Ucas application help (sport)

About to send off ucas application to the universities I'm applying to. I basically had a mare last year and was disappointed with my grades, i got a D in english lit (target B) which I'm retaking this year, E IN PE (target B/C) also retaking the paper this year, B in biology (my target) and failed chemistry. I have dropped PE A2 and taken up psychology AS to try maximise ucas points. I have good GCSEs, 3 A*, 5 As and 2 Bs. But i am applying for sport science degrees and enjoy interview based applications.
Can anyone either:- offer ideas for ways of getting more ucas points
- any tips for sport science personal statements
- how can i show I'm retaking subjects on my ucas application
- any general advise etcmany thanks

For your personal statement, make sure that you look at what the course actually is. There's no point in talking loads about how you love playing football if the course isn't actually just about playing football. As it's a sports science degree you need to show why you want to study sports science.

If we look at this course (which was chosen because it was the first Google result, and not because I recommend it or anything else) then in year 1 you will study "human anatomy, biomechanics, exercise physiology, and sport and exercise psychology". There's also "the theory and practice of effective coaching and will have the opportunity to develop your coaching and leadership skills". So you need to show that you actually like those things - watching Formula 1 on a Sunday isn't relevant.

I realise that you might know all of this already, but it's worth saying because a lot of the time people focus on the wrong things. You can't do sports science just because you like sport. It's the same as you can't study fashion management just because you like shopping, or computer science just because you like Tetris.

As you're applying for more than one uni you need to look at the course structure for each - you might find one will include something that another doesn't. Then talk in your personal statement about the bits of the course that you like best.

Thank you so much for replying and helping. Obviously id love to show you my statement but I can't - I have shown I have interest in sports by mentioning i have played them etc but need to add more scientific elements i think. I have mentioned visits to university labs etc but am struggling to find books related to courses that are appropriate. Can I use article i have read and if so, how? thank you

Don't make the whole statement (or even most of the statement) about playing sports. You do need a bit of that, but the course is so much more.

It depends what the article is. You might be able to link it to another part of your statement - I played football, got promoted to team captain, and read this to improve my leadership skills. Or it could go as a topic on its own - I wanted to learn more about motivation behind success, so read this article and found it interesting.
Once you've then written about the article, remember to make it relevant. So if it's on a topic you'll be studying you could mention how you're interested to learn more in the degree. Or you could mention that it improved some study skills.

If you mean how do you mention the article, that's not so important. Depending on what it is, you could just mention the article name and the author. Or you might want to mention the article name and journal name. You don't need to include a full reference, so including things like issue number and page number will just take up too much space.