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• UCAS Personal Statements Are Changing in 2025

Last Updated: 16th January 2023

Author: Matthew Amalfitano-Stroud

Table of Contents

It was announced by UCAS in January of 2023 that traditional Personal Statements will be removed from the university application process in the UK. 

Since 1993, UCAS has required university applicants in the UK to submit a 4,000-character Personal Statement during the application process, which would then be accessed by university admissions teams to assist in the shortlisting process. 

However, it has been confirmed by UCAS that this process will be changing as soon as 2025. Here, we dissect the announcement, discuss what we currently know about this change and explain how this could affect your university application. Let’s begin:  

In short, this is what you need to know:

• UCAS Personal Statements are being replaced by a three-question survey that gives applicants the chance to explain various aspects of their application.
• This change will be implemented for the 2025 admissions cycle for 2026 Entry in the UK.
• This will affect all applicants, both home and international, looking to attend any UK university in 2026 and beyond.
• Students will need to learn how to take on these new questions rather than traditional Personal Statement writing.
• Teachers will need to be prepared to do research on this new system and provide support for students in order to maximise their chances of success.
• We at UniAdmissions are keeping a very close eye on the situation and will update this guide as new information surfaces. We will also ensure that our support systems are up-to-date and effective at helping students through these changes.

What are Personal Statements Being Replaced with?

With the announcement that the current system for UCAS Personal Statements will be getting replaced, it is only natural to be asking what will be replacing it. Thankfully, we have already been given some idea of what to expect. 

Unlike the other major shake-up to the 2024 admission process, the removal of various admissions tests including the BMAT , the official announcement has provided us with an explanation of what UCAS is seeking to implement instead of traditional Personal Statements. 

Put simply, the current format of providing a 4,000-character piece of writing will be replaced with a new “scaffolded structure” of three specific questions which applicants must answer. These questions will still allow you to write your answers out, but you will be answering set questions instead of having to plan and structure a full statement from scratch. 

For each question, applicants will need to write a minimum of 350 characters. The overall character limit for the Personal Statement across the three questions (including spaces) will be 4,000 – this is the same as the current limit. 

Responses will need to be submitted via the online UCAS system, which will now feature three text boxes instead of one (one for each question). Each box will include an exact character counter and tips for each question. 

The three questions you’ll have to answer 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?

These questions cover the important topics that would typically be included in a standard Personal Statement, so the content of your writing should mostly stay the same. The key difference is that your writing will no longer need to flow as a singular piece of work, meaning introductions and conclusions will be de-emphasised. 

In 2023, UCAS initially announced a selection of six questions that were being considered for a new Personal Statement system. These were as follows:

• Motivation for Course – Why do you want to study these courses?
• Preparedness for Course – How has your learning so far helped you to be ready to succeed on these courses?
• Preparation through other experiences – What else have you done to help you prepare, and why are these experiences useful?
• Extenuating circumstances – Is there anything that the universities and colleges need to know about, to help them put your achievements and experiences so far into context?
• Preparedness for study – What have you done to prepare yourself for student life?
• Preferred Learning Styles – Which learning and assessment styles best suit you – how do your courses choices match that?

UCAS stated that these were subject to change based on feedback from schools and students, with the new three-question system being the result of this work (removing the last three questions in the process). 

Of the questions originally planned for the Personal Statement, one aspect that will no longer be covered is Extenuating Circumstances. This was previously going to be a section that allows applicants to discuss any issues that may have impacted their application negatively (illness, family circumstances, etc).

UCAS states that this section was removed from the Personal Statement due to its inclusion as one of the three questions in the Academic Reference (also a part of the UCAS process). If you have anything that you want to discuss in this section, you will need to speak with your referee to explain what you would like to include in the reference. 

At UniAdmissions, we ensure all of our students receive the most up-to-date support.

At UniAdmissions, we’re working tirelessly to ensure that our tutors, curriculum and resources are ready to get our students through these changes. You can join them today and ensure you get the support you need to make it through the 2024 admissions cycle . 

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When Are UCAS Personal Statements Being Changed?

