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How To Use Duke Of Edinburgh's Award In Your Application

Did you know that 330,000 young people work on their DofE each year? Make sure you stand out from the crowd by being strategic with how you discuss your experience in your Personal Statement.

Last year 330,000 young people worked on their Duke Of Edinburgh’s Award and it’s mentioned in countless university applications. Masumah, who blogs at lifeofamedic.com , explains how you can strategically use your experience to enhance your Medicine application .

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is something most of you will have done at various different levels and you’ll probably want to leverage it to help boost your chances of getting into Medical School . However, there’s no advantage to mentioning the DofE if you just briefly state in your Personal Statement “I have got my Bronze DofE award” because almost every applicant would have done the same.

If you mention the DofE you want to talk about specific things, show what you’ve learnt from it, and of course, link it to Medicine.

How To Discuss The Expedition

The expedition is what many people think of when mentioning their DofE experience, and it’s a great example because it teaches you things like leadership and teamwork. When including this in your Personal Statement you should think about the positives and negatives surrounding the team dynamics of your group. Did you run into any problems or challenges during the expedition and how did you resolve them? What was your role within the team? Were you able to look out for your fellow team members?

You would have also had an opportunity to lead the group for part of the walk, so make sure to reflect on your own performance as leader and how you feel your strategy could have been improved. What were your responsibilities as the leader? Why was that important for the particular task you were doing? It’s all about self-evaluation and showing an appreciation for the importance of these qualities.

How To Discuss Your Volunteering Hours

Any form of volunteering is great for Medicine. For my DofE I spent time volunteering at a hospice – and obviously this has a clear link to Medicine, but the place of volunteering doesn’t necessarily have to be medically related for you to be able to mention it.

One of the main things that volunteering is really good for is showing your commitment, especially if you carried on for a long period of time. I know a lot of people continue the volunteering role that they started as part of the DofE, so if you’ve been doing something for six months to a year, or even longer, definitely write about it and make sure to mention the timescale.

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How To Discuss Your Skills Development

The skill you chose to learn can be quite often linked to Medicine, so this is your opportunity to show how that would make you a better Doctor in the future. Perhaps you chose to learn sign language, for example? I decided to spend time learning a new language, which of course would be helpful.

Teaching children is another skill you might have decided to learn and that would be worth writing about. Being able to teach others is useful in the medical field; at almost every stage of your career you’ll be expected to some form of teaching with your juniors. Even if you can’t see the relevance of your skill to Medicine, being able to show your discipline and motivation and explain what the skill had also taught you is a good way to stand out.

How To Discuss The Physical Section

If you choose to mention this in your Personal Statement, you should focus on your reflections of the experience. Think about the physical activity you chose to do and ask yourself: did it help you to relax? Did it help you to maintain a good work-life balance?

The physical section is important due to the fact that that you’re maintaining your own health and wellbeing, which is something that is drummed into you when you start Medical School . Being able to write about not just a healthy habit but also what you’ve learned from this experience will help Admissions Tutors understand you as a fully rounded person – and it may be a nice talking point when you’re mentioning how you’d fit in well during your Med School interview .

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By Nik Taylor (Editor, The Uni Guide) | 18 August 2023 | 22 min read

How to write an excellent personal statement in 10 steps

Stand out from the crowd: here's how to write a good personal statement that will get you noticed

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Your personal statement forms a core part of your university application, and the sooner you get going, the better you can make it. You may think that your personal statement won’t matter as much to unis as your grades and experience but a great personal statement could make all the difference between you and a candidate with the same grades. Sure, your application might not reach that deal breaker stage. But is it something you want to leave to chance?  Here we’ll take you through the process of planning, writing and checking a good personal statement, so you end up with something you can submit with confidence. And to make sure the advice we're giving you is sound, we’ve spoken to admissions staff at loads of UK universities to get their view. Look out for video interviews and advice on applying for specific subjects throughout this piece or watch our personal statement playlist on YouTube .

• Are you looking for personal statement examples? Check our library of hundreds of real personal statements, on The Student Room

Personal statement deadlines

You'll need to make sure you've got your personal statement written well in advance of your application deadline. Below are the main university application deadline dates for 2024 entry.

