UCAS considers scrapping personal statements for uni applications
Poll
Do you think scrapping personal statements for a series of questions is a good idea?
https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2Fnews%2F2023%2F01%2F12%2Funiversity-personal-statements-scrapped-favour-middle-class%2F
So far it's only the Telegraph and Times that seem to have the story but supposedly UCAS are planning to scrap the traditional 4000-character personal statement for a series of shorter-form answers.
'Pupils applying for undergraduate degrees will no longer have to write a 47-line essay explaining why they are so passionate about the subject they wish to study.
Instead, they will be asked to answer a series of short responses to questions on topics such as their motivation for studying courses, why they are ready to succeed, and any extenuating circumstances that would help put their achievements into context.'
Do you think this is a positive or a negative move? If you've already applied, would you have rather answered three shorter questions than write a personal statement?
So far it's only the Telegraph and Times that seem to have the story but supposedly UCAS are planning to scrap the traditional 4000-character personal statement for a series of shorter-form answers.
'Pupils applying for undergraduate degrees will no longer have to write a 47-line essay explaining why they are so passionate about the subject they wish to study.
Instead, they will be asked to answer a series of short responses to questions on topics such as their motivation for studying courses, why they are ready to succeed, and any extenuating circumstances that would help put their achievements into context.'
Do you think this is a positive or a negative move? If you've already applied, would you have rather answered three shorter questions than write a personal statement?
Scroll to see replies
Original post by Saracen's Fez
https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2Fnews%2F2023%2F01%2F12%2Funiversity-personal-statements-scrapped-favour-middle-class%2F
So far it's only the Telegraph and Times that seem to have the story but supposedly UCAS are planning to scrap the traditional 4000-character personal statement for a series of shorter-form answers.
'Pupils applying for undergraduate degrees will no longer have to write a 47-line essay explaining why they are so passionate about the subject they wish to study.
Instead, they will be asked to answer a series of short responses to questions on topics such as their motivation for studying courses, why they are ready to succeed, and any extenuating circumstances that would help put their achievements into context.'
Do you think this is a positive or a negative move? If you've already applied, would you have rather answered three shorter questions than write a personal statement?
So far it's only the Telegraph and Times that seem to have the story but supposedly UCAS are planning to scrap the traditional 4000-character personal statement for a series of shorter-form answers.
'Pupils applying for undergraduate degrees will no longer have to write a 47-line essay explaining why they are so passionate about the subject they wish to study.
Instead, they will be asked to answer a series of short responses to questions on topics such as their motivation for studying courses, why they are ready to succeed, and any extenuating circumstances that would help put their achievements into context.'
Do you think this is a positive or a negative move? If you've already applied, would you have rather answered three shorter questions than write a personal statement?
I think it's an interesting move considering that students mainly feel positively about personal statements, but as we see here on site often students are stressed and struggling to write them without adequate support. That lack of support is still going to be there when the statement is switched out for questions however, so there maybe needs to be some thought around how we can improve support in schools/colleges for the uni application process as a whole - as we know, a challenging and difficult situation without suitable funding.
Would be really interested to hear everyone's perspectives!
(edited 1 year ago)
From an applicant's POV I think this would be an easier, less stress-inducing process.
From an admissions POV it's a bad idea. With the PS being free format, it's a nice way to distinguish otherwise similar candidates. If they all answer the same 5 Q's then you're going to end up with a huge amount of identikit responses which don't add much value to anyone. We'd probably lean more towards achieved/predicted grades for decision making.
From an admissions POV it's a bad idea. With the PS being free format, it's a nice way to distinguish otherwise similar candidates. If they all answer the same 5 Q's then you're going to end up with a huge amount of identikit responses which don't add much value to anyone. We'd probably lean more towards achieved/predicted grades for decision making.
Original post by StrawberryDreams
I think it's an interesting move considering that students mainly feel positively about personal statements, but as we see here on site often students a re stressed and struggling to write them without adequate support. That lack of support is still going to be there when the statement is switched out for questions however, so there maybe needs to be some thought around how we can improve support in schools/colleges for the uni application process as a whole - as we know, a challenging and difficult situation without suitable funding.
Would be really interested to hear everyone's perspectives!
Would be really interested to hear everyone's perspectives!
There was some (almost entirely negative) reaction on Twitter to the idea that UCAS might include an option for a video message as well – this didn't make it into the Telegraph story but I think it may have been in the Times. (I've linked the Telegraph one above because its website works better with paywall blockers.