The most recent announcement from UCAS regarding Personal Statements confirms that this new system will be implemented in August of 2025, meaning applicants for 2026 Entry will be the first to face the changes. Applicants in 2024 for 2025 Entry will have to complete the single, free-form document like previous years, 

It’s worth mentioning that these plans have been in place for a fair amount of time, with discussions of reforming the application process starting in April 2021. However, this change has finally received a confirmed date for implementation after previously being planned for 2023. 

Why Are UCAS Personal Statements Being Changed?

The announcement of these reforms was initially made on January 12th 2023 via a blog post on the official HEPI website. This post highlights the amendments being made to the Personal Statement process and the research that was conducted to influence this change.  

Interestingly, the data quoted in this post states that the majority of applicants surveyed were happy with the current Personal Statement process, with 72% feeling positive about it. However, the same survey indicated that 83% of applicants found the process stressful and 79% felt unable to complete theirs without support. This is the data that most likely influenced the changes. 

The post’s writer, Kim Eccleston, states that they are aiming to provide better support for both applicants and universities, creating “a more supportive framework” that allows applicants to write about what the universities need to know in a less restrictive way. It is also stated in a more detailed outline of the announcement that both students and teachers preferred the use of specific questions instead of free-form writing. 

However, a previous post released in November 2022 provides even more insight into the reasoning behind this decision. Based on data featured in HEPI Debate Paper 31 , various industry professionals had commented on the challenges facing applicants of certain background when it comes to the current style of Personal Statement. 

Within the quotes featured here, the traditional UCAS Personal Statement was described as “ambiguous” , “unfair” and “barometers of middle-class privilege” . These comments may potentially be in reference to the current importance of work experience, which can be difficult to obtain without connections in certain industries, as well as additional experiences which may not be available to all applicants.  

Therefore, this new system should presumably reduce the barriers for disadvantaged applicants by shifting focus to each individual’s own interest and abilities within their chosen subjects. 

Other Changes being Made by UCAS

Personal Statements are only one of five key areas being altered by UCAS, as highlighted in the blog post. This is certainly the most significant action taking place, but other changes that were previously made to the application process include: 

• Academic references are being reformed, moving from a free-text approach to a set of three questions, similar to the Personal Statement reforms.
• The 'Entry Grade Report' will be created, which allows applicants to see grade profiles that have been accepted for courses over a five year period.
• A 'Course Recommendation Tool' is being created to provide applicants with personalised suggestions for courses based on their current grades and preferences.
• A 'Fair Access Programme' is being created to encourage widening access and participation.

Overall, it seems these changes all have the same intent; to level the playing field and make university applications more achievable for everyone. 

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How will this affect my university application?

As previously stated, if you are applying to university this year for 2025 Entry (and deferred Entry for 2026), you will not be affected by these reforms and will need to submit a traditional Personal Statement to UCAS like previous years. 

For applicants applying for 2026 Entry and beyond, your application will follow this new process, meaning you won’t have to submit a full Personal Statement but will instead need to answer a series of questions relating to your application and abilities for your chosen course. 

When hearing that the whole process will be changing, this typically instils a feeling of dread as you’ll be treading new ground that no one else has experienced before. However, it’s important to understand that UCAS states these changes are being made for the benefit of both the applicants and the universities. 

As we’ve already discussed, a key part of the reason this change is being implemented is that a high percentage of applicants found writing a traditional Personal Statement stressful, which is counterintuitive to what UCAS is trying to achieve. By providing applicants with a strong framework, in the form of specific questions, this new process should allow more applicants to provide better quality statements for universities. 

This change is also set to be particularly beneficial to those from disadvantaged backgrounds, as the process will allow them to better express their ability regardless of any areas that may be lacking due to factors out of their control. Essentially, the new process should allow more people to stand a better chance of making a good impression despite limitations. 

How Can I Start Preparing?

If you’re starting your preparations early, the main barrier you’ll face at this stage of preparation is not knowing what the questions will be, as they have yet to be announced. There are no resources available currently that cover this system, so you’re going to have to be independent with your preparation here.

Since we have a rough outline of what the questions to focus on, you should still be able to practice your responses. Although they won’t be as relevant any more, it would still be helpful to check out Personal Statement guides and examples as these can help you pin down the language and writing style you use. 

