Marketing 2026 personal statement guide

How you package yourself is important, but the bottom line is you need to have done your market research and got your product right. Admissions tutors are looking for an honest, well-researched, and engaging statement that shows you understand what you’re applying for, and that you’ve got relevant skills or experiences to offer.

General advice about writing your personal statement

What do admissions staff at universities and colleges want to see?

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 specifically interests you about studying marketing – whether it’s market research, decision science, psychology, or public relations – and why you want to investigate these topics further.
• Sheffield Hallam University expects you to demonstrate 'an interest in and awareness of business/marketing, or some level of practical experience'. Showcase things you’ve learned from reading about branding or watching TED talks from experts like Rory Sutherland or Jessica Apotheker, or if you admire the way a brand markets themselves, from their website to their social media, explore this and how it’s inspired you.
• Mention any work experience you’ve had, for example doing some digital marketing for a company, and how that has made you want to study marketing further. Even better if you know where this degree might take you in your career.
• Leeds Metropolitan University’s sport marketing degree tutors will be scanning your statement for evidence of the 'personal attributes, experience and/or commitment to the area of study that will stand you out from the crowd’, so try and keep your answers unique to you.

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 of the skills you’ve picked up during your studies. University of Bath says its management with marketing degree applicants should be able to demonstrate experience of working with others and relevant transferable skills, but this could be achieved through things like your involvement in the running of a society or a position of responsibility at school or college if you haven't had direct work experience.
• Mention projects you’ve worked on where you had to work well in a team, such as a design technology or science project, and subjects that have allowed you to build your 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?
• What else about you would suit you to a degree like this? Are you interested in people? Are you particularly brand aware? Can you demonstrate you’re a good planner, for example in the way you’ve planned for your A level or equivalent studies? 

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:

• Mention any part-time or Saturday jobs that have given you good customer service or sales skills. How will these help you on this course?
• Write reflectively about any work experience. That could be what you’ve gained from your job at a supermarket, the book you’ve just read on branding, the charity event you recently helped to organise, a business project you just undertook on your BTEC or A level course, or why your Young Enterprise company didn't make a profit.
• York St John University flags the value of your reflections on any relevant workshops or seminars you've attended too, or how you've shown leadership and teamwork skills through project work or awards such as Duke of Edinburgh.
• What about your hobbies – do you play a team sport, or do you have an interest such as learning a language or teaching yourself guitar which shows you’ve got the commitment and perseverance to succeed in something you’re interested in?

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?

Bournemouth University highlights that demonstrating qualities like creativity, an understanding of the marketing and communications industry, your ability to work in a team as well as independently, good presentation and communication skills and computer literacy will help to give marketing students the edge.

Have you ever done any content creation or search engine optimisation (SEO) for a website or on social media that you can mention? Perhaps you’re an art enthusiast and you’ve helped a local artist build and market themselves online? Or maybe it’s your own artwork you’ve been advertising?

Think what else makes you interesting to admissions tutors that’s still relevant to a marketing course. If you enjoy horse riding, don’t just mention that, mention the other skills it brings you too like empathy, time management, organisation and an antidote to sitting in front of a screen.

Some more tips to consider

1. Understand the marketing landscape: Focus on why you want to study marketing and pursue a career in it. Comment on something interesting you've found in newspapers or industry-related magazines, by following key industry figures on social media, or when meeting business professionals face-to-face.
2. Demonstrate a strong understanding of business: Explain the role you feel marketing plays in the success of any business operation or an awareness of how marketing is responding to a changing world.
3. Highlight any marketing or business operation you’ve been involved in: Don’t forget to reveal what you’ve learned from work experience or a part-time job where you've made some relevant observations, or demonstrated skills or commitment.
4. Include examples from enterprise schemes at school or college: This can be just as valuable as real workplace experience, as long as you say something interesting about it. Don’t worry if you weren’t successful: it’s ok to discuss what went wrong as well as what went right, provided you learned from it.
5. Give them a balanced, rounded picture of yourself as a potential student: Your achievements, evidence of your key strengths and qualities, a project you’ve undertaken, or the subjects you’ve found genuinely interesting and how they’ve enhanced your potential as well as your interests outside the academic world. No need to oversell yourself too. Write in a clear, concise tone and give examples of activities you’ve been involved in.