) It'll be interesting to see if there's any more media pickup of this and what details emerge / are confirmed/denied.
It depends on how many lines they allow for each response. While writing my personal statement, the most stressful part for me was the cut. I spent so long trying to cut and re-adjust sentences to fit the character limit. I wouldn't have cared if it was broken down into three or ten questions. I just needed more characters 
.
Yeah, I know. The whole point was to ensure students didn't get carried away with their responses but a good percentage of us have a little extra to say that's still relevant. Also, the suggested approach feels clinical. It's easy to make an essay unique. It's a lot harder to make each response unique. So many students will end up looking like generic job applicants. This doesn't help at all.
.Yeah, I know. The whole point was to ensure students didn't get carried away with their responses but a good percentage of us have a little extra to say that's still relevant. Also, the suggested approach feels clinical. It's easy to make an essay unique. It's a lot harder to make each response unique. So many students will end up looking like generic job applicants. This doesn't help at all.
Original post by DarylO
It depends on how many lines they allow for each response. While writing my personal statement, the most stressful part for me was the cut. I spent so long trying to cut and re-adjust sentences to fit the character limit. I wouldn't have cared if it was broken down into three or ten questions. I just needed more characters .
.What I will say here though is that's a key skill when you're at uni as well, when you're cutting down a dissertation or other essay to fit a word count!
Original post by Admit-One
From an applicant's POV I think this would be an easier, less stress-inducing process.
From an admissions POV it's a bad idea. With the PS being free format, it's a nice way to distinguish otherwise similar candidates. If they all answer the same 5 Q's then you're going to end up with a huge amount of identikit responses which don't add much value to anyone. We'd probably lean more towards achieved/predicted grades for decision making.
From an admissions POV it's a bad idea. With the PS being free format, it's a nice way to distinguish otherwise similar candidates. If they all answer the same 5 Q's then you're going to end up with a huge amount of identikit responses which don't add much value to anyone. We'd probably lean more towards achieved/predicted grades for decision making.
THIS
The questions they're proposing are likely to lead to some of the worst template-PS responses being exaggerated.
We'll likely just ignore answers to most of the 6 questions
"Preparedness for Course – How has your learning so far helped you to be ready to succeed on these courses?" - we know that already by looking at quals taken....it'll only be looked at if an applicant has non-standard quals
"Extenuating circumstances – Is there anything that the universities and colleges need to know about, to help them put your achievements and experiences so far into context?" - we don't want to hear about from applicants, it belongs in the reference or through the admissions policy official process
"Preparedness for study – What have you done to prepare yourself for student life?" Again this is something we can see for 95% of applicants by looking at their quals...my guess is that they've added this in so applicants can still tell us about their hobbies...**** knows
"Preferred Learning Styles – Which learning and assessment styles best suit you – how do your courses choices match that?" Is likely to lead to more applicants demonstrating that they haven't properly researched what our courses involves and lead to increased rejections based on the PS
It needs to be 2 questions: Motivation for the course and Preparedness for the course (of all types)
If they want to add the extenuating circs question then that needs to be passed to and approved by the referee and added to the reference information not bundled into the PS.
FWIW this is what UCAS are proposing: https://www.ucas.com/file/672901/download?token=VccObZXZ
Following on from this, we have been engaging further to begin establishing the focus of the questions. Six key areas have been identified by Providers so far:
‣ Motivation for Course – Why do you want to study these courses?
‣ Preparedness for Course – How has your learning so far helped you to be ready to succeed on these courses?
‣ Preparation through other experiences – What else have you done to help you prepare, and why are these experiences useful?
‣ Extenuating circumstances – Is there anything that the universities and colleges need to know about, to help them put your achievements and experiences so far into context?
‣ Preparedness for study – What have you done to prepare yourself for student life?
‣ Preferred Learning Styles – Which learning and assessment styles best suit you – how do your courses choices match that?
We continue to refine these areas to ensure that they capture the information providers really need from applicants.
How can you get involved?
As we work to refine and deliver this change, we are continuing to engage with customers and stakeholders – if you would like to feed into this, we are particularly interested in these areas:
‣ Questions
Beyond the six areas identified, are there any areas that you feel are missing?
‣ Readiness
Based on current feedback on the time needed for students and advisers to prepare for a new approach, we understand that a new approach for the personal statement should be introduced no earlier than 2024 for 2025 applicants. Based on your own position, how much preparation would you need to undertake for a new approach, and when would the ideal launch cycle be?