With all this information now available to us, you should be able to get a sense of what to do for your application in the coming years. The initial introduction of this system in 2025 will act as a test of its effectiveness, so elements could be changed in the years following. However, the important thing is that you understand how things are changing from the current system and how you can make the most of the new system. 

If you are applying for university in 2024 for 2025 Entry, you will need to make sure you’re ready to write your Personal Statement. Thankfully, UniAdmissions have plenty of resources to help you through it, including our Ultimate UCAS Personal Statement Guide and our collection of successful Oxbridge Personal Statements . 

If you’re looking for more in-depth support that covers the whole application process for Medicine, Law and Oxbridge courses, them find out how you can enrol in one of our Premium Programmes .  

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Regardless of what changes are made to the Oxbridge admissions process, we will be ready to provide you with the very best support for your application. Our students have access to expert Oxbridge tutors, comprehensive online courses, intensive preparation events and so much more. 

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By Nik Taylor (Editor, The Uni Guide) | 18 July 2024 | 6 min read

The Ucas personal statement is changing in 2025

A question-based personal statement will be required as part of university applications from autumn 2025 onwards

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Why is the personal statement changing, how has ucas decided on these changes to the personal statement, do universities care about the personal statement, how have teacher references changed.

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Will replacing personal statements with application questions make university admissions fairer?

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Helena Gillespie receives funding from TASO for projects related to widening access. She is also a lead quality assessor for the Office for Students.

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Prospective students will no longer be asked to write personal statements as part of their application to university in the UK, the admissions organisation Ucas has announced .

Instead of writing a single 4,000 character personal statement, from 2026 applicants will instead have to answer three questions. These ask why they want to study a particular course, how their education has prepared them for it, and how their experiences beyond education have contributed to their preparation. In total, responses to the three questions will still add up to the same 4,000 character limit.

The change is intended to make the application process fairer. Young people from less privileged backgrounds may not get the same support in writing their statement – or be able to detail the same extensive extracurricular achievements – as their wealthier peers.

As experts on student access and widening participation to higher education, we think the questions replacing the personal statement look sensible. They provide structure and should help students focus on what is important. But a more radical approach to admissions is required to create an equitable process for all students.

Ucas has faced pressure for some time to make such a change. A 2022 report from higher education think tank Hepi showed that students from backgrounds underrepresented in higher education found including academic discussion in their statement and structuring it challenging. They also felt unsure about how to impress admissions tutors.

More generally, persistent gaps remain between the educational opportunities afforded to the most privileged in society and those who have been systematically and institutionally disadvantaged.

What’s more, admission gaps – the difference in the proportion of students from advantaged and disadvantaged backgrounds – are often highest in the most prestigious and competitive courses and institutions. These gaps have grown since 2018 .

Writing about their rationale for selecting the course should help students clarify their own intentions, as well as demonstrating their commitment to the admissions tutors. The second question, focusing on a student’s academic preparation for the course, should be straightforward to answer if they have studied a related set of prior qualifications. It may be trickier when a student is applying for a course which isn’t directly related to their previous academic experience.

The final question is probably the hardest for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, as it asks about preparation for the course outside the classroom. This may be less easy to answer if a student’s financial or social situation has prevented them from engaging in extracurricular activities. This might be because of costs or caring responsibilities.

While these changes are welcome, we believe a more radical approach to admissions is required if we are serious about creating a more equitable process for all students. Research analysis of personal statements has shown that applicants from different backgrounds do not have the same level of preparation for this aspect of university entrance, and this is likely to also be true of the questions replacing the long personal statement.

But rather than scrap the personal statement altogether, the response has been to improve the information and guidance provided to students. By making the process clearer, the changes announced by UCAS should lead to a reduction in the cultural and social advantages enjoyed by more privileged students. In addition, the approach using short answer questions aligns with inclusive recruitment processes now seem more widely in the world of work.

Further change

However further change is needed to make access to higher education truly fair. This would involve recognising that educational disadvantages prevent some students from reaching their academic potential, and that the intensive nature of private and elite education can exaggerate the academic strengths of other candidates.

Ucas itself has led the way in this area. It produces a “multiple equality measure” , which uses student data to categorise applicants into five groups. Students in each of these groups have similar levels of educational advantage, allowing for fairer comparison against their peers.

