If you want to study in the United Kingdom as an international student, writing a personal statement is a key part of the application process. Most personal statements are submitted to the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service in the UK (UCAS). In fact, anyone applying to two or more courses in the UK must apply via UCAS. Read on to learn about how a personal statement for UK institutions differs from one for United States-based institutions, some common mistakes to avoid, and a couple of tools from experts in the field.
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Know Your Audience
If you’re submitting your personal statement to UCAS, your personal statement will be read by all of the institutions you’re applying to. So, keep your interest focused on the course material, not a specific institution. If you mention an institution you’d like to attend, the others you’ve applied to will likely discard your application.
It also might be tempting to reuse material you’ve written for applications in different countries. However, while both UK and US institutions ask for personal statements, their admissions teams are looking for different things. In general, UK-based institutions are looking for a statement that is tailored to the course you’re applying for. Everything you include, from academic records to recreational activities, should tie back to the course.
For example, if you’re applying to a medical course, be sure to share if you took advanced courses in biology and chemistry. Talking about working as a lifeguard, or as a first aid volunteer for summer events is helpful. A part-time retail job is less relevant. So, while you might have mentioned the retail job in a personal statement for a US university to show how you respond to stressful situations, it’s best omitted here.
In general, using storytelling in your statement is generally a better fit for US, not UK applications.
That said, UK institutions are most interested in your academic achievements. Be sure to highlight your course-specific knowledge, any special accomplishments, and be clear about why you’d like to pursue this course of study. If you still have space, you can speak to extracurriculars, but they play a smaller role in your assessment.
As you prepare to study in the UK, refer to our undergraduate or postgraduate application guides for strategies to make your application stand out.
Make It Personal
Becoming an international student can come with uncertainty. There are lots of things to keep track of along your study journey. But one thing you know better than anyone else is you. This statement is your chance to highlight why you’re passionate about the course you’re applying to, and why you’re a great person for admissions teams to choose. Show your enthusiasm for the course material, but be careful not to exaggerate your skills or experience, as that can hurt your chances.
The good news is you don’t have to write a lot—personal statements must be 4,000 characters or fewer. That’s about 47 lines, or two sides of an A4 piece of paper. However, with this character limit, every word matters toward making a great first impression. Plus, because lots of international students learned English as an additional language, we get that you might feel nervous about your writing skills.
It might feel tempting to prompt a generative AI tool like ChatGPT or Gemini to write your statement. However, AI-produced writing isn’t specific to your experiences, and uses broad observations that can sound sappy or overused (“I want to change the world,” “I want to make my mark in this field,” etc.)
Sounding like everyone else is also risky because UCAS runs similarity checks on every personal statement. If your statement has a similarity score of over 30% with another statement, UCAS will alert the institutions you’re applying to. Understandably, being flagged could lower your chances of acceptance.
What are some key questions you should answer in your personal statement? Here’s our advice—plus a free introduction template.
Use Tech Tools Wisely
Are there ways to use generative AI tools without getting in trouble? Actually, yes. It depends on how you use them. Institutions know that tech like this is changing how people communicate, but they still want to make sure students are actively learning.
So, while you should write your statement yourself, UCAS suggests that you can use AI tools to help you brainstorm key skills to highlight in your statement. Got a run-on sentence you want to shorten? Add it to an AI prompt and ask it to offer some different versions. If you do use AI, always check that everything it drafts is right. AI tools can make things up, and it’s vital that everything in your statement is true.
As you start your draft, consider using the Personal Statement Builder. It’s a free tool offered by UCAS in their Hub. The Personal Statement Builder can guide you through the layout of your statement, and share official guidance around what to include in it. Plus, it has a character counter, so you’ll never go over the word count!
Lastly, give yourself lots of time to draft and edit your personal statement. It’s also a good idea to read it out loud to a friend or family member, who can offer a second perspective on which parts are strong, and where you can edit.
We hope that this guidance helps you write a first-rate personal statement for UK institutions!
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