‣ Multiple Statements
We hear very mixed perspectives from all customer and stakeholder groups on the benefits and challenges of allowing students to write a different personal statement for each of their application choices. Under this model, what are your views on this?
Restructuring the Personal Statement in this way also paves the way for further enhancements in future years such as moving from written text to multi-media submissions. As always, we are committed to working with all customer groups as we explore and maximise the potential of this new format.
The survey to respond is here: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=RMorxstwe0WjVd6qXLfmieyMP_XvdWlKpBdBAlB1SD5UQjZHQ1ZJTFNXVVhJQk4xVkg3TEVCS01YUC4u
Following on from this, we have been engaging further to begin establishing the focus of the questions. Six key areas have been identified by Providers so far:
‣ Motivation for Course – Why do you want to study these courses?
‣ Preparedness for Course – How has your learning so far helped you to be ready to succeed on these courses?
‣ Preparation through other experiences – What else have you done to help you prepare, and why are these experiences useful?
‣ Extenuating circumstances – Is there anything that the universities and colleges need to know about, to help them put your achievements and experiences so far into context?
‣ Preparedness for study – What have you done to prepare yourself for student life?
‣ Preferred Learning Styles – Which learning and assessment styles best suit you – how do your courses choices match that?
We continue to refine these areas to ensure that they capture the information providers really need from applicants.
How can you get involved?
As we work to refine and deliver this change, we are continuing to engage with customers and stakeholders – if you would like to feed into this, we are particularly interested in these areas:
‣ Questions
Beyond the six areas identified, are there any areas that you feel are missing?
‣ Readiness
Based on current feedback on the time needed for students and advisers to prepare for a new approach, we understand that a new approach for the personal statement should be introduced no earlier than 2024 for 2025 applicants. Based on your own position, how much preparation would you need to undertake for a new approach, and when would the ideal launch cycle be?
‣ Multiple Statements
We hear very mixed perspectives from all customer and stakeholder groups on the benefits and challenges of allowing students to write a different personal statement for each of their application choices. Under this model, what are your views on this?
Restructuring the Personal Statement in this way also paves the way for further enhancements in future years such as moving from written text to multi-media submissions. As always, we are committed to working with all customer groups as we explore and maximise the potential of this new format.
The survey to respond is here: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=RMorxstwe0WjVd6qXLfmieyMP_XvdWlKpBdBAlB1SD5UQjZHQ1ZJTFNXVVhJQk4xVkg3TEVCS01YUC4u
(edited 1 year ago)
Original post by Saracen's Fez
https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2Fnews%2F2023%2F01%2F12%2Funiversity-personal-statements-scrapped-favour-middle-class%2F
So far it's only the Telegraph and Times that seem to have the story but supposedly UCAS are planning to scrap the traditional 4000-character personal statement for a series of shorter-form answers.
'Pupils applying for undergraduate degrees will no longer have to write a 47-line essay explaining why they are so passionate about the subject they wish to study.
Instead, they will be asked to answer a series of short responses to questions on topics such as their motivation for studying courses, why they are ready to succeed, and any extenuating circumstances that would help put their achievements into context.'
Do you think this is a positive or a negative move? If you've already applied, would you have rather answered three shorter questions than write a personal statement?
So far it's only the Telegraph and Times that seem to have the story but supposedly UCAS are planning to scrap the traditional 4000-character personal statement for a series of shorter-form answers.
'Pupils applying for undergraduate degrees will no longer have to write a 47-line essay explaining why they are so passionate about the subject they wish to study.
Instead, they will be asked to answer a series of short responses to questions on topics such as their motivation for studying courses, why they are ready to succeed, and any extenuating circumstances that would help put their achievements into context.'
Do you think this is a positive or a negative move? If you've already applied, would you have rather answered three shorter questions than write a personal statement?
Negative. Definitely negative.
If the PS wasn't template enough, now every admissions officer will literally be getting a structured set of answers that will likely just mimic each other. This just feels like they cut the PS into six parts and now you have to do the same thing as before, only now it's cut into pieces so you can't link the statements to sound coherent, can't add a solid hook or introduction, and can't end off on a meaningful note to conclude.
