How to Write a UCAS Personal Statement

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Sristy Sharma
Updated on Jun 02, 2023 04:04 PM IST

Applying to universities in the UK? Your UCAS Personal Statement can play a decisive role in getting you into a leading UK university. Learn all about UCAS personal statement, how important it is and how you should write it to make it impressive. 

How to Write a UCAS Personal Statement

Your UCAS personal statement is your chance to talk about you and why you want to study a particular course at a particular university in the UK. This is the stage where many international students get stuck and look for simple ways to write the perfect UCAS personal statement. Well, there is no shortcut but only the ideal way to do this.

Like any other Statement of Purpose, your UCAS personal statement also needs a clear structure, a thought-out plan and a remarkable profile. For that, you must have a thorough idea of fivemajor things interests, why this course and university, relevant skills, work or volunteer experience and what makes you a good candidate.

We have prepared a comprehensive guide for your consultation, including all the points and tipsyou need to remember while writing your UCAS personal statement.

What is UCAS?

Universities and College Admissions Service (UCAS) is an organisation that acts as a primary selection panel for the students who desire to apply for admission to UKs higher education institutions.

The selection process of applications received is a hectic one for any university, therefore the institutions of the UK outsource the process to UCAS. While the final admission is approved by the institutions themselves the organization screens the worthy applicants and then helps them to apply to their desired institutions.

Get FREE Expert Guidance on Writing a Good UCAS Personal Statement!

How is UCAS Personal Statement Important?

UCAS personal statement works in a similar manner to Application Essay or SOP. The statement is viewed by the organisation and on its basis, UCAS decides whether they will support the student in the application process or not.

The following points can help you understand why UCAS Personal Statement is an important document from a student's perspective:

  • Since UCAS acts as a bridge, it can be your only chance of yours to get admission to the desired college.

  • Personal presence of yours is not possible, however, a personal statement can act as your voice in front of the assessment panel.

  • UCAS helps the selected students with the further application process. This can lessen the burden of a student by a lot.

  • UCAS has direct connections with the universities. The professionals of the organization are better aware of the requirements of the universities. This shall give you a better footing in the admissions process of the university.

  • UCAS does not scrutinize eligibility harshly. They simply ensure that you satisfy the minimum requirements and have the potential to make the education worthy.

  • Once you clear UCASselection criteria, you get the personal recommendation of UCAS, which shall work in your favour.

Points To RememberWhile Writing a UCAS Personal Statement

UCAS shall look forward to your application for certain points. While there is no hard and fast rule on what to include in your personal statement, the points mentioned below are an absolute requirement and must not be forgotten as the organization has been authorized specifically by the universities to scrutinise the applicants for this information.

Justify Choice of University and Course

The university and subject that you are choosing must be justified. In order to do so following points can be helpful:

  • Reason why you are choosing to study in the UK rather than your country.

  • Reason why you are choosing the subject and what you aim to gain from it in the long run.

  • Reason behind your choice of university and how to view the institution to help you in the long run.

Apart from the general information, you may also convey your interest in the research and other events conducted by the university and its faculties. This will help in showcasing your interest to the point of background research.

Financial Sources

In order to support your admission process, UCAS shall need to confirm:

  • Presence of enough financial resources to fund your education and lifestyle during the course.

  • Details of such resources and their capabilities.

  • Your planning towards your stay in the UK and how you plan to utilize the resources.

  • Details of your insurance plans and other security deposits for immigratory allowance.

The details need to be evidenced properly as universities expect the financial objectives to be cleared on the UCAS level itself and only skim through the details during their own application assessment process.

Future Plans

The points which need to be conveyed include:

  • UCAS generally attests toundergraduate applications, therefore the plan to pursue a Master's degreeneeds to be conveyed.

  • Your planned specialisation needs to be related to your future plans.

  • Justify and reason your claims in regards to your career.

The main objective of UCAS is to ensure that you are aware of what you are applying for and how you can translate the course into an effective career.

Satisfy Eligibility Standards

UCAS shall compare your details with that of the requirements presented by your chosen university. The organization shall require the furnishing of the following details:

  • GPA and Academic Transcripts.

  • English Language Proficiency Test Scores (IELTS, TOEFL, PTE or Duolingo English Test).

  • LOR and the number and undersigned being as per university requirements.

  • Presence of Application Essay or SOP

The details of these documents need to be confirmed along with the claims made in UCAS Personal Statement.

Satisfy Potentiality Standards

The organization is responsible to test the presence of potential among the applicants. The potentiality standards to satisfy include:

  • Ability to critically think and present questions as well as solutions.

  • Ability to process the information provided dynamically.

  • Ability to make conversations and connections.

  • Ability to survive the new environment and adjust to cultural changes.

  • Ability to participate in activities beyond educational background.

  • Ability to initiate self-growth.

  • Ethical and moral turpitude.

Your personal statement and all the additional information needs to be woven around the above-mentioned points.

Tips To Write an Impressive UCAS Personal Statement

Now that you know which points require your attention in the writing process, you can easily prioritise the contents of your UCAS Personal Statement. However, the story doesnt end here, you also need to know how to present these prioritised points for they only make up the format of your statement. It is actually the finer points that will make up the matter. So while you know what to write UCAS Personal Statement?, the how to write UCAS Personal Statement? also needa proper address. Hence, here are sometips which will help you in writing your UCAS Personal Statement:

  • UCAS has a word limit of a minimum of 4000 characters for the personal statement. You will have to ensure that this limit is met.

  • The character limit includes words, spaces and also punctuations. You will haveto attend to how youll use your writing tools and put them on paper accordingly.

  • Since the limit is set at a lower range(minimum), you are allowed to exceed it.However, caution needs to be taken. Since the limit is in characters, additional 700-1,000 characters are doable.

  • The languageand grammar of the statement must be proper. UCAS tests the potential of the student and lacking a language base will not help your case.

  • UCAS determines the potential and seeks from the student a genuine determination to study the course. You will have to show your interest in the chosen subject properly.

  • Plan the format of your personal statement before actually writing it.

  • Present the statement like a story to make it more interesting.

  • It will take at least threedrafts before you come up with a final UCAS Personal Statement. Hence, you must ensure to start writing it well in advance (at least 2 months before) to avoid the time pressure.

  • Be crisp and smart in writing the statement. Your content should be balanced between information and its background.

  • Tweaking the presentation is alright, however, information must not be tampered with.

While the above-presentedtips and points will certainly be of help to you, the guidance of a professional is unmatched. It shall ensure that the final representation of your UCAS Personal Statement is an exact combination of what you and the universitywants.

Our experts are always ready to guide and support you in crafting the perfect UCAS personal statement. You can also connect with our global experts to get a personalised study plan to study in the UK or any other study destination of your choice. Register on our site or write to us at abroad@collegedekho.com.

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