What to write in a personal statement if you've taken a 2 year break from education?

You don’t need more than a sentence explaining what you have done during your gap year (unless it’s relevant to English)

Universities don’t care why you haven’t gone to university in the past. They’re interested in why you want to go to university now.

So I've taken a gap year and I'm planning on taking another one (UCAS did not send off my application for 2023), so I'll be going to uni in 2024. However, I'm not going to be a mature student by then. I'll be 20, so the process is pretty much the same. But how exactly should I approach my personal statement? How much do I write about the gap year I just did, and the gap year I'm about to do? Anything specific I should mention? They'd probably expect me to explain why I took 2 years out, but I don't wanna pin it all on UCAS' incompetence as it'll just sound silly in a personal statement, so what could I say instead?

I'm applying for English Lit at Cambridge, UCL, KCL, St Andrews and maybe Durham (still deciding)

Hi @kaxxxxc2,

Unis don't mind why you are coming to university slightly later or a lot later in life, they just want to know why you are passionate about the subject you want to study, why you will be good at that subject and why you want to study at the institution you have applied for! If you feel more comfortable including your gap year rather than missing it out entirely then there is no harm including a short sentence or two on what you achieved from this experience and, perhaps, how this links to skills required for your chosen course. However, I equally feel there is no real need to include it at all if it is not relevant.

I hope this helps and good luck

Sophie