Motivation, preparedness, learning styles- there's a lot of room to write filler here. Also, I don't see how this is helping disadvantaged students. If anything, the template format makes it easier for tutors and PS writers to write these answers under the radar. With a PS, at least you could add a touch of originality (and from what I know, it does seem to come down to that too. No one likes reading a bland, template answer) and that made it somewhat easier to spot PS's written by others. This is just the worst qualities of a PS exaggerated.
All in all, this seems like it would be better suited as a questionnaire applicants should fill out for themselves (like a self-survey of sorts) to be aware of the choices that they send to UCAS (which, I imagine, would actually help reduce the inevitable uni transfer truckload when it rolls around).
There are some positives and negatives I think and it will come primarily down to the questions asked and how much space applicants get to answer each question - at least with a PS it could be very academic focused and applicants didn't have to talk about hobbies if all they did was play computer games and go to the cinema with friends. What benefit do some of these questions have for tutors to decide who to give an offer to?
So a PS split into a series of questions, gotcha.
Original post by random_matt
So a PS split into a series of questions, gotcha.
I think this is basically it, yes!
Original post by Saracen's Fez
What I will say here though is that's a key skill when you're at uni as well, when you're cutting down a dissertation or other essay to fit a word count!
Very true. Doesn't make it any less annoying, though 😂
Meh doesn't seem significant, as others has said it's the same thing as PS just split up, if not worse if the questions set are the same every time. I've watched enough US application videos to see that they're probably trying to shift it towards the same style the Common App uses over there. I would much prefer them to create more options for private / external candidates since the reference process has been a absolute head ache for me and many others and I've wasted so much time and money on getting a reference to show my current abilities just because my past with education was bad (not even considering that my referee is likely not going to send me a reference right now after all this for whatever reason, just shows how bad it is for people outside educational institutions).
It depends on individual preferences, but some students might find answering a series of short responses to be a more manageable task compared to writing a long personal statement. The shorter questions may make it easier for students to focus on specific aspects of their application, such as their motivation for studying the course and any extenuating circumstances that might impact their achievements. On the other hand, the personal statement allows students to showcase their writing skills, passion and creativity. It also can be a great opportunity to make a case for themselves and to make a stronger impression on the admissions team.
It's important to note that this change in the application process could have a different impact on different students. It could be easier for some students to express themselves in a short answer format, while others may be more comfortable writing a longer essay. Ultimately, it's up to the students to decide which format they feel more comfortable with and can best represent themselves.
It's important to note that this change in the application process could have a different impact on different students. It could be easier for some students to express themselves in a short answer format, while others may be more comfortable writing a longer essay. Ultimately, it's up to the students to decide which format they feel more comfortable with and can best represent themselves.
This highly structured approach is going to make things very difficult for mature applicants who don’t have recent studies but have industry experience.
With a freeform PS they could use all 47 lines to talk about their relevant experience, with the suggested 6 questions they’ll have 1/6 of the space for that.
With a freeform PS they could use all 47 lines to talk about their relevant experience, with the suggested 6 questions they’ll have 1/6 of the space for that.
Original post by PQ
This highly structured approach is going to make things very difficult for mature applicants who don’t have recent studies but have industry experience.
With a freeform PS they could use all 47 lines to talk about their relevant experience, with the suggested 6 questions they’ll have 1/6 of the space for that.
With a freeform PS they could use all 47 lines to talk about their relevant experience, with the suggested 6 questions they’ll have 1/6 of the space for that.
Exactly this. The free format of the PS at the moment at least allows a motivated applicant with a bit of gumption to be able to make the most of those 4k characters and sell themselves and their skills to an AT. Trying to force a generic template onto the vastly diverse cohort of university applicants is just going to end up very quickly with the same responses being regurgitated ad infinitum, which will mean ATs will take even less notice of the PS than they do already.
Original post by PQ
This highly structured approach is going to make things very difficult for mature applicants who don’t have recent studies but have industry experience.With a freeform PS they could use all 47 lines to talk about their relevant experience, with the suggested 6 questions they’ll have 1/6 of the space for that.
Yeah that's true. And I guess it's more problematic to an extent for vocational courses
i'd say it's negative - i found my PS really useful in allowing me to 'sell' myself both for my academic and personal skills. i don't feel like questions would be as effective at doing this. i think that it's an easier way of doing things and would take less time for candidates, yet eventually universities are just going to take less notice of their answers and more so their grades. there are only so many generic or even so relevant responses to fit these questions - at some point, everyone is going to just write the same sort of thing. i feel like it would just completely take away the 'personalness' of the whole application. i don't think that it's a good idea whatsoever.
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