Hi,
It's great to see that you've planned on making a very early head-start on your personal statement. I'm assuming you are entering for a 2018 course start, with applications beginning in September 2017. There is a couple of points and advice I would give at this early stage:
- Don't set anything in stone when writing this early, you'll need to update it later in the year as your interests, skills and experiences change.
- Try to not waste your precious 4000 characters! Anything not relevant, ditch. (This is not a direct statement against your question above, there are exceptions).
- Research your courses in advance, and have a passion and knowledge for the subject. Understand what admissions teams are looking for. What makes you special? They see thousands of statements each year.
I actually started my searching and this kind of thing VERY early, like you. And yes it was early. I didn't need to, and lost focus until around September when I got back into things. I only re-started visiting uni's in October and this went through past my Sixth Form deadline in November, just so I could research everything. My application was done in December and I got offers through quickly, and interview dates. It doesn't always pay to be really early on things, but also don't leave them late either. So don't feel pressured to get going right now, but whatever suits.
I'd use my guide as linked below to decide if you think this is worthy putting into your statement, and you can plan where things need to go. I made this guide after I did my statement, and I wrote my PS in 45 minutes, and it didn't need improvements. I was incredibly proud. I have helped people at my sixth form by giving them this structure and guiding them through it. I have had all 5 Uni's give me great offers (1 UC), I've had others get unconditional offers too, and very good offers. Not to say this guide will get you them, but no one has had issues with following it yet. If you stick to it, you'll be able to manage your word count easier. Good Luck with your application!
Guide:
https://goo.gl/bXW8GM