Strike the right balance on your personal statement by demonstrating your enthusiasm, your intellectual curiosity, and the quality of your insights. Back up your passion for economics with evidence of what you’re interested in. Admissions tutors say be original, but no need to be too off-the-wall.
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Think about why you want to study the subject
- Have you been inspired by someone, a news story, a documentary, or a podcast?
- Do you have career aspirations in this area of study?
- What interests you about the subject – be specific; rather than saying you enjoy it or are good at it, try to explain the ‘why’ behind your reasoning.
- What do you already know about the subject and what are you looking forward to learning more about?
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What makes you suitable to study the subject?
- Have you done projects or essays in this subject at school or college?
- Think about who you are as a person; your personality, your strengths, your experiences in life – how do these make you suited to study the subject?
- How have you shown an interest in the subject outside of school or college – have you done extra reading, online courses, been part of clubs or competitions?
- Your current subjects and grades will be included elsewhere in your application, so try to think about specific things you’ve learned during your studies that relate to the subject, rather than listing your grades and subjects.
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Look at the bigger picture
- Have you done any work experience, an internship or had a part-time job in this subject area or related? Most job or work experience will give you transferable skills, even if it’s in a different industry.
- Do you have any hobbies you can mention that might relate to your chosen subject? Many hobbies show that you can be motivated outside of school to achieve and succeed in something you’re interested in.
- Think about how your life and personal experiences have helped make you the person you are today, and how these challenges and experiences can support your application by evidencing essential qualities for certain subjects.
- If you’ve got ambitions and goals for your life and career, can you express how this subject will help you reach these goals?
Guidance and examples you can use
Question 1: Why do you want to study this course or subject?
This is your opportunity to showcase your passion and knowledge of your chosen subject area and to demonstrate to universities and colleges why it’s a good fit for you and your future ambitions.
Examples:
- If you’ve already been studying economics at A level (or equivalent), talk about an area of the course you’ve found especially interesting. Try and show some understanding of economic theory.
- Reflect on something that has given you an insight into local, national, European or global economic issues, and explain what interests you about it. Maybe you were fascinated by the market’s response to the UK’s fast-changing political landscape over the last few years, or how the war in Ukraine affected the global economy.
- Demonstrate that you have a real interest in economic principles and concepts. You could relate it to modules you’d study during your degree. Mention what especially appeals to you about the course you’ve chosen.
- If you haven’t studied economics before, explain what has inspired your interest in it.
- If you can, explain how your degree choice fits with your future ambitions and career aspirations. If you know you want to be a business analyst, for example, say so.
Question 2: How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject?
This is your chance to shout about the relevant or transferable skills you’ve gained from your formal education and highlight your understanding of how they will help you succeed in this subject area.
Examples:
- Show an appreciation of mathematical concepts. If you’ve studied maths, highlight what you enjoyed about probability, statistics, or a project involving qualitative data, and how that might relate to an economics degree.
- If you’ve undertaken an economics-related project, Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) or summer school, reflect on any insights this has given you.
- Think of skills you’ve picked up during your studies and how they’ll relate to being an economics student, such as self-motivation, teamwork, the ability to think logically, effective time management, good communication, or problem-solving skills.
- Have you done any online courses to boost your knowledge in the subject? For example, why not try Subject Spotlights or Virtual Work Experiences from Springpod to grow your skills and interest?
Question 3: What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?
This is your chance to talk about any other activities you have undertaken outside of your formal education, or personal experiences which further demonstrate your suitability for the course. This section is likely to be highly personal to you and anything you do include should reflect on why you’re including it.
Examples:
- What things have you done that are relevant to economics or demonstrate the skills and qualities tutors are looking for? Maybe you’ve learned about financial analysis through helping a parent or guardian with their small business, or perhaps you’ve carried out some market research for an online side hustle.
- Talk about your wider reading and pick out one or two specific issues that had an impact on you – try and choose something slightly more obscure, such as Tom Chivers’ Everything Is Predictable, rather than a book everybody will reference.
- What hobbies do you have that show you’re motivated outside school, and prepared to succeed in something you’re interested in? Whether that’s progressing in a sport, music, chess or computer programming.
Dos
- Do relate any examples back to the subject you’re applying to – make it relevant
- Do make it personal – admissions staff want to get to know who you are
- Do use a spell-checker and grammar-checker to ensure there are no errors
- Do ask people for feedback, whether that’s family members or teachers
- Do your research to find out what universities are looking for, and make sure you include evidence to show how you are suitable for the course
Don'ts
- Don’t just list out examples, subjects you study, or experiences you’ve had without any evidence
- Don’t copy something you’ve seen online or use AI to write something for you
- Don’t make things up just because you think they’ll make you look good on paper
- Don’t leave it until the last minute – you need time for several drafts
- Don’t worry about making each section the same length; as long as you hit the minimum character count, you can use the 4,000 characters across each answer in the way that suits you best
How to set yourself apart
The key to setting yourself apart in your application is to remember how important the ‘personal’ bit is to your personal statement. What makes you, you?
London School of Economics says 'your statement should be as original as possible to differentiate you from other applicants' while the University of Nottingham looks for 'students with a wide variety of interests and enthusiasms from a wide variety of backgrounds'.
If your background or upbringing has informed your passion for economics, then explain how. What other interests do you have that are intriguing? Do you love making patisserie or sushi, walking dogs for some extra pocket money, or playing saxophone in a jazz quartet? If you can link these interests back to your ability to undertake an economics degree, then even better.
Has your background or upbringing informed your passion for economics?
What other intriguing interests do you have? Do you love making patisserie or sushi, walking dogs for some extra pocket money, or playing saxophone in a jazz quartet? If you can link these interests back to your ability to undertake an economics degree, then even better.
Some more tips to consider
- Structure and organisation: To study economics, you need to demonstrate you’re capable of managing yourself. Organise your answers in your personal statement coherently and make sure it’s free of spelling or grammatical errors.
- Examples of your relevant skills: Can you describe situations where you’ve demonstrated relevant skills like good communication or teamwork, problem-solving, attention to detail, ethical reasoning, or achieving goals?
- Research the course: Why do you want to study economics? Be specific about what aspects of the course interest you, how it relates to your academic studies, and what additional reading or other activities have led you to apply.
- Making your work experience count: It’s not just what you've done but how you've reflected on it. If you work-shadowed the CEO of a large company, that's great, but it will have zero impact unless you spell out what you personally gained from it.
- Transferable skills: Whether through extracurricular or supercurricular activities, work experience or a part-time job, you’ll have lots of skills that will be relevant to your course. Relate everything to the courses you’re applying for – so, you’ve worked behind the counter in the corner shop? Great, you’ve got experience in microeconomics!