2024 entry deadlines

16 October 2023: Deadline for applications to Oxford and Cambridge universities, along with most medicine, dentistry, and veterinary courses.   31 January 2024: Deadline for applications to the majority of undergraduate courses. After this date, universities will start allocating places on these courses –   but you can still apply after the 31 January deadline , as this article explains . 30 June 2024:  Students who apply after this date will be entered into Clearing .

• Read more: Ucas deadlines and key application dates

What is a personal statement?

A personal statement is a central part of your Ucas application, where you explain why you’ve chosen a particular course and why you’ll be good at it. It's your chance to stand out against other candidates and hopefully get that all-important offer. You only write one personal statement which is then read by each university you apply to, so if you are applying for more than one subject (or it's a combined course) it's crucial that you include common themes or reference the overall skills needed for all subjects. Personal statements are especially important if you’re trying to get on a very competitive course, where you need to do anything you can to stand out to admissions tutors. Courteney Sheppard, senior customer experience manager at Ucas, advises that your personal statement is "the only part of the application that you have direct control over. Do lots of research to demonstrate your passion, curiosity and drive to pursue your chosen subject." There’s a limit on how much you can write: your personal statement can be up to 4,000 characters (including spaces) or 47 lines of 95 characters (including spaces); whichever is shorter. This may appear generous (read: long) but once you've got going you may find yourself having to edit heavily.

• Read more: teacher secrets for writing a great personal statement

1. Plan what you want to cover

The first thing you need to do is make a plan. Writing a personal statement off the top of your head is difficult. Start by making some notes, answering the following questions:

• What do you want to study?
• Why do you want to study it?
• What is there about you that shows you’re suited to studying this subject at university? Think about your personality, as well as your experiences.
• What are your other interests and skills?

These few points are going to form the spine of your personal statement, so write them in a way that makes sense to you. You might want to make a simple bulleted list or you might want to get all arty and use a mindmap. Whatever you choose, your aim is the same. You want to get it clear in your own head why a university should offer you a place on its course. Getting those details down isn't always easy, and some people find it helpful to make notes over time. You might try carrying a notebook with you or set up a memo on your phone. Whenever you think of something useful for your personal statement, jot it down. Inspiration sometimes comes more easily when you’re thinking about something else entirely. It might help to take a look at The Student Room for some sample personal statements by university and sample personal statements by subjects , to give you an idea of the kind of thing you want to include. 

• Read more: personal statement FAQs

2. Show off your experience

Some things are worth adding to your personal statement, some things are not. Firmly in the second camp are your qualifications. You don’t need to mention these as there’s a whole other section of your personal statement where you get to detail them very precisely. Don’t waste a single character going on about how great your GCSE grades are – it’s not what the admissions tutor wants to read. What they do want to see is: what have you done? OK, so you’ve got some good grades, but so do a lot of other applicants. What have you done that’s different, that shows you off as someone who really loves the subject you’re applying for? Spend some time thinking about all the experience you have in that subject. If you’re lucky, this might be direct work experience. That’s going to be particularly appropriate if you’re applying for one of the more vocational subjects such as medicine or journalism . But uni staff realise getting plum work experience placements is easier for some people than others, so cast your net wider when you’re thinking about what you’ve done. How about after-school clubs? Debating societies? Are you running a blog or vlog? What key skills and experience have you picked up elsewhere (eg from hobbies) that could be tied in with your course choice? Remember, you’re looking for experience that shows why you want to study your chosen subject. You’re not just writing an essay about what you're doing in your A-level syllabus. Use this checklist as a guide for what to include:

• Your interest in the course. Why do you want to spend three years studying this subject at university?
• What have you done outside school or college that demonstrates this interest? Think about things like fairs/exhibitions, public lectures or voluntary work that is relevant to your subject.
• Relevant work experience (essential for the likes of medicine, not required for non-vocational courses such as English )
• Skills and qualities required for that career if appropriate (medicine, nursing and law as obvious examples)
• Interest in your current studies – what particular topics have made an impression on you?
• Any other interests/hobbies/experiences you wish to mention that are relevant either to the subject or 'going to uni'. Don't just list your hobbies, you need to be very selective and state clearly what difference doing these things has made to you.
• Plans for a gap year if you’re deferring entry.

