Show admissions tutors where your interest in software engineering comes from, what you already know about designing and maintaining software systems, and why you as an individual are suited to studying this subject at degree level.
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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:
- Explain where your enthusiasm for software engineering comes from and why – but try and keep it to recent experiences, rather than when you got your first computer! Maybe you follow Angie Jones and you’re learning about Java. Or maybe your information technology (IT) A level, or equivalent, has made you want to focus on programming websites.
- Reference recent articles or books you’ve read that have furthered your desire to study this subject. Perhaps you’ve been reading about emerging technologies, and you want to learn about how you can use them in software development, or maybe you can expand on something you’ve read about database design.
- What is it about you that makes you a good fit for a career in software engineering? Maybe you’ve already built a website, or taught yourself basic programming and you’re looking to enhance your skills? Or maybe there’s a particular industry you want to work in, such as banking or the third sector. Make your statement answers as unique to you as you can.
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:
- Talk about a programme you wrote in IT or a side project you've been working on and how it’s helped you prepare for studying software engineering at degree level. Describe what skills you learned around designing and testing software, and around patience and perseverance, for example.
- What competencies have you picked up in maths or physics that you can use during your studies, like analysing and interpreting data, and problem-solving?
- 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 been involved in any extracurricular activities like hackathons, gaming events, or competitions? What did you learn from the experience?
- Mention if you’ve done any volunteering or work-shadowing too with the IT department in a company, or with a specific software engineering team. Reflect on what you learned that you can apply during your degree.
- How else can you show you’re analytical, can think logically, and you’re good at problem-solving? Write about computer games you enjoy that challenge you in this way, or other relevant games and activities like being part of a chess or coding club at school.
- Use sports and extracurricular activities to illustrate you’re a team player and you have strong motivation and organisational skills.
- 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 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?
Talk about any specific programming you’ve done, and what you thought about it. Mention if you’ve ever designed a simple computer game, website, or computer network. Or perhaps you can critique the way a network has been set up and what you’d do differently?
Think about personal experiences that are unique to you, which tell admissions tutors more about you
Maybe you went on a programming boot camp. Or maybe you went on an outdoors pursuits trip which taught you about how you cope when under pressure, and it helped you learn how to adapt in a rapidly changing environment.
The world of software engineering is constantly evolving, so give admissions tutors an insight into how you keep on top of relevant news or, if not, reflect on how you’ve kept on top of your revision and studies so far, and how you can apply those skills to a software engineering degree.
Reference culture and current affairs you consume that are relevant to the personal statement questions and your answers. For example, you may have followed or taken part in the Summer Hackathon, and can elaborate on what you observed. Or you may follow CODE Magazine and can reference a relevant article you’ve read recently.
Some more tips to consider
- Examples of your relevant skills: Can you describe situations where you’ve demonstrated skills like good communication, teamwork, problem-solving, adaptability, and being able to meet deadlines?
- Make your work experience count: If you’ve done an internship or workshadowed a software engineer, make sure you spell out exactly what you gained from it.
- Transferable skills: Brainstorm what skills you’ve picked up through extracurricular or supercurricular activities, work experience, or a part-time job, which are relevant to your course. You might have learned resilience, courage, and adaptability from being a rock climber, or creativity, attention to detail, and working to deadlines if you’ve managed your own website or YouTube channel.
- Show you're a team player: Write about how you work with others, whether at school, college, on a sports team, or other activity. Have you ever organised or project-managed a sports league or event? Or led a team in some capacity?