How to write your personal statement

The personal statement is the part of the application form where students can “sell” themselves to admission tutors. Applicants must write up to 4,000 characters, or 47 lines, to convince universities to offer them a place. But finding the right tone is tricky. Boasting is out, modesty is self-defeating and trying to be funny can be dangerous. No wonder that applicants turn to family and teachers for advice. But are they getting the right guidance?

A study by the Sutton Trust found that the academic focus of the personal statement is not always understood by teachers, who tended to praise general passages about subjects. The tutors liked to see more detailed discussion and analysis of particular aspects of the subject that had caught the student’s interest and made them think.

Universities don’t want banalities, cliches or flattery. They want to see concrete, recent, relevant examples that demonstrate the student’s interest and understanding of the chosen discipline. It’s not enough to have wanted to do something all your life or to be fascinated by history or passionate about politics.

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Read the full Guardian report here.