Read more: 6 steps you need to take to apply to university

3. Be bold about your achievements

Don't be bashful about your achievements; that’s not going to help you get into uni. It's time to unleash your inner Muhammed Ali and get all “I am the greatest” with your writing. Do keep it focused and accurate. Do keep your language professional. But don’t hide your qualities beneath a layer of false modesty. Your personal statement is a sell – you are selling yourself as a brilliant student and you need to show the reader why that is true. This doesn’t come naturally to everyone, and if you’re finding it difficult to write about how great you are it’s time to enlist some help. Round up a friend or two, a family member, a teacher, whoever and get them to write down your qualities. Getting someone else’s view here can help you get some perspective. Don’t be shy. You are selling your skills, your experience and your enthusiasm – make sure they all leap off the screen with the way you have described them.

• Read more: the ten biggest mistakes when writing your personal statement  

4. How to start your personal statement

Type your personal statement in a cloud-based word processing program, such as Google Docs or Microsoft Word and don’t copy and paste it into Ucas Hub until it’s finished.  One of the benefits of doing it this way is that you can run spell check easily. (Please note, though, that Word adds "curly" quotation marks and other characters (like é or ü) that won't show up on your Ucas form, so do proofread it on Ucas Hub before submitting it to ensure it is how you typed it.)  Another big benefit is that you'll always have a backup of what you've written. If you're being super careful, you could always save your statement in another place as well. Bear in mind that extra spaces (eg adding spaces to the beginnings of paragraphs as indentation) are removed on Ucas. In your first sentence, cut to the chase. Why do you want to do the course? Don’t waste any time rambling on about the daydreams you had when you were five. Just be clear and concise – describe in one line why this course is so important to you. Then, in the rest of your intro, go into more detail in demonstrating your enthusiasm for the course and explaining how you decided this is what you want to do for the next three or more years. However you choose to start your statement, just avoid the following hoary old chestnuts. These have been some of the most used lines in personal statements over the years – they are beyond cliche, so don’t even think about it.

• From a young age I have (always) been [interested in/fascinated by]…
• For as long as I can remember, I have…
• I am applying for this course because… 
• I have always been interested in… 
• Throughout my life I have always enjoyed… 
• Reflecting on my educational experiences… 
• [Subject] is a very challenging and demanding [career/profession/course]… 
• Academically, I have always been… 
• I have always wanted to pursue a career in… 
• I have always been passionate about…   

5. Focus your writing on why you've chosen that subject

So you’ve got your intro done – time to nail the rest of it. Bear in mind that you’ve got to be a little bit careful when following a personal statement template. It’s easy to fall into the trap of copying someone else’s style, and in the process lose all of your own voice and personality from your writing. But there is a rough order that you can follow, which should help keep you in your flow. After your opening paragraph or two, get into any work experience (if you’ve got it). Talk about extracurriculars: anything you've done which is relevant to the subject can go here – hobbies, interests, volunteering. Touch on your career aspirations – where do you want this course to take you? Next, show your enthusiasm for your current studies. Cite some specific examples of current work that you enjoyed. Show off your relevant skills and qualities by explaining how you’ve used these in the past. Make sure you’re giving real-world examples here, not just vague assertions like “I’m really organised and motivated”. Try to use examples that are relevant.   Follow this up with something about you as a person. Talk about non-academic stuff that you like to do, but link it in some way with the course, or with how it shows your maturity for dealing with uni life. Round it all off by bringing your main points together, including a final emphasis of your commitment to studying this particular course.

• Read more: how to write your personal statement in an evening  

6. How long should a personal statement be?

You've got to work to a very specific limit when writing your personal statement. In theory you could use up to 4,000 characters – but you’re probably more likely to be limited by the line count. That's because it's a good idea to put line breaks in between your paragraphs (to make it more readable) and you only get a maximum of 47 lines. With this in mind, 3,500 characters is a more realistic limit. But when you’re getting started you should ignore these limits completely. At first, you just want to get down everything that you feel is important. You'll probably end up with something that is far too long, but that's fine. This is where you get to do some polishing and pruning. Keep the focus of your piece on the course you’re applying for, why you want to do it and why you’re perfectly suited to it. Look through what you’ve written so far – have you got the balance right? Chop out anything that goes on a bit, as you want each point to be snappy and succinct.

