Personal statement for sixth forms

What should I write for sixth form personal statements? Please help..

Thanks 🙏🏽

This is the format that my sixth form told me to do (and I think is a very common format):

1st paragraph: why you want to study your subject at degree level. What interested you about it in the first place? What are any long or short term career goals that you have?

2nd paragraph: what have you done? What books have you read/other further subject stuff have you done? How do your current A levels/other academic things that you've done (e.g. access courses) help prepare you for your chosen degree?

3rd paragraph: a bit about you. What are your interests? What skills do these give you as a person?

That's the basic outline - obviously try to include anything that you've done that is relevant to either your subject or just studying in general!

Reply 2

Interrobang

Original post by Bahvaalnli

What should I write for sixth form personal statements? Please help..

Thanks 🙏🏽

Do you mean to get into sixth form? They will probably want to know why you want to study the subjects you are hoping to do

Reply 3

username4853296

Original post by Interrobang

Do you mean to get into sixth form? They will probably want to know why you want to study the subjects you are hoping to do

Yes I did mean to get into sixth form

Reply 4

username4853296

Original post by AliceV_647

That’s very useful for the future, do you have any advice for going into sixth form personal statements?

Reply 5

GetGradenines

Original post by Bahvaalnli

What should I write for sixth form personal statements? Please help..

Thanks 🙏🏽

don't spend too much time or energy into it, unlike uni, sixth forms don't care about anything except grades.

Reply 6

username4853296

Original post by GetGradenines

don't spend too much time or energy into it, unlike uni, sixth forms don't care about anything except grades.

Thank you for your advice

Reply 7

Lewito

I didn't know personal statements for getting into sixth forms even existed.

Reply 8

username4853296

There are only a handful that require them

Reply 9

SiennaRose_03

So I recently started year 12 at a very good college that is notorious for getting lots of students into Oxbridge. I can try and give my advice and outline my statement, so I hope this helps :smile:

. Your statement should only be a side long, you don't want to waffle, they won't read much further. And don't waste space with an intro, just jump straight in.

In my first paragraph you could mention your qualities, e.g. reliable, diligent and well-behaved. You should briefly explain or give an example of why this is. You could then mention your favourite subjects with reasoning, just to give a bit of background for the next few paragraphs.

For the second paragraph you then would want to talk about your extra-curriculars, both inside and outside of school. Colleges/Sixth Forms love to see that you are an active member of the community and want you to be able to contribute to the Sixth Form community itself, so don't be afraid to write a decent amount on this, they talk a lot about it at interview. You could mention sports you play and any achievements, musical instruments you play and any other interesting hobbies such as teaching yourself a language. Then you could in addition mention any interesting or unique school trips you have been on; for mine I mentioned Nepal as I did some volunteer work there with my school; Sixth Forms also love volunteer work.

You could then have a short third paragraph explaining what makes you unique as a person and maybe your academic interests outside of school.

For your fourth paragraph you could write about any leadership roles you've had such as form rep. You could then talk about an issue you've faced at school and how you've overcome it and grown as a person; Sixth Forms like to see that you're adaptable and have the ability to grow and develop as a person.

In your final paragraph you could write about your work experience and the skills you gained and then evaluate on this, talking about any ideas you have of what you might like to do post 18. You could then finish off by linking this to what subjects you might like to study. You also do not need a proper conclusion, it wastes space.

Get the person doing your reference to read your personal statement and base their reference off of it, this verifies your participation in the school community. For example, I self study Korean, my form tutor wrote about how I teach other members of the form words.

I hope this has helped, and best of luck with Sixth Form!

Reply 10

AliceV_647

Original post by Bahvaalnli

That’s very useful for the future, do you have any advice for going into sixth form personal statements?

Oh sorry, I thought you just meant personal statements!! Doh :facepalm:

I didn't have to write a statement to get into my sixth form, so I can't help there - but honestly I think sixth forms will mostly care about grades and your work ethic. Maybe give some examples of times where you've met deadlines, worked hard, shown interest etc?