This information allows universities to make “contextual offers” – perhaps giving students from more disadvantaged backgrounds more consideration, an offer with lower required grades or an unconditional offer.

There is a growing acknowledgement within higher education that this process of contextualising admissions is important to make university admissions fairer. However, not all universities make contextual offers and some view the reduction in entry tariff – a common component of contextual admission policies – as potentially risking the quality of the student intake and the university’s reputation.

What’s more, universities may use their own measures to determine their contextual admission policies. This maintains institutional autonomy and means universities can be responsive to their local context. But the added complexity can be a barrier to uptake if applicants can’t easily understand where and how they qualify for such schemes, or what benefits they might receive as a result.

The change to the personal statement is a good move. But higher education needs to be doing more. This includes improving and potentially standardising current approaches to contextual admission policies. They need to be a major part of the admissions landscape if universities are to make real progress towards helping students from all backgrounds access higher education.

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What's on this page?

The new personal statement for 2026 entry, the future of undergraduate admissions (2023).

• UCAS' Reimagining UK Admissions report (2021)

Over the years, UCAS has evolved the admissions service to better serve applicants and broaden participation, with recent initiatives including the launch of seven new widening participation questions in the application in 2022, the structured reference in 2023 and the historical grades on entry data in 2024. 

As identified in The Future of Undergraduate Admissions report, our next area of reform for the 2026 cycle is the personal statement. We will introduce a scaffolded structure through a series of free text questions which will bring focus and clarity for students and support comparability for providers.   

For students applying to university for 2026 entry, the personal statement format will be changing from one longer piece of text to three separate sections. 

In our commitment to equity and inclusion, we believe that every student deserves a fair chance to articulate their unique journey, aspirations, and potential. The new 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.

Why are you changing the personal statement?

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. 

What's changing about the personal statement?

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. 

Who did you consult with about this and how did you decide on the changes?

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 

What happened to the extenuating circumstances box?

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. 

How important is the personal statement to universities and colleges?

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 

Building on the findings of Reimagining UK Admissions, we have continued our engagement with the sector on reforming and improving admissions, recognising that while the Department for Education opted not to progress post-qualification admissions at this time, the consultation revealed appetite for alternative approaches to innovation.

The Future of Undergraduate Admissions report highlights UCAS' continued engagement and ongoing progress with admission reform, including:

• personal statements
• grades on entry
• personalisation 
• widening access and participation 

If you have any questions, comments or thoughts regarding potential reforms which you’d like to share with us, please email [email protected] .

UCAS' Reimagining UK Admissions report (2021)

We welcomed the Department for Education’s 2021 consultation on UK HE admissions and the opportunity to focus on improving outcomes for students.

During the consultation period, we gathered feedback and insights from nearly 15,000 students, universities, colleges, and conservatoires; over 700 teachers and their representative bodies; and sector stakeholders, to create our Reimagining UK Admissions report.

Read the full report and press release:

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Ucas to scrap personal statements for student applicants

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Admissions body pitches reforms to make admissions process fairer

Students will no longer have to write an essay-style personal statement in their Ucas applications, after the admissions body announced an overhaul to the process.

Ucas said in a report published 12 January, Future of Undergraduate Admissions, that students would answer a series of questions about their reasons for choosing a course instead of writing a personal statement.

There have been concerns that the personal statements disadvantage students who do not have access to good guidance and support when writing the essays, which some feel could “widen the gap” between applicants.

The change comes after scrutiny from the Department for Education on the admissions process. The DfE carried out a consultation on whether to switch to a system of post-qualification admissions in 2021, although it ultimately decided not to continue with the changes.

Writing in a Higher Education Policy Institute blog on 12 January, Ucas head of strategy and reform Kim Eccleston said that “most students are in favour of personal statements” as it gives them the chance to “demonstrate achievements beyond their grades”.

But more than 80 per cent said they found the process of writing the statement stressful, and 79 per cent said the statement is difficult to complete with no support.

Eccleston said the replacement questions will prompt students to write about six areas, including their motivation and preparation for the course and for studying at a higher level, how other experiences have helped to prepare them for university, any extenuating circumstances and their preferred learning style.