• Read more: universities reveal all about personal statements  

7. Keep it simple

8. Smart ways to end your personal statement

Writing a closing line that you’re happy with can feel as tricky as coming up with your opener. What you’re looking for here is a sign-off that is bold and memorable. The final couple of sentences in your statement give you the opportunity to emphasise all the good stuff you’ve already covered. Use this space to leave the reader in no doubt as to what an excellent addition you would be to their university. Pull together all your key points and – most importantly – address the central question that your personal statement should answer: why should you get a place on the course?

• Read more: universities explain how to end your personal statement with a bang  

9. Make sure your personal statement has no mistakes

Now you’ve got a personal statement you’re happy with, you need to make sure there are no mistakes. Check it, check it a second time, then check it again. Once you’ve done that, get someone else to check it, too. You will be doing yourself a massive disservice if you send through a personal statement with spelling and/or grammatical errors. You’ve got months to put this together so there really is no excuse for sending through something that looks like a rush job. Ask your teachers to look at it, and be prepared to accept their feedback without getting defensive. They will have seen many personal statements before; use what they tell you to make yours even better. You’ve also got another chance here to look through the content of your personal statement, so you can make sure the balance is right. Make sure your focus is very clearly on the subject you are applying for and why you want to study it. Don’t post your personal statement on the internet or social media where anyone can see it. You will get picked up by the Ucas plagiarism checker. Similarly, don't copy any that you find online. Instead, now is a good time to make your parents feel useful. Read your personal statement out to them and get them to give you feedback. Or try printing it out and mixing it up with a few others (you can find sample personal statements on The Student Room). Get them to read them all and then try to pick yours out. If they can't, perhaps there's not enough of your personality in there.  

10. Don't think about your personal statement for a whole week

If you followed the advice at the very start of this guide, you’ve started your personal statement early. Good job! There are months before you need to submit it. Use one of these weeks to forget about your personal statement completely. Get on with other things – anything you like. Just don’t go near your statement. Give it a whole week and then open up the document again and read through it with fresh eyes. You’ll gain a whole new perspective on what you’ve written and will be well placed to make more changes, if needed.

• Read more: how to write your personal statement when you have nothing interesting to say  

10 steps to your ideal personal statement

In summary, here are the ten steps you should follow to create the perfect personal statement.  

Personal statement dos and don'ts

• Remember that your personal statement is your personal statement, not an article written about your intended field of study. It should tell the reader about you, not about the subject.
• Only put in things that you’re prepared to talk about at the interviews.
• Give convincing reasons for why you want to study the course – more than just "enjoying the subject" (this should be a given).
• For very competitive courses, find out as much as you can about the nature of the course and try to make your personal statement relevant to this.
• Be reflective. If you make a point like 'I like reading', 'I travelled abroad', say what you got from it.
• Go through the whole thing checking your grammar and your spelling. Do this at least twice. It doesn’t matter if you’re not applying to an essay-based course – a personal statement riddled with spelling mistakes is just going to irritate the reader, which is the last thing you want to do. If this is something you find difficult then have someone look over it for you.
• Leave blank lines between your paragraphs. It’s easier for the reader to get through your personal statement when it’s broken into easily digestible chunks. Remember that they’re going to be reading a lot of these! Make yours easy to get through.
• Get someone else's opinion on your statement. Read it out to family or friends. Share it with your teacher. Look for feedback wherever you can find it, then act upon it.
• Don’t write it like a letter. Kicking off with a greeting such as "Dear Sir/Madam" not only looks weird, it also wastes precious space.
• Don’t make jokes. This is simply not the time – save them for your first night in the union.
• Don’t criticise your current school or college or try to blame teachers for any disappointing grades you might have got.
• Be afraid of details – if you want your PS to be personal to you that means explaining exactly which bits of work or topics or activities you've taken part in/enjoyed. It's much more compelling to read about one or two detailed examples than a paragraph that brushes over five or six.
• Just list what you're doing now. You should pull out the experiences that are relevant to the courses which you're applying to.
• Mention skills and activities without giving examples of when they have been demonstrated by you or what you learnt from them. Anyone can write "I have great leadership skills" in a PS, actually using a sentence to explain when you demonstrated good leadership skills is much rarer and more valuable.
• Refer to experiences that took place before your GCSEs (or equivalent).
• Give explanations about medical or mental health problems. These should be explained in your reference, not your PS.
• Apply for too many different courses, making it difficult to write a convincing personal statement which supports the application.
• Write a statement specific to just one institution, unless you're only applying to that one choice.
• Copy and paste the statement from somewhere else! This means do not plagiarise. All statements are automatically checked for plagiarism by Ucas. Those that are highlighted by the computer system are checked manually by Ucas staff. If you’re found to have plagiarised parts of your statement, the universities you apply to will be informed and it could jeopardise your applications.
• Use ChatGPT or another AI program to write your personal statement for you. Or, if you do, make sure you thoroughly edit and personalise the text so it's truly yours. Otherwise you're very much at risk of the plagiarism point above.

