Personal Statement Writing

What is a university personal statement?

A personal statement is part of an application for a course at a university. In a personal statement, the student writes about what they hope to do on the course, what they hope to do after the course and why they are applying to this particular university. Common personal statement errors can include:

• The personal statement is too short/long
• The personal statement does not include important information/includes negative information
• The personal statement’s structure is confusing

How long should my personal statement be?

Length varies depending on the university, but generally the average length for an undergraduate application is between 400-600 words, around one side of A4 paper. Certain postgraduate degree courses may require 1000 words, but this will be clearly specified. A standard personal statement will be structured as follows:

1. Your career aim
2. How you became interested in this field
3. What you have done to get closer to your aim
4. Why you are applying to this university
5. How you will use what you learn

Personal statement tips

• Use a clear font such as Arial or Times New Roman
• Maximum font size of 12
• Maximum of five paragraphs
• Include why you chose the university
• No negative information
• Don’t duplicate material from your resume

How we can help

Once you have completed your personal statement, visit SI-UK London for a free consultation.

We will take your personal statement and professionally edit it to ensure the English is clear and grammatically correct. Once this process is complete, we will return your personal statement within 1-3 working days!

Example personal statement

Please see below for an example of a personal statement to a Development Studies course.