra-curricular continued and the skills learned
• Service Learning / Being Involved
• Skills learned that are immediately applicable to university study

33. PARAGRAPH 6
• Closing paragraph
• Summarizing why suitable for study
• Someone who has been improving every year and is ready
for university

34.  Plagiarism
 Lying
 Applying Late
 Lack of Clarity
 Lack of Enthusiasm
 Not Enough Research
 Lack of Evidence
 Poor Attributes
 No Extra-Curricular
Stuff
 Lack of Work
Experience
 Underselling Yourself
 Spellcheck and
Grammar
 Malapropisms
 Factual Inaccuracies
 Evidence of Reading
 Making Lists
 Misjudged Humor
 Too Short
 Omitting Relevant
Material
 Weak Conclusion
20 PERSONAL STATEMENT MISTAKES

35.  From a young age I have (always) been interested in …
 For as long as I can remember I have…
 I am applying for this course because…
 I have always been interested in…
 Throughout my life I have always enjoyed…
 Reflecting on my educational experiences…
 ??? is a very challenging and demanding
(career/profession/course)…
 Academically, I have always been…
 I have always wanted to pursue a career in…
 I have always been passionate about…
TOP 10 MOST COMMON OPENING LINES
(UCAS 2015)
Mary Curnock Cook, UCAS’ Chief Executive said: “The personal statement is supposed to
be personal. Learning to write about yourself in a compelling way is a vital skill when
applying for jobs; using hackneyed phrases is not the best way to stand out.”

36. QUESTIONS

37. WHAT’S NEXT?

38.  Complete a FIRST DRAFT of your personal statement
 When you come back to school, there will be a second UCAS
Personal Statement Workshop where you will work on your
first draft with faculty staff.
YOUR GOAL THIS SUMMER
Need to know
what you
want to
study!
“your suitability for a
particular subject”

39.  Brief review of the UCAS Personal Statement
 Personal Statement Worksheet (also includes some
Dos and Don’ts)
 Our Suggested Format
 Exemplar (History)
First Draft
YOUR RESOURCE PACKET

40.  UCAS
https://www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/getting-
started/when-apply/writing-personal-statement
 The Student Room
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Personal_statement_
help
 ISM Counselors
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

41. SUNNY LONDON