Until this year, the UCAS personal statement had remained unchanged for years: 4,000 characters (including spaces) of continuous prose, amounting to about 650 words, depending how heavily you used your thesaurus. You could write what you wanted, how you wanted and you decided the content and structure.
For 2025 (2026 entry), UCAS decided after considerable consultation to divide it into three sections – each with a question to be answered – to provide structured guidance on content. The questions are:
- Why do you want to study this course or subject?
- How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject?
- What else have you done to prepare outside of formal education, and why are these experiences useful?
Sounds helpful? Well, yes, it is, and for some it will be useful. But there are huge potential pitfalls, so read on for advice on how to avoid them and make the most of the new format.
General advice
Don’t let the questions stifle your creativity. Think about what you want to say, without reference to the questions, and then see how it fits once you’ve got content.
The sections don’t all have to be the same length; you can flex them to fit once that content is in place. You’ll need a minimum of 350 characters in each section, but that’s not many, and you can max your use of whichever section you feel works best for you.
The 4,000 total characters (including spaces) rule still applies.
The universities are only interested in reading PERSONAL statements, not statements that all read the same. Those I’ve spoken to are not that concerned about seeing information marshalled into a specific section – as long as the content they want to see is in there.
My previous UCAS personal statement
Golden Rules still apply:
- Don’t tell them what they ALREADY KNOW
- Be SPECIFIC
- REFLECT on content
For example, you’ve read a book. Don’t tell the admissions staff the content of the book (they’ll already know more than you), but instead, tell them which chapter you loved, what it was specifically about that chapter that you loved, then reflect and say what you learned from it, and why that has fuelled your enthusiasm for the course. That’s what they don’t know, and that’s what they want to hear.
Oh, and don’t rely on AI-generated personal statements – they can help, but ultimately a skilled reader can tell. Instead, your specific examples will allow the admissions staff to hear your voice, which is what they want more than anything.
THE QUESTIONS:
Why do you want to study this course or subject?
Easy, you think. You start talking about how it’s your favourite subject, always has been, and why maths (for example) is relevant in the world. But NO! (screech of brakes). Stop right there! That’s what everyone will be writing, and the admission tutor’s eyelids will already be getting heavy.
Instead, think of something SPECIFIC within your chosen subject (an idea, a character, a scientific phenomenon) to talk about. Say what it is, and then describe in detail why you love it, and what else you’ve read or researched about it. Tell them how you would love to look more deeply into topics like this, and that it is precisely this sort of thing that helps you to realise that it’s perfect for you to take this course at university.
How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject?
This is the big one. This is where you’ll put your strongest academic content. So many I’ve read so far have fallen headlong into that trap I was mentioning – they’ve started to talk about the content of their sixth-form studies, and what they’ve learned in the classroom.
Remember, the admissions staff are perfectly aware what English A-level teaches you, what higher maths IB teaches you and what your BTEC content is. Always keep in mind the Golden Rule – don’t tell them what they already know. Your sixth-form studies are listed on your UCAS form, so you don’t need to tell them again.
Instead, you can say that your sixth-form studies have furnished you with a depth of understanding that has given you the tools to look outside the classroom (lectures, MOOCs, research, articles, books, etc that are relevant to your subject) and talk specifically about them. You can do this for more than one subject if it’s a joint course, or multiple if it’s a multidisciplinary subject such as liberal arts. If it’s a vocational course like architecture or medicine, give an example (a building, a particular medical condition) and say how you’ve researched it, using the knowledge from your studies, and reflect on how it has expanded your understanding and confirmed your choice of course at university.
What else have you done to prepare outside of formal education, and why are these experiences useful?
This is where you carry on with your largely academic (or vocational) content. Here’s the trap here – this is not an entire paragraph dedicated to your extracurricular activities, positions of responsibility and other ways you’re a good egg.
Instead, this should be work experience (what you did, a specific part of it, reflect and say why it’s relevant to the course) or other courses, books, new ideas in your subject that you’ve researched, jobs and perhaps any voluntary work that you have undertaken that are relevant to your academic studies at university.
You should, of course, mention your extracurricular stuff, but unless it’s relevant (for example, you’re a football coach and you want to study sport and coaching) keep it to no more than 20 per cent of the total content, so about 800 characters max.
Finally, this is the last section, so it’s important to round it off with a conclusion. Try to write a few sentences reflecting on your content, ideally referring back to your first paragraph, saying why you’re the perfect fit for the course and that you can’t wait to get started.
So, in summary, not much has changed from the old personal statement: admissions staff still want mostly academic content, written by you, which is specific and upon which you have reflected. You can still write what you want, and decide the content and style – all you need to do is drop it into the new structure.
Admissions tutors want to get to know you and want to be convinced that you’re a good fit for their course. How you do that is up to you – but always remember the Golden Rules.
Anna Rogers is an independent universities adviser with over 20 years’ experience helping and guiding pupils to make excellent, effective university applications. She can be contacted via email: annalchrogers@hotmail.com or mobile: 07810 437089.