You may want to look at these...

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What Is The Duke of Edinburgh Award UCAS Application Connection?

• November 22, 2021

What is the Duke of Edinburgh award?

How old do you have to be to do dofe, how to apply for duke of edinburgh award, what are the duke of edinburgh award ucas application points, why should you do the duke of edinburgh award, how do i add my duke of edinburgh to my ucas application, does the duke of edinburgh award look good on a cv, is the duke of edinburgh award a professional qualification, is the duke of edinburgh award important for university, d of e and ucas myths and truths, is the duke of edinburgh award worth it.

The DofE award is a program independent from school qualifications that young people choose to undertake. Working towards the DofE leads many young people to gain life skills, work experience and push themselves out of their comfort zone. 

With an emphasis on personal development and practical experience, it is no surprise that many young people take up the DofE to help boost university applications and CVs with something more than academic achievements.

The Duke of Edinburgh award has three levels: Bronze, Silver and Gold. 🏆

Many young people obtain their Bronze DofE award before progressing onto Silver and Gold awards, but teenagers can dive straight into their Gold award if they are 16 years old or over. 

Each level of the DofE becomes increasingly more challenging, with more time required for each section. 

A Bronze and Silver DofE award have the same four sections to be completed, and a Gold DofE award has a fifth section: 

• Volunteering broken down

Physical broken down

Participating in any regular physical activity , for example playing in a football team.

Skills broken down

Participating in an activity that increases knowledge in a certain area, not to be confused with something physical. For example, a course in first aid would be appropriate.

Expedition broken down

Mapping out and preparing for one continuous journey over several days, which could be on foot, bicycle, canoe or another method that requires physical effort (no cars or electric scooters!) This is usually the most challenging element for participants who must trek with their tent, water and cooking supplies carried on their backs. 

The expedition is the part that participants are usually most apprehensive about and a popular question is “How far do you walk on the Bronze DofE ?” 🗺️ There must be a minimum of 6 hours travelling each day, which equates to on average 16km or 10 Miles each day on foot. For Silver this goes up to a minimum of 7 hours per day, and for Gold a minimum of 8 hours planned activity per day before setting up camp for the night.

Residential broken down

Joining a group of new people, staying in accommodation overnight for several days away from home doing valuable work. For example, being a leader at a UK-based holiday camp for disadvantaged young people.

All sections of the award must be completed to pass the DofE award. There are no scores or grades, participants either pass or not. 

• Bronze Award- Minimum of 14 years old 
• Silver Award- Minimum of 15 years old
• Gold Award- Minimum of 16 years old 

The maximum age to complete the DofE Awards is 25 years old.

There are lots of organisations in the UK who are licensed to run the DofE. Many schools , colleges and universities deliver the DofE programme and this can be very convenient for students to integrate into their studies. If your child’s school isn’t licensed to run the DofE a local Youth Group may be. 

After signing up with a local school or institution, progress is managed online in an ‘eDofE’ account. Participants and leaders can access their profile to see the activities completed in each section. Your child can even manage their DofE via the Duke of Edinburgh Award app which can be downloaded from the App store and Google Play.

You might have been invited to a parents information evening about the DofE where the award is touted heavily as an asset to any UCAS application, however the Duke of Edinburgh Award UCAS application points breakdown looks like the following:

• D of E Bronze – 0 UCAS points
• D of E Silver – 0 UCAS points
• D of E Gold – 0 UCAS points

That’s right, even with walking 14 Miles a day on the Gold DofE, UCAS points are not awarded (though a shiny Duke of Edinburgh gold medal is up for grabs).

