Whether you’re fascinated by where our food comes from, how supply chains work, or the significance of sustainability, use your personal statement to explain what’s engaged your interest in food science, why you’d like to study it, and where you hope it will take you.
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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?
Rob Hayler, Undergraduate Admissions Officer, School of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Leeds
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:
- Write about what’s brought your attention and enthusiasm to studying food science. If your interest first started when you thought about where the meat you eat comes from, can you expand on what you hope to learn further at uni – for example, understanding more about supermarket supply chains, food safety or animal welfare?
- Give an example or two of how you’ve gained further knowledge about the subject – through work experience, a documentary you saw, a podcast you heard, or something specific you’ve discovered through your wider reading. Maybe you’ve read Farmageddon by Philip Lymbery with Isabel Oakeshott, or listened to The Food Chain podcast. Expand on what you learned that’s relevant to the course you’re applying for.
- Think too about any experiences you’ve had that made you want to explore food science further – perhaps you already love cooking or chemistry or you’ve experienced first-hand the impact food can have on our health and wellbeing.
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:
- Think about skills you’ve learned from the chemistry or science lab at school that will help you during your degree, such as analytical techniques, sample and data collection, and report writing.
- Mention any relevant EPQ you may have taken too, and reflect on what you learned from it.
- Write about other skills you’ve picked up from studying sciences, maths, English, or psychology that may be relevant to food science, like research skills, problem-solving, attention to detail, presentation, and communication 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:
- Have you ever worked in a supermarket, restaurant, factory, or soup kitchen? If so, you’ll have learned about elements of food production, food safety, and supply chains. Similarly, if you enjoy cooking at home, what relevant knowledge have you picked up around food storage or nutrition, for example?
- Think about transferable skills you’ve picked up from hobbies and extracurricular activities. You may have learned teamwork and communication from playing sports, and problem-solving skills from playing computer or board games. Part-time jobs also teach us lots of transferable skills, such as good verbal communication and time management.
- Mention other experiences you’ve had that have made you want to explore food science further. Perhaps you were inspired by a food event you saw at the British Science Festival, or you went to an exhibition about the future challenges of food production in the UK. Expand on what you learned from these.
- 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’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 is your personality suited to studying food science?
Maybe you’ve always been curious or wanted to make a difference in the world. Give examples that illustrate this, whether it’s supercurricular activities or charity fundraising.
If you’re passionate about animal welfare, how will studying food science help you in your quest?
Write a bit about what you enjoy doing in your spare time, whether you enjoy reading or watching documentaries. If you love watching Heston Blumenthal’s food experiments, maybe you’ve also tried out your own experiments at home? What have you learned from baking cakes without eggs or flour, for example? If you enjoy running, cycling or swimming, use that to demonstrate your commitment to something you enjoy, and your ability to switch off outside your studies.
If you can, link your personal interests back to your desire to study food science, and reference what you’ve learned already from your studies or from books or programmes you enjoy. Perhaps you loved reading What do astronauts eat in space? or you enjoyed watching a TED Talk about food engineering, and you want to focus on that during your studies.
Some more tips to consider
- Structure and organisation: To study food science, you need to demonstrate you’re capable of organising yourself. Your personal statement needs to answer the questions clearly and be free of spelling or grammatical errors.
- Examples of your relevant skills: Can you describe situations where you’ve demonstrated relevant skills like good teamwork, problem-solving, analysing, initiative, or achieving goals?
- Research the course: Why do you want to study food science, what specific aspects of the course interest you, how does it relate to your academic studies, and what additional reading or other activities have led you to apply?
- Make your work experience count: It’s not just what you've done but how you've reflected on it. If you worked in a factory, food outlet, or farm, that’s fantastic, but make sure 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. Try to think outside the box – if you do triathlons, explain how that’s helped with your self-motivation and time management.