by Chloe Peratikou Experienced Tutor and Literature and Arts Masters Student at the University of Oxford, with a BA (with Honours) in English Literature, First Class
Posted November 2025
If you’re applying to university this year, you might have heard that UCAS has changed the personal statement format. Instead of one long essay, you’ll now answer three clear questions.
There’s now less space for faff and admissions tutors expect you to get straight to the point. If you want to smash your applications and secure all 5 offers, then here are my top tips.
This is your chance to show your passion and convince universities that this subject truly excites you.
Think of it as your “origin story.” What sparked your interest? Maybe it was a book, a documentary, a teacher, a personal experience, or even a challenge you faced. Be specific, and try to avoid clichès. Avoid phrases like:
❌Ever since I was a little kid…
❌I’ve always loved…
❌I want to study… because it fascinates me.
❌I am passionate about…
These phrases are too broad and they don’t reveal anything specific about who you are, what your interests are, and what makes YOU stand out. Remember that everyone applying to this course is interested and fascinated by it, so it’s not enough to just say something generic without explaining why, and more importantly, what exactly you like about it.
The best thing to do is to research sub-topics from the field you are applying to and say exactly why they interest you and how you plan to use them in the future.
Think about following this structure:
1️⃣Moment of inspiration: did you watch, read, or learn anything that ignited your interest? It might be something you learned in school or something you researched by yourself. Do you have any specific role models? Does your background tie into it at all? Do you have any personal experiences connected to this interest?
2️⃣Subject interest: connect your school learning to your wider research. Did you learn about something in school that interested you so much that you went on to do further research about it? You can mention online courses, lectures, museum visits, or wider reading. Is there a particular subject area you’ve researched and can’t wait to learn more about? This is a great place to mention your super-curricular activities. These are activities outside of the curriculum that link to your subject. For example, if you are applying to PPE it might be your MUN, for English it might be theatre, or for computer science it could be a coding competition you participated in. You don’t need to go into too much detail as you do have a whole section for this later on. Just mention the most important things here and focus on what you are interested in and why.
3️⃣Your future plans: how does this course connect to your long-term goals or the kind of person you want to become? What’s important to you, and are there any problems you want to solve through this course? (be specific!)
This is all about things you learned through your formal education and any relevant or transferable skills you’ve gained that would help you succeed in this subject area. It’s about connecting what you’ve already done in school or college to what you’ll be doing in your chosen course. Think about specific modules, essays, or projects that developed your understanding or key skills.
Don’t just mention your grades! Universities already have your grades, so use this space to mention other accomplishments. Also, remember that most people applying to the course are likely to have similar grades to you, so you need to focus on the interests, skills and accomplishments that make you unique!
Top Tips!
🌟Mention a piece of work or topic that challenged or inspired you. Why was it interesting, what did you learn from it, and how will this help you excel at university? Did you write an essay or complete a project that explored a particular point of view or technique? What did that teach you and how does that apply to the course you’re applying to?
🌟Highlight transferable skills: research, analysis, teamwork, communication, creativity. How do these link to the university course you’re applying to?
🌟If you’ve done an EPQ or online course, show how it benefited you.
🌟Other qualifications such as music, stage school, extra-curricular exams, sports.
🌟Mention any relevant educational achievements such as winning a competition (could be school, local, national etc). You could also mention other roles such as being a student ambassador, prefect, or team captain, having the lead role in the school play, or being the leader of a different project.
Just make sure that whatever you mention is directly relevant to your degree! If you are applying to Music, your piano exams are directly relevant, but if you are applying to Medicine perhaps not so much… Find the skills, qualifications and achievements relevant to your degree and focus on those!
Don’t worry, if you still have impressive qualifications to mention that aren’t relevant to your degree, you will have space to talk about them in your next section.
This is your opportunity to shine with your personality! Mention volunteering, hobbies, jobs, caring responsibilities etc. Reflect on what you learned from this and why it matters.
You can mention:
🌟Work-experience, employment or volunteering: Did you have a job while studying or in the summer? Did you do any volunteering or did you shadow a professional? Were you involved in any enterprise project? If you didn’t get the chance to do any in-person work experience, remember that UCAS have their own Springpod to help you secure some virtual experience.
🌟Personal life experiences or responsibilities: Is there a situation you’ve personally overcome that has prepared you for university study? You can also mention other responsibilities such as caring for a family member.
🌟Hobbies, outreach, extra and super-curricular activities: Sports, creative hobbies, community work, summer schools, Duke of Edinburgh, tutoring, reading, podcasts, Ted Talks etc. This is the space to mention any activities and achievements that you weren’t able to include in the previous section.
🌟Trips and visits (online or in person): museums, exhibitions, galleries, sites of historic interest, relevant sites connected to your course.
🌟Choose experiences that connect to your subject or show transferable qualities (e.g. leadership, research, resilience, teamwork, empathy).
🌟If something personal shaped your perspective, explain how it influenced your goals.
🌟Link everything back to how the experience developed your outlook or skills and how this makes you a stronger candidate.
Good luck to everyone applying this year — I hope that you found this helpful! If you would like tailored support on how to apply your experiences to your chosen degree then we are here to help. Our subject experts can guide you through every step of the application process. All you have to do is contact us today and a member of our team will connect you to the right tutor!
We hope that you have enjoyed reading our blog and feel ready to write your personal statement. You may be interested to read related articles for university applications. To read one of our other blog posts, please return to the main blog page. If you would be interested in working with OXSS on your personal statement or have support throughout your university admissions journey, please contact us today for further information or apply via our online application forms.
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