Reforming admissions

Our survey of 2022 cycle applicants found most students are in favour of personal statements – 89% of respondents said they felt that the purpose of the personal statement is extremely clear or clear. Students tell us it helps their decision-making, while admissions teams say it supports comparability for them when making offers. However, 83% of students did say the process is stressful. They rely heavily on support from others in order to feel confident that they've covered all of the right information. 

In our commitment to equity and inclusion, we believe that every student deserves a fair chance to articulate their unique journey, aspirations, and potential. Scaffolding questions level the playing field, providing clear guidance and structure for all applicants, regardless of their background or prior experience with essay writing. 

Scaffolding questions offer students a roadmap, breaking them down into manageable parts. By providing specific prompts, students gain clarity on what to address, fostering focus and coherence in their writing. This ensures that each aspect of their experiences and goals is thoughtfully explored and articulated. 

Personal statements are changing from one longer piece of text to three separate sections, each with a different question to help shape the focus for students' answers. Each section will have a minimum character count of 350 characters, which is clearly labelled on the question boxes, along with an overall character counter, to ensure students know if they're on track. The new web page for submitting the personal statement will also feature helpful on-page guidance for each question. 

The new questions are as follows: 

• 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 education, and why are these experiences useful? 

The personal statement will still be 4000 characters in total; this includes spaces. 

The content of the personal statement will remain broadly the same - it will just be split across three sections rather than one longer piece of text. The expectation for what students need to cover within the personal statement is mostly unchanged from current guidance. 

Since we published our Reimagining UK Admissions report, we have engaged with a diverse spectrum of voices, including over 1,200 domestic and international students, over 200 teachers and advisers and over 100 universities and colleges to determine the value of the Personal Statement and how it can be enhanced by changes. We have had a variety of touchpoints and opportunities to engage, including a public consultation and our advisory groups. Additionally, we collaborated closely with governmental bodies, regulatory agencies, and charitable organisations across the UK. To ensure the highest quality, we partnered with an external research agency to rigorously test the new template, guidance, and wording. 

The results spoke volumes: 

Admissions teams said it made it easier for them to assess applications and more confident that they will receive the information they need to make decisions.   

Applicants who don't have school support - for instance, mature students - will find it easier to complete their personal statement successfully. This will even the playing field for widening participation, ensuring consistency across all personal statements no matter what level of support students have access to. 

Most advisers preferred the new format and said it would enable students to provide more complete and detailed statements, with the majority of advisers surveyed as part of the research stating they were "very confident" or "extremely confident" that the questions clearly convey what is needed for each answer 

We recognise that students want to be able to talk about extenuating circumstances in their own words. We have introduced an extenuating circumstances section in the reference, and need to evaluate and assess the impact of this before we deliver any further changes. We would encourage students to talk to admissions teams about any circumstances that have impacted their education and achievement, including those that happen after the application form is submitted. 

Providers use the personal statement in a variety of different ways as part of the admissions process and often publish individual guidance on this. Universities and colleges tell us it supports comparability for them when making offers and could be the difference between getting an offer or not, for example in borderline cases or where there are multiple applicants with a similar academic profile