Personal statement

Source: https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/apply/personal-statement/ Parent: https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/apply/

Your personal statement – tell us about you!

Your personal statement provides you with an invaluable opportunity to tell us about your reasons for applying to study your chosen subject or subjects. Most of the students who apply to the University of St Andrews will be well qualified and decisions on who will receive offers are often determined by the quality of the personal statement. In short, the personal statement is an important part of your application and is an opportunity to make your application shine.

At St Andrews, we suggest that at least two thirds of your personal statement is focused on the subject area or areas you are applying to. If you are applying for a joint honours or triple honours degree, it is important to discuss all subjects equally. We recommend that the rest of your personal statement tells us about any other relevant information, including non-academic extra-curricular activities such as sport, music, the arts, leadership roles or community work.

In summary, your personal statement gives us a picture of you: someone who is interested in the subject area or areas you are applying to and who has the motivation and potential to do well in a university environment. This is also an opportunity for you to demonstrate your ability to research and bring together information, which are important skills required for university-level study.

We take a holistic approach and will consider your whole application carefully, including any personal circumstances that may have impacted your education. It’s a good idea to discuss this with your referee so they can be sure to include all relevant information in their reference, including the context in which your qualifications have been or will be achieved. By including this information, we can ensure that we take this into account when reviewing your application. You can learn more about contextual admissions in the University's admissions policy.

The dos in a personal statement

• Directly address your interest in the subject or subjects you are applying for.
• Research the content of your chosen courses thoroughly. There is no national curriculum at university level, meaning each university teaches their courses differently. Make sure you know what the courses you are applying to focus on and that your statement is aligned with these areas.
• Highlight your own personal experiences and knowledge of your chosen subject or subjects using examples. Remember this is a personal statement and it should be personal to you.
• Use clear, concise language that is relevant to your subject or subjects.
• Ask your referee to include details of any extenuating circumstances that may have impacted your studies in their reference. They may also include information about extra-curricular activities that you would like us to be aware of that you have not been able to include in your personal statement.
• Proofread your personal statement before submission. Avoid typos and use appropriate grammar and punctuation.

The don’ts in a personal statement

• Ignore one subject if you are applying for a joint honours or triple honours degree.
• Mention something in a course that St Andrews does not offer, or include the name of the course you are applying to, if this is not the name of the course at St Andrews.
• Make up information to make your application seem more appealing.
• Mention applying to another university in your personal statement.
• Include information not relevant to the course you are applying for.
• Plagiarise by presenting another person’s ideas or work as your own, or use AI tools such as ChatGPT to generate your personal statement. More information on how we approach this can be found in our admissions policy.

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• UCAS personal statement - thematic question guidance

• Common Application and Direct Application personal statement