“We believe this will create a more supportive framework which in turn will help guide students through their responses by removing the guesswork, as well as capturing the information universities and colleges have told us they really need to know from applicants when it comes to offer-making,” she said.

Once the questions have been finalised, they will replace the personal statement from 2024-25.

The report also revealed that Ucas will introduce reports showing students the range of grades that have been accepted for their chosen course in the past, and it will replace the free text option for referees to comment on students with a series of questions.

It will try to offer students more personalised guidance on what their post-secondary options are, and will launch an Outreach Connection Service designed to help universities and employers in their efforts to improve access and participation.

Ucas consulted with 1,200 students, more than 170 teachers and advisers, 100 universities and colleges and government representatives when creating the report.

In her blog post, Eccleston stressed that “reform is an evolving process”, and she said that Ucas would “keep engaging with the sector to help us shape the delivery of these reforms”—particularly the changes to the personal statement.

Ucas to scrap personal statements and have set questions for university applications instead

There are fears that the personal statement leaves disadvantaged students struggling

• 06:32, 18 JUL 2024
• Updated 09:00, 18 JUL 2024

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Ucas has confirmed that university applicants will now respond to questions in their personal statements to level the playing field for disadvantaged students.

The admissions body announced that students aiming to start university in 2026 will no longer write a free-response essay for their personal statement. Instead, they will answer three guided questions in their Ucas personal statements.

This change comes after longstanding concerns that the current personal statement system favours advantaged students who can access more support.

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It is hoped that these structured questions will give all students a clearer understanding of what universities and colleges want to know when making admissions decisions.

This decision follows Ucas data suggesting that the gap in university application rates between the most and least advantaged students has widened over the past year. At present, applicants detail their skills, experiences and reasons for applying for a course in a text box which can hold up to 4,000 characters.

Ucas questions revealed

However, from September 2025, students applying for 2026 entry to university or college courses will be required to answer three mandatory questions.

• 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 helpful?

This change comes after Ucas research indicated that 79% of students found crafting a personal statement challenging without help.

Ucas's recent survey revealed that the majority of prospective students are in favour of this revamped approach to personal statements.

Despite the changes, the length of the personal statement will remain capped at 4,000 characters.

As of June 30 the final deadline to apply to up to five courses simultaneously a total of 321,410 18-year-olds from across the UK have applied to courses, up from 319,570 in 2023 (0.6%).

However, there's a concerning trend in the data: application rates from the most disadvantaged groups in England have dipped to 25.4%, while those from the most advantaged backgrounds have seen a small rise to 60.7%.

Jo Saxton, chief executive at Ucas, said: "Today's figures show that whilst positive progress has been made, there is still much to do.

"The changes to the personal statement, along with our recent fee waiver for students in receipt of free school meals, are all part of Ucas's contribution to the sector-wide effort to ensure more people from disadvantaged backgrounds can benefit from the life-changing opportunity of higher education.

"During my time in schools, I saw first-hand how the personal statement can help students really clarify and articulate their ambition, but also how challenging it can be for those with less support.

"The new approach, with guided questions, aims to give greater confidence to those students, as well as their teachers when advising on how to secure their dream course."

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Kevin Gilmartin, post-16 specialist at the Association of Schools and College Leaders (ASCL), said: "This is a very welcome change. The current 'text box' approach is far too vague and has favoured students who are able to draw on support from family members who have previously been to university and submitted personal statements themselves.

"The switch to structured questions will provide much-needed clarity to students about what information they should be including.

"These questions should also be of more use to admissions tutors than the old-style personal statements, which research has shown were barely being read in many cases."

Last year, a report by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) revealed that university applicants' personal statements are typically reviewed for just two minutes on average.

Lee Elliot Major, a professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, said: "This welcome reform strikes the right balance between a more structured approach to deter fabrication, while not limiting the opportunity for applicants to personalise their statement.

"I believe it is a significant step in making the university admissions system a little bit fairer for all applicants."

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Liverpool students have their say on UCAS scrapping personal statements

The change comes under new plans to make applying for university more accessible and level the playing field

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University lecturers and teachers have taken to Twitter to share their reactions to UCAS scrapping personal statements for university applicants.

