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Economics personal statement

How should a personal statement be organized? I have done maths, further maths, physics and economics. Should I add stuff I have done in physics in my economics personal statement though it’s unrelated? Should the focus be more on math? Id like to apply for Cambridge or lse or Oxford.
How should a personal statement be organized? I have done maths, further maths, physics and economics. Should I add stuff I have done in physics in my economics personal statement though it’s unrelated? Should the focus be more on math? Id like to apply for Cambridge or lse or Oxford.


You've missed the Oxbridge boat FYI...

It should be focused on economics. Only add in your other subjects if it'll be relevant to the points you are making.
Reply 2
No. I’m in year 12. I was just curious.
Look at the course details for LSE/Oxbridge Economics, and tailor your statement to those topics, ie. look at the topics they teach (both maths and economics topics), research on those, complete supercurriculars linked to these topics and then write about that in your statement. The Economics course at Cambridge and LSE is very quantitative, and so do include some straight maths concepts they teach at uni level, as well as some maths concepts that link in with Economics, and then some theoretical Economics topics. Focus purely on academic content, as these unis don't care for anything (extracurriculars) that aren't related to the course you're applying for, and go into depth with supercurriculars.

And no, don't talk about Physics at all, or anything related with your A Level studies in general as they want to see that you've gone beyond the A Level school syllabus with your research.
(edited 11 months ago)
Reply 4
How should a personal statement be organized? I have done maths, further maths, physics and economics. Should I add stuff I have done in physics in my economics personal statement though it’s unrelated? Should the focus be more on math? Id like to apply for Cambridge or lse or Oxford.


If you can prove it has helped you develop some skills that would be useful in economics. If not, it's pointless. Unless it's some extracurricular stuff, then you may want to add a sentence about that and ask your teacher to mention it in the reference. To write a successful personal statement, you should research the course structure. If it's more focused on econometrics and the quantitive side of economics, it might be useful to mention some economics-related maths material. However, you should focus on how you developed your interests beyond the classroom rather than repeat what the curriculum includes. Seeing you still have a year, I would recommend you interact with economic material as much as possible. Read books, watch lectures, take part in debates and explore theories you found interesting in class.
Although I’ve just remembered that UCAS have scrapped personal statements from next year on. So you being in Y12 currently, you won’t write a personal statement as part of the application process and will have set questions you would need to answer instead. The structure will be different and it being the first year of the new format, and with it not being fully confirmed what it entails, there’s not much information and advice with the new format, but I presume it won’t be too different and might require the same type of content (ie. supercurricular activities)
Reply 6
Original post by jobajojoba
Although I’ve just remembered that UCAS have scrapped personal statements from next year on. So you being in Y12 currently, you won’t write a personal statement as part of the application process and will have set questions you would need to answer instead. The structure will be different and it being the first year of the new format, and with it not being fully confirmed what it entails, there’s not much information and advice with the new format, but I presume it won’t be too different and might require the same type of content (ie. supercurricular activities)

No personal statements required? Seriously? So, only grades matter? How would they know about extra curricular done then. I’m applying to uni for sep 2026 cuz I 100 percent will take a gap year
No personal statements required? Seriously? So, only grades matter? How would they know about extra curricular done then. I’m applying to uni for sep 2026 cuz I 100 percent will take a gap year


You'll still provide much of the same info contained in a PS, it will just be split out into specific questions to answer.

No personal statements required? Seriously? So, only grades matter? How would they know about extra curricular done then. I’m applying to uni for sep 2026 cuz I 100 percent will take a gap year


They’ve replaced the personal statement with something else. This is because people who are more well off (ie. Private schools) get more guidance and help regarding what to write - so to reduce the disparity, they’re removing it and replacing it with set questions so applicants know what exactly to write about and it guides them more. It’ll still be similar but you’ll just have direct questions instead that you write a response to. These questions are said to be stuff like ‘what have you done to prepare for the course’, in questions like these you can still talk about supercurriculars and extracurriculars as you would in a normal PS.

You can find more about this new format by a simple search about it on UCAS’s website.

And this is not just for next year, this will now be the norm following this year (this year was the last application cycle with a personal statement), but the replacement is still quite similar so you’re still talking about all the stuff you would in a PS, and unis will use these to assess an applicant alongside the usual grades. There’s no change in the application process or any change in the weightage of grades or anything like that, it’ll be the exact same, and they won’t use just grades obviously.

