Help with civil engineering personal statement (foundation year)

1

Hi everyone,
I know I'm late, but I’d really appreciate some advice. I’m an international student applying for Civil Engineering at the University of Manchester, and I’m really struggling with my personal statement.
I don’t know where to start or what universities expect, especially since I don’t have much direct experience or extracurricular activities related to engineering. My background is mostly academic, and I didn’t study physics, so I’m unsure how to show motivation and suitability for the course.
I’d really appreciate any help with:
•How to structure a Civil Engineering personal statement.
•What to start with in the introduction.
•What to include if you don’t have work experience.
•What admissions tutors are actually looking for.
If anyone has examples, tips, or even common mistakes to avoid, I’d be very grateful. Thank you in advance!

Reply 1

nrLoolee

8

For a foundation year you need to show why you want to change your “studies” to this specific field. In my case, I referred to virtual work experience I did and spoke about some projects in engineering.

It might be worth looking into the B1M youtube, watching 1 or 2 projects and talking about those for question 3 of the PS. For question 1, show why you have want to study and what cause the change to why you want to do a foundation year.

Question 2 will be the hardest but you can talk about what soft skills your subjects have taught you and how that related to the mindset on an engineer

Reply 2

Uni of Southampton Students

Official Rep

16

Original post

by Yes.ba

Hi everyone,
I know I'm late, but I’d really appreciate some advice. I’m an international student applying for Civil Engineering at the University of Manchester, and I’m really struggling with my personal statement.
I don’t know where to start or what universities expect, especially since I don’t have much direct experience or extracurricular activities related to engineering. My background is mostly academic, and I didn’t study physics, so I’m unsure how to show motivation and suitability for the course.
I’d really appreciate any help with:
•How to structure a Civil Engineering personal statement.
•What to start with in the introduction.
•What to include if you don’t have work experience.
•What admissions tutors are actually looking for.
If anyone has examples, tips, or even common mistakes to avoid, I’d be very grateful. Thank you in advance!

Hey,

Firstly, congratulations on choosing civil engineering! It's a great course with such a variety of career prospects.

My biggest advice for a personal statement is to show your passion/ interest for the subject through reading articles/ books; watching documentaries / Youtube videos. From speaking to admissions tutors, they notice when someone has a genuine interest in learning about engineering outside of academics. For example, when I applied to civil engineering, I spoke about my enjoyment of a Youtube channel called B1M (focusing on civil engineering projects). I also discussed my favourite engineering project (Singapore Changi airport).

Secondly, don't worry if you don't have in-person work experience. I used websites like Open-university and Springpod to complete short online courses on topics that interested me like urban transportation. This is a great way to learn about the topic you enjoy at your own pace whilst getting good experience for your application.

I hope this helps a little. Let me know if there's anything else I can help out with 🙂

Katie ( Civil Engineering Student at University of Southampton)

Reply 3

City UoL Rep 1

Official Rep

6

Original post

by Yes.ba

Hi everyone,
I know I'm late, but I’d really appreciate some advice. I’m an international student applying for Civil Engineering at the University of Manchester, and I’m really struggling with my personal statement.
I don’t know where to start or what universities expect, especially since I don’t have much direct experience or extracurricular activities related to engineering. My background is mostly academic, and I didn’t study physics, so I’m unsure how to show motivation and suitability for the course.
I’d really appreciate any help with:
•How to structure a Civil Engineering personal statement.
•What to start with in the introduction.
•What to include if you don’t have work experience.
•What admissions tutors are actually looking for.
If anyone has examples, tips, or even common mistakes to avoid, I’d be very grateful. Thank you in advance!

Hi! 😊

You can check this guide that City St George’s has made, it goes through some helpful advice on how to structure your personal statement:
👉 https://blogs.city.ac.uk/schoolsliaison/2025/04/09/personal-statement-updates/

It’s also worth looking at the UCAS website for guidance and examples, and speaking to your school’s careers office if you can. They’re usually really helpful for reviewing drafts and giving personalised advice.

Hope this helps and good luck with your application! 😊

Help with civil engineering personal statement (foundation year)

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