As well as grades and predicted results, university applicants have traditionally had to write a 47-line personal statement as part of their application. The statement is designed to illustrate their interest in the course they're applying for and highlight non-academic achievements, but it has been criticised by some as a disadvantage to students from low income households.

UCAS has announced that the personal statement will be scrapped no earlier than in 2024 for 2025 applicants, and replaced with a questionnaire. The new plans could go further in a few years and scrap a written statement entirely to be replaced with a video submission.

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Personal statements have been criticised as some argue better-off students get more help from their families in writing the statement, while many private schools offer specialist assistance. However, one student called the change 'insane', and other criticised the new proposed questionnaire.

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Charlotte Jones, an Environmental Sciences student at the University of Liverpool, said: "I didn't particularly like writing my personal statement, I don't think many people did. But in mine I referenced a lot of books I had read that were relevant to my course and stuff like that, which I wouldn't have been able to do otherwise. I think my personal statement is part of the reason I got the offers that I did."

Dan Walsh, a Geography student at the University of Liverpool, added: "I did a lot of work outside school to that was relevant to my course, which I put in my personal statement. It's going to be different for different people depending on what course they want to apply for.

"I do think it gives some people an unfair advantage though. My sister went to a school where they had a lot of support for people doing their UCAS applications and helped them write their personal statements, so I got her to help me with mine because my school didn't have anything like that."

Niamh Motley, a Maths student at the University of Liverpool, said: "I think if you got rid of the personal statement completely, a nobody would sign up to NCS or Duke of Edinburgh or anything like that, because loads of people sign up to that because they get told they can write about it in their personal statement.

"I don't think I would have liked doing the questionnaire instead, because I'm the type of person who likes to just have a blank screen and be able to write whatever I want, but some people like having a bit of guidance and stuff."

Stuart Wilks-Heeg, Professor of Politics at University of Liverpool, tweeted: "Replacing the almost universally disliked personal statement on UCAS forms with set questions sounds like a great idea, until you see the questions."

Replacing the almost universally disliked personal statement on UCAS forms with set questions sounds like a great idea, until you see the questions. https://t.co/h55hYsvLgG

— Stuart Wilks-Heeg (@StuartWilksHeeg)

Another student said: "so after hassling and fighting to get my personal statement done last year I wanna tell me they’re scrapping it off of UCAS. please this is insane."

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UCAS to Scrap Personal Statements from Next Year | This Week in Admissions News

The world of college admissions is ever-changing and for students with top university ambitions, it’s important to stay up-to-date on the latest developments. This week, UCAS announced that it will be scrapping the long personal statement as part of its wider reforms to admissions testing, while Harvard Medical School pulled out of the US News rankings. Check back next week to see what’s new and noteworthy in university admissions!

Ucas to scrap personal statements from next year.

Applications to Cambridge are set to change from the 2024 admissions cycle as UCAS has announced they will be scrapping the personal statement. The 4,000-character essay will be scrapped and replaced with a series of questions about the higher education course a student is applying for. The change comes amid claims that the personal statements favour middle-class students who may have better access to “high-quality advice and guidance”, according to Ucas, the Evening Standard reported.

The structured questions aim to “bring focus and clarity for students, reducing the need for support”. Kim Eccleston, head of strategy and reform at Ucas, said: “We believe this will create a more supportive framework, which in turn will help guide students through their responses by removing the guesswork, as well as capturing the information universities and colleges have told us they really need to know from applicants when it comes to offer-making.”

Cambridge had announced earlier in the year that they will be making some changes to their admissions testing as they were operationally unsustainable and “to deliver them affordably to students and higher education institutions.” The elite university has seen a drop in enrollment as well as applications over the last couple of years, owing to the Covid pandemic as well as an economic downturn in the UK.

Here are the changes we can expect in the UCAS from the 2024/25 admissions cycle:

• The 4,000-character personal statement essay will be scrapped and replaced with a series of questions about the higher education course a student is applying for
• Several university admissions exams, including BMAT (medicine), ENGAA (engineering), NSAA (natural sciences) and TMUA (mathematical skills) tests, will be discontinued
• The seven UK medical schools that use BMAT tests as part of their admissions process (Brighton and Sussex, Imperial, Lancaster, UCL, Cambridge, Leeds and Oxford) as well as medical and healthcare schools in other countries will put alternative arrangements in place

It should be interesting to see how the spread of AI will affect the college essay and personal statements. All of these changes are set to take effect from the 2024 admissions cycle - the 2023 cycle will continue as before. 