And what’s the point taking a gap year? It’ll be the same format in 2026 as well, it’s not only for 2025 entry. There’s absolutely no benefit applying in 2026, and you can always apply in 2025 and still decide to take a gap year for any reasons if you wish, but I don’t understand why you would even think of that.
Reply 9
Original post by jobajojoba
They’ve replaced the personal statement with something else. This is because people who are more well off (ie. Private schools) get more guidance and help regarding what to write - so to reduce the disparity, they’re removing it and replacing it with set questions so applicants know what exactly to write about and it guides them more. It’ll still be similar but you’ll just have direct questions instead that you write a response to. These questions are said to be stuff like ‘what have you done to prepare for the course’, in questions like these you can still talk about supercurriculars and extracurriculars as you would in a normal PS.

You can find more about this new format by a simple search about it on UCAS’s website.

And this is not just for next year, this will now be the norm following this year (this year was the last application cycle with a personal statement), but the replacement is still quite similar so you’re still talking about all the stuff you would in a PS, and unis will use these to assess an applicant alongside the usual grades. There’s no change in the application process or any change in the weightage of grades or anything like that, it’ll be the exact same, and they won’t use just grades obviously.

And what’s the point taking a gap year? It’ll be the same format in 2026 as well, it’s not only for 2025 entry. There’s absolutely no benefit applying in 2026, and you can always apply in 2025 and still decide to take a gap year for any reasons if you wish, but I don’t understand why you would even think of that.

I would only become a home student 3 years later. I have just moved to the UK. Plus, I feel I could get a job during the gap year maybe.
Reply 10
Original post by Admit-One
You'll still provide much of the same info contained in a PS, it will just be split out into specific questions to answer.

I see. Well that doesn’t make things any diffferent does it lol
Original post by jobajojoba
They’ve replaced the personal statement with something else. This is because people who are more well off (ie. Private schools) get more guidance and help regarding what to write - so to reduce the disparity, they’re removing it and replacing it with set questions so applicants know what exactly to write about and it guides them more. It’ll still be similar but you’ll just have direct questions instead that you write a response to. These questions are said to be stuff like ‘what have you done to prepare for the course’, in questions like these you can still talk about supercurriculars and extracurriculars as you would in a normal PS.

You can find more about this new format by a simple search about it on UCAS’s website.

And this is not just for next year, this will now be the norm following this year (this year was the last application cycle with a personal statement), but the replacement is still quite similar so you’re still talking about all the stuff you would in a PS, and unis will use these to assess an applicant alongside the usual grades. There’s no change in the application process or any change in the weightage of grades or anything like that, it’ll be the exact same, and they won’t use just grades obviously.

And what’s the point taking a gap year? It’ll be the same format in 2026 as well, it’s not only for 2025 entry. There’s absolutely no benefit applying in 2026, and you can always apply in 2025 and still decide to take a gap year for any reasons if you wish, but I don’t understand why you would even think of that.

I would only become a home student 3 years later. I have just moved to the UK. Plus, I feel I could get a job during the gap year maybe.


In that case, yeah a gap year could be suitable.

I see. Well that doesn’t make things any diffferent does it lol


The only thing is since personal statements have been around for so many years, there’s so many sources of advice and information as to how it should be written. But with this new format, it’s unpredictable and unknown what universities are really looking for since it’s a new format.
How should a personal statement be organized? I have done maths, further maths, physics and economics. Should I add stuff I have done in physics in my economics personal statement though it’s unrelated? Should the focus be more on math? Id like to apply for Cambridge or lse or Oxford.

You can't apply for Oxford or Cambridge.. it's too late I'm afraid (deadline 16th of October). You still have LSE though...
Original post by 121254Gnrdocarmo

You can't apply for Oxford or Cambridge.. it's too late I'm afraid (deadline 16th of October). You still have LSE though...


He’s in Y12.
Reply 15
Original post by jobajojoba
He’s in Y12.

It’s she btw lol.
Reply 16
Original post by jobajojoba
The only thing is since personal statements have been around for so many years, there’s so many sources of advice and information as to how it should be written. But with this new format, it’s unpredictable and unknown what universities are really looking for since it’s a new format.

Yeah…private school people get a lot of support regarding personal statement

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