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Find further study: personal statements for postgraduate study applications
- Before you start
- What is a personal statement?
- Who will read the personal statement?
- How to write an effective personal statement
- Other useful information on writing personal statements
- Personal statements for teacher training applications
Before you start
When considering postgraduate study, as with any career move, it is essential that you think carefully about what you want to achieve before you get started with the application process. Postgraduate courses can be costly with regards to both the money and time involved; however, properly selected, they can be an enjoyable and effective way of increasing your career prospects. It’s therefore very important to spend time researching the available options; doing this thoroughly will also enhance the quality of your personal statement.
What is a personal statement?
In a nutshell, it is your opportunity to demonstrate
to postgraduate course providers that a course is right for you and
that you have the potential to achieve the learning outcomes required.
Usually you are given prompts to give you an indication of what issues
you need to address. For example, the University of Bath postgraduate
application form requests that:
"If you are applying to do research please use this space to
tell us about your research interests in as much detail as possible."
or
"If you are applying for a taught course, please tell us about any
relevant professional experience that you have, and about your reasons
for wishing to study on this course. Attach another sheet/CV if necessary."
In most cases you are given 1 page of A4 to make your case which
equates to between 300 and 500 words. Not all postgraduate course
providers will give you prompts so it is worth looking for those
that do so for similar courses to help you identify the key issues
that need to be addressed.
Who will read the personal statement?
This will usually be either an admissions tutor for a taught postgraduate course or the project supervisor for a postgraduate research programme (e.g. MRes or PhD supervisor). For taught and research masters courses there will probably be a large number of applications. Admissions tutors will often have several decisions to make. Firstly, they will decide who is eligible to be accepted on the course. Secondly, if there are too many eligible applicants they will decide who has priority. Thirdly, where there are studentships available that pay for fees, living expenses etc. an admissions tutor (or a panel of academics) will decide which applicants will be given such awards.
How to write an effective personal statement
- Write in excellent English or another relevant language
- Proof-read your personal statement for any grammatical or linguistic errors
- Write in a style that is clear, logical, concise and not too elaborate or complicated.
Before you start
- Research the course and the institution carefully
- Think about the evidence you will include to demonstrate that you have the right skills and experience for the course
- Decide how you will structure the personal statement. There is no ‘ideal’ structure; make sure that you present your case in a clear and logical way
Those reading your personal statement will be looking for:
- A clear understanding of why you want to do the course.
- An understanding of why you want to do the course at that institution.
- An insight into your overall abilities (including academic and personal achievements) and an explanation of how well they will fit with the content and demands of the course.
- How your academic background and work experience will contribute to your ability to make the most out of the course.
- A sense that the course links to what what you have done in the past, and how it relates to what you want to do in the future.
- Evidence of your communication skills, an indicator of how well you are likely to perform on course assessments and course requirements in general (e.g. presentations, group work, written reports).
- Commitment and enthusiasm – This is usually revealed by the way in which you write about the reasons that you have selected the course. It is not good enough just to say that you are committed and motivated it needs to be very clear why this is true.
Dos and don’ts when writing your personal statement
- Do allocate a reasonable amount of time to writing your personal statement – It usually takes a lot of time to get it right, so don’t leave it to the last minute.
- Do make sure that you carefully read any instructions relating to the personal statement.
- Do write a response within the word limit set. Don’t be tempted to get around limits by using a very small font.
- Do type your final draft unless it is requested that you submit a hand-written application.
- Do write a separate personal statement for each application. Even if the courses you are applying for are very similar and at similar institutions it is unlikely that they will need exactly the same response.
- Do make sure that you think carefully about your positive qualities and achievements, think about how you are going to describe them and where to mention them in your personal statement.
- Do remember that work experience, hobbies, volunteering activities etc. are potentially important sources of evidence.
- Do be as definite as possible in the way you word your statement. Don’t say "I hope to do this", "I might like to do that". Instead it would be better if you could say "I want to/intend to do this".
- Don’t try to flatter the organisation that you are applying to, unless they really are the very best in the world.
- Don’t put any embellishments or untrue information into your application.
- Don’t over state your achievements and keep your comments in perspective. Write them in a way that makes your achievements clear but does not seem overly boastful.
- Don’t repeat information that is already dealt with in sufficient detail elsewhere in the application.
After you’ve finished the personal statement
- Review your personal statement several times, making sure you’ve included all information asked for and checking for errors.
- Careers Advisers will be happy to give you feedback on your application. You can arrange this by booking a drop-in appointment.
Other useful information on writing personal statements
- Application process (Fulbright Commission)
- Writing the personal statement (Purdue University)
- Writing a personal statement for postgraduate study applications (University of Kent)
And in particular…
- Personal statements for graduate entry into medicine (University of Southampton)
Personal statements for teacher training applications
Before starting your application you need to think carefully about whether you want to be a primary school teacher or a secondary school teacher and which subjects you want to teach. It is well worth looking at the Teaching Agency website and at the relevant part of the Prospects website (search for either primary or secondary school teacher). You will see that some experience of being in schools and/or working with children forms an important part of the application and reference to it is a key part of any personal statement and can provide strong evidence that you have been interested enough to seek experience and identify the rewards and challenges of a teaching career. Be careful to write informatively about the reasons why you want to be a teacher and why you believe that you are capable of doing so. For example, "I have been a helper in two primary schools and the experience really stimulated my interest in becoming a teacher" could be more precise. The questions in a readers mind are likely to include:
- What specific aspect of the experience was important? Was it helping a child to understand/learn/cope?
- Did the experience help you identify key skills that you have and are required to be an effective teacher?
- Did you have any dialogue with the class teacher that provided a useful insight into whether you would make a good teacher?
It may also sometimes be the case that you have to indicate how your undergraduate or postgraduate study could make you particularly suitable to teach a chosen subject. For further advice, see Example personal statements for teacher training applications (University of Kent) and the relevant sections of the Graduate Teacher Training Registry website.