The Student Room Group

Weird problem after I've pasted in my personal statement on UCAS

When I've pasted my statement in and clicked on 'preview', some of the lines leave too much space at the end when it could've fitted an extra word or two from next line. For example:

The cat sat on the tree and
had two lemons
as well as three apples. But
the dog also had three
lemons as well and he was
very full afterwards
so instead of going home,
he went to school.

Basically the spaces on some of the lines aren't fully used up. Take second line for example, it has more than enough space left to fit in the words 'as well as' from third line. I applied through UCAS before, and I'm sure I remember it isn't meant to be like this :confused:
Reply 1
Original post by sleepless steve
When I've pasted my statement in and clicked on 'preview', some of the lines leave too much space at the end when it could've fitted an extra word or two from next line. For example:

The cat sat on the tree and
had two lemons
as well as three apples. But
the dog also had three
lemons as well and he was
very full afterwards
so instead of going home,
he went to school.

Basically the spaces on some of the lines aren't fully used up. Take second line for example, it has more than enough space left to fit in the words 'as well as' from third line. I applied before, and I'm sure I remember it isn't meant to be like this :confused:


Make sure that you haven't added in additional formatting by on word before pasting it into UCAS. UCAS has a character limit of 94 characters per line, 47 lines, 4000 max characters.
Original post by Vulpes
Yes that should be normal. Make sure that you haven't added in additional formatting by on word before pasting it into UCAS. UCAS has a character limit of 94 characters per line, 47 lines, 4000 max characters.


How do I make sure that I haven't done this?

because I've been editing it on a document that my old school sent me (it was my old statement), so I haven't started on scratch on a completely new word document.
Can't you go through it and manually delete the extra spacing? It shouldn't take too long. It happens a lot when you paste from MS Word to something else.
Reply 4
Original post by sleepless steve
How do I make sure that I haven't done this?

because I've been editing it on a document that my old school sent me (it was my old statement), so I haven't started on scratch on a completely new word document.


Paste it into a simple text editor like notepad. If you see any unusual breaks, you'll know something is wrong. :smile:
Original post by xoxAngel_Kxox
Can't you go through it and manually delete the extra spacing? It shouldn't take too long. It happens a lot when you paste from MS Word to something else.


yeah I tried doing that, but when I clicked on preview again, the same gap appears. For one of the lines, theres definitely more than enough space to fit a three letter word because the line above is several characters longer
Original post by Vulpes
Paste it into a simple text editor like notepad. If you see any unusual breaks, you'll know something is wrong. :smile:


theres definitely something wrong, is there a function in microsoft word that could wipe out any non-standard formatting on a piece of text?

because I've already tried manually back-spacing some of the lines, but when its previewed, the gaps are still there
Reply 7
Original post by sleepless steve
theres definitely something wrong, is there a function in microsoft word that could wipe out any non-standard formatting on a piece of text?

because I've already tried manually back-spacing some of the lines, but when its previewed, the gaps are still there


Non-standard formatting wouldn't have shown up on UCAS. They remove all of that when you preview the document. If manually back-spacing the lines and removing the line breaks doesn't work, it could just be that you've reached the UCAS limit for that line. :dontknow:
Original post by sleepless steve
theres definitely something wrong, is there a function in microsoft word that could wipe out any non-standard formatting on a piece of text?

because I've already tried manually back-spacing some of the lines, but when its previewed, the gaps are still there


If you highlight all of the text there is a way to remove all formatting. If you clear all formatting, you will still have to manually delete spaces. Hope this has helped a bit. :s-smilie:
whats the max number of characters per line?
Copy your text into Notepad then, after making sure all is correct, copy from Notepad to UCAS. Should sort the formatting out :smile:

Posted from TSR Mobile
I think it might be something to do with the size of the window that you view it in - I remember when I did mine I pasted it in on my laptop and it looked fine, then later I changed a bit using my mum's Ipad and the lines were all weird like you say. I think it's just to show what they're counting as a 'line' when you're viewing it in a smaller window where their version of a 'line' won't actually fit on a single row.

I might be wrong though!
Reply 12
Original post by sleepless steve
whats the max number of characters per line?


94 including spaces, if i remember correctly. :smile:
Original post by Vulpes
94 including spaces, if i remember correctly. :smile:


heres the thing, when I pasted two of the dodgy lines on note pad, their lengths are alot similar than on the UCAS preview screen

on the ucas preview screen, it appears like this:

sjjkshdkahdahs dkjsadfkajsdjad dkjdjklasjd
jsdhj dklskdj fjhdjfjfkdjakfj jkdfj

on note pad, its like this:

fhdeafhahjfsdjfhafhjsdahfjhfjaffhdajfhajhfh
sjhfjahfdsahfdjsahdbsdsadnsadnasnbdasdj
Reply 14
Original post by sleepless steve
heres the thing, when I pasted two of the dodgy lines on note pad, their lengths are alot similar than on the UCAS preview screen

on the ucas preview screen, it appears like this:

sjjkshdkahdahs dkjsadfkajsdjad dkjdjklasjd
jsdhj dklskdj fjhdjfjfkdjakfj jkdfj

on note pad, its like this:

fhdeafhahjfsdjfhafhjsdahfjhfjaffhdajfhajhfh
sjhfjahfdsahfdjsahdbsdsadnsadnasnbdasdj


On notepad, it should be like this instead:

fhdeafhahjfsdjfhafhjsdahfjhfjaff hdajfhajhfh sjhfjahfdsahfdjsahdbsdsadnsadnas nbdasdj
Original post by Vulpes
On notepad, it should be like this instead:



I don't know, I just copied and pasted 3 random lines from the UCAS preview screen onto notepad, and then I had to delete the numbers and spaces at the start of each line so that they all lined up. Also I had 'word wrap' switched on.
Reply 16
Original post by sleepless steve
I don't know, I just copied and pasted 3 random lines from the UCAS preview screen onto notepad, and then I had to delete the numbers and spaces at the start of each line so that they all lined up. Also I had 'word wrap' switched on.


Your personal statement should look like this in notepad:

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

And once you copy it into UCAS, the preview should look like:

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

I don't know how else I can explain it anymore...
Original post by Vulpes
Your personal statement should look like this in notepad:

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

And once you copy it into UCAS, the preview should look like:

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

I don't know how else I can explain it anymore...



The attached picture below shows the 'problem' that I still get despite me manually backspacing sentences in the UCAS edit:

the red box is a 7 character word, and the blue box represents a space which contains around 13-15 characters of words including the spaces between them. So quite clearly, the 7 character word should be able to fit in the line above which has a space at the end of it equivalent to 13-15 characters. So yeah, what is up with these random spaces at the end of some lines?
(edited 11 years ago)

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