What to include on my personal statement

My college isn’t helpful in the slightest, I even thought it was basically a personal summary on a CV lmao

What do I need to include and how long should it be? This is for law (which I have no experience at all as my college didn’t provide it)!

A personal statement should say why you want to study the subject, demonstrate your enthusiasm and how extra/super curricular activities have helped you develop and thus make you more suited to the course you're applying for.

You don't need to mention any grades you're predicted or have already achieved (as this is done separately on UCAS).

You should start by saying why you want to study the subject clearly and concisely. You could mention the A-Levels you took and how topics within were interesting and could be useful for the course you're applying for. Also briefly discuss why you chose your A-Levels.

Mention any relevant extra-curricular activities you do, what you learnt from this, and how this will help you on the course. A nice place to start would be reading some books, going to lectures, attending masterclasses in your subject etc... They won't really care if you went to a masterclass on drug development techniques if you're applying for a course in accounting (for example). You could talk about how a degree in your chosen subject could help you move onto a career path you've been considering. Also, taking an EPQ in a relevant area to your course really helps to bulk up the personal statement. Talking about modules on the course and why you like it wouldn't go amiss either.

Once you've exhausted all the relevant extra-curriculars, leave a small paragraph at the end for any personal achievements (i.e. musical achievements, volunteering...). Then conclude with a statement of how excited you are to go to uni (or something along those lines).

A typical rule I hear quite a bit is '90% of the statement should focus on the course and 10% on any extra activities'.

There are some things to avoid though:

- Plagiarism (will get you blacklisted - no university)
- Use of quotes like "I had a dream"... Just don't
- Overly flowery language
- Mentioning names of universities
(I'm pretty sure UCAS have their own extensive list, it's worth a look at)

The main thing is to link everything to your personal development, and how this will prepare you for university and your subject in particular - Good Luck!

Hi thank you very much this was so helpful! What if I don’t have any experience of volunteering or in my chosen degree, also I haven’t done any extra curricular? What’s do you mean go to some lectures please?