Silver DofE UCAS points also do not exist and so it will come as no surprise that the Bronze DofE follows the same pattern. 

UCAS points are the most important piece of information for universities considering new students . Reach out to a GoStudent tutor to ensure that your child reaches their full potential on exam day. ✍️

There are many reasons to do DofE, in addition to the adventure of the expedition, the confidence building , learning new skills and volunteering. The DofE, if embraced, really does give a well-rounded boost to a young person’s skill set. Many participants speak fondly of their time completing their DofE and some enjoy it so much that they go on to complete the Silver and Gold awards.

So now you might be thinking if all that hard work does not equal UCAS points, then how to add the Duke of Edinburgh Award to my UCAS application at all? 

There’s one section of the UCAS application where the DofE can be utilised, that is what we unofficially call “The Duke of Edinburgh Personal Statement.” 

So perhaps your child has written in their UCAS Personal statement already about their interest in the course and their academic achievements, but they’d like to demonstrate their ability to, let’s say, cooperate in a team. There are plenty of opportunities to connect teamwork to the DofE, for example:

“To become a (enter job aspiration associated with course applied for here) cooperating in a team is of the utmost importance. I was able to demonstrate my strong sense of teamwork under challenging circumstances while trekking Snowdonia this Summer with my Duke of Edinburgh expedition group”  

Depending on what Volunteering, Physical and Skills young people choose to get involved in with their D of E, the ability to relate their DofE experience to their prospective study is endless!

The DofE gives variety to a CV and is certainly an asset. Many employers will recognise the achievement of a DofE and the hard word that it represents. The DofE also demonstrates many soft skills that cannot be communicated through academic grades alone. Plus, a DofE can also provide a good talking point in the interview , especially for a young person without much other work experience. 💼

We’d say that a more appropriate description would be a ‘Youth Award’ rather than a professional qualification. The elements of each person’s DofE can vary widely, depending on how they choose to complete their sections. 

Perhaps your child’s school is heavily endorsing participation in the DofE which might have you wondering “Is DofE important for university applications?” 🎓

The truth is that nobody misses out on a place at university because they did not complete a DofE, but if your child is looking for ways to add something extra to their application, a DofE achievement can be a good place to start. 

Participants may also find that they enjoy the experience more than they expected and acquire new skills to write about in their UCAS personal statement too.

It’s good to keep perspective however, with 330,000 students participating in the DofE in the 20/21 season it’s not an unusual achievement by itself.

• Myth: The D of E equals UCAS points
• Truth: The D of E does not equal any UCAS points
• Myth: The D of E is important for a UCAS application
• Truth: It is a recognisable achievement, but for UCAS applications, exam grades are the most important.
• Myth: The D of E makes my UCAS application unique
• Truth: The D of E may add some variety or interest to a UCAS personal statement, but with hundreds of thousands of young people doing the DofE every year, it is not by itself a unique achievement.

If your child would benefit from support in achieving the grades that they need to apply for university, contact a GoStudent tutor who can help them fulfil their potential.

First decide what does “worth it” mean to your child?

Does your child already have a full schedule , with other extracurricular activities and relevant work experience to the university course they’d like to apply for? If yes, then the DofE may not be able to elevate their UCAS application much further.

Maybe your child does not currently participate in any regular extracurricular activities. Would they benefit from the focus and structure that a DofE programme provides? If yes, then the DofE could be a useful tool to display non-academic achievements in a UCAS university personal statement as well as being a beneficial experience overall.

The DofE has enormous variety and can be tailored to each person’s interests. If your child has an adventurous spirit, the time to spare and would enjoy the challenge then the DofE would certainly be worth it.

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• How To Write Your Undergraduate Personal Statement

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• Filling in your application
• Staying safe online
• How to write a personal statement that works for multiple courses
• The new personal statement for 2026 entry
• Fraud and similarity
• How to start a personal statement: The attention grabber

How to end your personal statement

• Introducing the personal statement tool
• Personal statement dos and don'ts

What to include in a personal statement

• Using AI and ChatGPT to help you with your personal statement
• Using your personal statement beyond a university application
• Carers, estranged students, refugees, asylum seekers, and those with limited leave to remain
• Personal statement guides
• References for mature students

What's on this page?

