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

Article in the Guardian this morning:
The hours spent by students writing personal statements for UK university applications may be in vain, according to figures showing that many are barely read by admissions officers.

The ritual of applying for a place at university has for decades included a personal statement as part of the admissions process, with the applicant – and often their parents, teachers and even paid consultants – helping to craft an essay limited to 4,000 characters, approximately 600 words.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/jun/15/uk-university-staff-only-read-students-personal-statements-for-two-minutes

Personal Statements are still in for the 2024 application cycle but for the 2025 applications UCAS have announced that a series of changes will take place including the removal of personal statements and replacing them with some sort of questionnaire. (Will link to this later.)

What are your thoughts on this?
Does this surprise you?

It's worth me adding that some universities and departments may spend more time on PSs, depending on how competitive the course is and whether the university themselves are just aiming to fill spaces or be very selective.

(edited 10 months ago)

Reply 1

Zarek

You can well imagine for most courses Admissions Tutors glazing over at these contrived and difficult to compare in any meaningful way statements. Replacing them with something that reduces applicants angst, simplifies and is just as or more meaningful seems like a good idea

Reply 2

Supermature

This topic was debated in the forum four months ago, when comments were invited on the question of replacing personal statements with a questionnaire. One contributor wrote:

"I can't see why they don't just get rid of it [personal statements] entirely - no written answers, just grades and a reference. The most competitive courses will use admissions tests and/or interview(s) and/or a course-specific personal statement. But most courses are not massively over-subscribed so there really isn't any issue with just using grades."

In response I wrote:

"True - provided we eventually move to an admissions system based on achieved grades and test results rather than the hugely unreliable predicted grades. In the meantime, it makes little difference overall whether the format of the so-called personal statement is a precis or a questionnaire as both are open to abuse and equally pointless."

The research cited in The Guardian would seem to lend weight to these arguments.

Reply 3

Admit-One

Universities Forum Helper

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.

Reply 4

Bookworm524

A PS is a good way for the candidate to persuade tutors they want to get into the course, but I do agree when you have markets of people getting paid to write personal statements, admission tutors needing (or straight up doesn't) to read such a large amount of PS that could be not true (if your course doesn't have an interview, and you boast about something that can't be proved ie extra readings, volunteering, there's no way to tell you're lying). Which in all, takes away the point.

A questionnaire seems a good idea, when there's such a hassle over personal statements. I do think it will be better though if some unis may specify if they require a PS. I think it would be nice for ucas to provide a questionaire for all candidates, and if the universities prefer, request the applicants to submit a PS in addition to that.