"UK university staff only read students’ personal statements for two minutes"

A survey of admissions staff by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) found the average time spent reading a personal statement was two minutes, with two out of five statements read for just a minute or less. Officers at Russell Group universities devoted only 90 seconds per statement on average.

One admissions officer reported: “We look at them all but the majority we don’t read in their entirety – we give them a skim.” The majority of those surveyed said decisions were primarily made on the basis of exam grades.

full story: The Guardian

How do people feel about this story? If you're currently applying, do you expect your personal statement to be getting more attention? If you've previously applied, did you expect your statement to be a significant factor in your offers?

This doesn't surprise me at all given that I've scored PS's for years and along with PQ have been repeatedly telling people that they don't form a substantial part of the selection process for the majority of UK undergrad courses.

As an aside, 2 mins doesn't sound like much, but an experienced admissions tutor can 100% review a statement and score it against criteria in that time.

Courses/universities where 90-99% of applications get an offer aren’t going to be reading the majority of PSs. For the majority of those applications a decision to make an offer will be made on the basis of whether an applicant has the right qualifications to meet a standard offer. The PS in those cases will only be looked at if the qualification information is ambiguous, has gaps or is missing.

More selective courses, courses where they have issues with applicants not understanding the nature of the course (eg applicants to academic/theory heavy courses who are focused on practical aspects and vice versa), courses where qualifications aren’t a good predictor of success on the course etc will all pay more attention to the PS at offer making stage.

When it comes to confirmation and deciding which applicants to accept with lower grades then the PS will almost always be looked at in more detail.

What are the key points you look for in a PS when considering the near misses?

That depends on the subject concerned but generally you're looking for evidence of enthusiasm and ability to succeed on the course with lower grades....not just saying "I'm passionate" but demonstrating that the applicant has bothered to find out more and get involved with things related to the subject in their free time and have an understanding of what the degree they've applied for involves.
If someone has low grades and a PS that shows they don't really understand or have much interest in the subject of the degree then that's not a good indicatory that they'll be able to do well. Applicants with lower entry grades have to understand that they'll be putting in extra effort to catch up - that takes real enthusiasm and motivation beyond "I've always liked maths"

We'll also go back an revisit references, interview notes and any other notes on file (eg extenuating circumstances etc) - it all gets looked at in more detail for borderline confirmation applicants.