What’s a personal statement, preparing to write your personal statement, how to open your personal statement, your personal skills and achievements, work experience and future plans.

An undergraduate personal statement is a chance to get noticed for the unique talents and experiences you have. It’s an important part of the application process as it’s an opportunity to talk about yourself and your passions, outside of your grades.  

In this article, we’re going to talk you through how to write an undergraduate personal statement that stands out, without leaving you feeling overwhelmed.

Chloe Ng, HE Career Coach, Manchester Metropolitan University

You’ll have heard the saying preparation is key, and that’s no different when you’re tackling your personal statement. There are two things to think about when you’re planning. The practical and factual information you need to get across, and the more emotional, human parts of you that make you different to everyone else.  

Before you start writing, take some time to think about the key things you’d want an admissions tutor to know about you, and get them down on paper. Don’t worry too much about making your notes perfect – this is more about making sure you know why you should be offered a place.

You can also look at the course description as this’ll help you with what to include and give you a good idea of what each uni is looking for. 

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Here are a few questions you can answer to help you get started:.

• Why have you chosen this course?
• What excites you about the subject? 
• Is my previous or current study relevant to the course?
• Have you got any work experience that might help you?
• What life experiences have you had that you could talk about?
• What achievements are you proud of?
• What skills do you have that make you perfect for the course?
• What plans and ambitions do you have for your future career?

Admissions Tutors will be reading a lot of personal statements so it’s important to grab their attention right from the start. 

Remember, it can only be 4,000 characters, which is about two sides of A4. So, you’ll need to use your words wisely to fit everything in.

You can find a full guide on How to start a personal statement: the attention grabber , but here are the main things to think about . 

• Don’t overthink the opening. Just start by showing your enthusiasm for the subject, showcasing your knowledge and understanding, and sharing your ambitions of what you want to achieve.
• Avoid cliches! Remember, this opening part is simply about introducing yourself, so let the admissions tutor reading your personal statement get to know you. 
• Keep it relevant and simple. You’re limited on how much you can include so avoid long-winded explanations. Why use 20 words when 10 can make your point? 

Annabell Price, L’Oréal degree apprentice (Professional Products Division)

Next, you’ll need to write about your personal skills and achievements. Universities like to know the abilities you have that’ll help you on the course, or generally with life at university.

Don’t forget to include evidence to back up why you’re so excited about the course(s) you’ve chosen.

• Be bold and talk about the achievements you’re proud of.
• Include positions of responsibility you hold, or have held, both in and out of school.
• What are the things that make you interesting, special, or unique? 

Your work experience and future plans are important to include. You should share details of jobs, placements, work experience, or voluntary work, particularly if it's relevant to your course. 

• Try to link any experience to skills or qualities that’ll make you successful.
• If you know what you’d like to do after as a career, explain how you plan to use the knowledge and experience that you’ll gain to launch your career.

It’s always good to connect the beginning of your statement to the end and a great way to reinforce what you said at the start.

You want to see the ending as your chance to finish in a way that’ll make the admissions tutor remember you. 

This final part of your personal statement should emphasise the great points you’ve already made and answer the question of why you should be offered a place on the course. 

Read our full guide on How to finish your statement the right way.  

The personal statement tool image

Don’t be tempted to copy or share your statement.

UCAS scans all personal statements through a similarity detection system to compare them with previous statements.

Any similarity greater than 30% will be flagged and we'll inform the universities and colleges to which you have applied. 

Find out more

Want to read more.

Check out our full list of Personal Statement Dos and Don’ts

See how you can use a personal statement beyond a university application

Now you’ve written your undergraduate personal statement, you’ll need to do a couple of final things before you submit it. 

• Have you proofread it?

Don’t just rely on spellcheckers. We’d recommend reading it out loud as that’s a great way to spot any errors as well as checking it sounds like you. 

• Have you asked for feedback?

Ask friends, family or a careers advisor to have a read through your personal statement and take their feedback on board.

Want more advice on your personal statement? Use the links below.

More advice

Use the UCAS’ personal statement tool alongside this guide to help you structure your ideas. Are you interested in how you can turn you Personal Statement into your CV?  Read our advice here

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