The personal statement is the one part of your UCAS application where you have an opportunity to 'sell' yourself to the Admissions Tutor, especially if you are applying for a popular course. You need to make your application stand out so it's important to work on your statement to create the best possible impression.

Research your course options, listing why you would be a good candidate for the course, then allow yourself plenty of time to write drafts until you get your statement right.

Representing yourself – putting your best foot forward

While Admissions Tutors will look for applicants who meet the entry requirements for their chosen course, it's also worth thinking about what how you can demonstrate:

• why you want to study this subject, including what you've been looking for when choosing your courses. This shows you'll have the potential to succeed.
• what your career plans are and how studying the course can help achieve this.

Preparing your case – what evidence do you have?

List what evidence you think might interest an Admissions Tutor, including:

• Your motivation for the subject – why you are interested to study the subject
• What aspects of the course attracted you most? Is the chance to specialize particularly attractive, or perhaps the chance to study abroad?
• What are your plans for the future – you need to explain how taking the course could lead to you getting into your chosen career.
• Job, work experience, placement or voluntary work you've done, what you’ve learned, and how such experiences might help you in university or student life?
• What are your strengths?
• What other things do you do that illustrate any skills, qualities, or other sides of your character? Things you might include are hobbies and interests or positions of responsibility. You can get across evidence of determination, time management, team working or leadership skills if you have them. Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, Diploma of Achievement, and Gifted and Talented schemes are useful here amongst many other things, e.g. sports clubs, music or drama.
• How can your life experiences demonstrate you can effectively manage your time, or how family responsibilities, for example, show how you can cope despite ongoing pressures.

Once you've listed everything you think might be relevant to your application, you'll need to organise the information so that your personal statement builds a strong argument for why you should be offered a place.

Presenting your case – writing the personal statement

Perhaps the most important thing to remember about your personal statement is that is should be just that – personal. A good statement will give the reader a sense of you as an individual, so don't be tempted to borrow phrases you've seen in other people's statements.

To get started, look at the evidence you’ve written down and follow this format:

• Why do I want to do this subject? Are you already studying it, if so what do you enjoy/what are you good at – theory, practical, particular topics, etc. If you're not studying it now, how do you know anything about it – reading, TV, personal experience, etc.

• How have I chosen my courses? Hopefully you didn't pick them at random but have looked at prospectuses/websites etc to find courses that include the things you've already said you like, or that lead you in a certain career path, or that offer breadth so you can specialise later, etc.

• Why do I think I'll make a good student on this course? Do any of your skills and abilities match things that the course will require, e.g. doing a BTEC course has developed your ability to manage your time to meet a series of deadlines, studying A levels has helped you to manage and organise large quantities of information?

• Have I done any relevant work experience? If you are applying for a course with a clear vocational focus, such as teaching, then relevant work experience is very important – if you can't describe any you probably won’t get an interview.

• Why do I think I'll make a successful student generally? You probably have ideas about what university is like, perhaps from open days or tasters - how do you think you could contribute to university life?

• What are my future plans? You may have addressed this already when talking about courses if your choice leads to an obvious career path, such as teaching, if not, can you say anything about what you might do after university?

• What am I looking forward to at university? Is it the chance to meet new people, learn more about the subject, be more independent, develop new interests and skills, etc.

Before submitting your personal statement, check and double check everything you’ve written.

• Do ask other people to read it and comment – teachers, parents and friends can all provide helpful feedback.
• Do check very carefully for spelling and grammatical errors – look out for typos that have been electronically corrected into the wrong version of a word e.g. this is your personal statement not your personnel statement.
• Don't undersell yourself – it's more common for applicants to be too modest than for them to sound overconfident.
• Do try to write in a style that feels natural and allows your interest in the subject to come through.
• Don't fall in to the trap of simply writing a list of things you do or have achieved – avoid a string of sentences that start, "I have...", "I do...", etc.