Personal Statement
Your Guide to Personal Statements
What is a personal statement?
A personal statement is a short testimonial, composed by you, which provides us with more information about you than just a list of your qualifications and work experience.
How long should my personal statement be?
Personal statements should be no less than 500 words,up to a maximum of 1000 words, or two A4 pages in standard font.
What should I say in my personal statement?
Your personal statement is personal to you and intended to reflect your own situation. However, there are certain areas that we need you to cover.
What are your motivations for your chosen studies?
In this section you should address the following questions and areas;
- Why are you applying for your chosen course?
- Why does this subject interest you? What is it about this course and the modules in it that interests you?
- What are your reasons for choosing this College and University and have you considered any other Colleges or Universities for a similar course?
- Why do you want to study in the UK and did you consider any other countries?
- How will this course help you to achieve your career goals, and what are your plans after you have completed your studies?
- Why do you want to study in the UK rather than any other country?
- What was your most previous qualification, where did you study it and what have you been doing since you finished it?
* If the time between your last course and your chosen course is more than six months, we will expect you to have been doing something useful since then. This might include voluntary work, a paid job or short academic courses. If you were previously unsuccessful in your studies, we will need you to explain why this was and why you will be able to perform better with us.
Why are you the right person for this course?
This is your chance to demonstrate that you would be student for the course.
Also in this section, you could tell us about your hobbies, school/ college, any relevant work experience, and anything you think might be helpful in showing us that you are a knowledgeable student.
Tips on Writing Personal Statements: Do’s and Don’ts
There are several ways to write a personal statement. Again, it is up to you, but remember:
Do…
- Do keep your sentences clear and concise and come straight to the point. Fore example, when answering the question, ‘Why does this subject interest you?’, you could begin your sentence with, ‘This subject interests me ..’
- Remember to include the name of your College and
- Do your research in
- Do use a spell checker, but remember that it doesn’t work in all cases.
- Do be original and express yourself. Let your personality come through.
Do not…
- Do not use automatic translation
- Make sure that you know that what you say is
- Plagiarism is taken very seriously and is when you copy or take another’s work and use it as your own. We ensure that personal statements are checked for plagiarism, and if you are found to have copied either part or the whole of another person’s statement, your application is likely to be unsuccessful.
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