Other top stories in admissions news this week:

• Harvard Medical School announced it will no longer submit data to U.S. News & World Report for its “best medical schools” rankings. The decision was made due to concerns that the rankings create incentives for institutions to report inaccurate data and that the suitability of a medical school for a student is too complex to be reflected in a ranked list. This move follows the withdrawal of Harvard and Yale law schools (among other top schools) from the rankings in November, and is a reflection of the growing trend of elite institutions devaluing the importance of these rankings, which have traditionally played a significant role in shaping the decisions of prospective students.
• According to Times Higher Education , the Biden administration is planning to publish a list of programs/degrees that are considered to have low financial value for students. However, there is currently a lack of consensus on how to determine the economic worth of these programs. Amy Ellen Duke-Benfield, managing director of policy and research at Higher Learning Advocates, suggests that the department should consider metrics such as job opportunities for graduates and whether they possess the skills sought by employers when determining the list of programs.
• The PIE News writes on a new report from the Conference Board of Canada that highlights the need for a comprehensive strategy for the immigration and settlement of international students. The report states that despite the priority of Canadian stakeholders to retain international students after their studies, the government currently lacks a plan to effectively coordinate the granting of permits and selection of international students for immigration. The current lack of strategy creates friction for international students, and this problem could worsen as the growth in international student enrollment surpasses the planned increase in permanent immigration.
• English-language skills in China have slipped, according to a global proficiency ranking , especially among young Chinese, and some are blaming rising nationalism. The 2022 English Proficiency Index ranked China at 62, a low proficiency nation, down from a moderate proficiency ranking of 49 in 2021 and 38 in 2020. China lagged behind Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia and Hong Kong, the latter of which has remained a high proficiency economy over the past three years. According to the report, education reforms in China over the past few years have led to a reduction in the time spent in schools teaching and speaking English.

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UCAS to replace personal statement essay with three questions to help disadvantaged people

UCAS surveyed potential applicants about to start their personal statement and found more than three-quarters prefer the new three-question format.

By Claire Gilbody Dickerson, news reporter

Thursday 18 July 2024 03:37, UK

Students applying for university through UCAS will be required to answer three questions under new plans to help support people from disadvantaged backgrounds. 

Under the current system, prospective students have been filling out a free-response essay for their personal statement, which can be up to 4,000 characters long.

But amid concerns the task helps advantaged people who can get support, the essay will, as of September 2025, be replaced with three mandatory questions.

The questions are:

• 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 helpful?

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Students seeking to start university in 2026 will be the first to experience the reformed application form, which will allow for the same amount of writing as the essay.

The move comes as UCAS data suggests the gap in university application rates between the most and least advantaged students has widened in the last year.

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Data shows the application rate from the most disadvantaged backgrounds has fallen slightly to 25.4% in England, while the application rate for the most advantaged has marginally increased to 60.7%.

UCAS surveyed potential applicants about to start their personal statement, and found more than three-quarters prefer the new three-question format.

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Previous UCAS research found 79% of students felt that the process of writing the personal statement was difficult to complete without support.

Jo Saxton, chief executive at UCAS, said: "The changes to the personal statement, along with our recent fee waiver for students in receipt of free school meals, are all part of UCAS's contribution to the sector-wide effort to ensure more people from disadvantaged backgrounds can benefit from the life-changing opportunity of higher education."

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UCAS to scrap personal statement requirement for student applicants

T he Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) has said that students will no longer be required to write a personal statement when applying for higher education.

In a report titled Future of Undergraduate Admissions , which was published on 12 January, UCAS said that students would now answer a series of questions about their reasons for choosing a particular course.

Once the questions have been finalised, they will replace the statement from 2024-25.

It detailed concerns that support for students writing personal statements was “not universal”, and that it favoured privileged students. As a result, UCAS wrote that the personal statement has been criticised “as a mechanism to ‘widen the gap’” between students.

Analysis by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) in November last year found that writing a statement is an “unnecessary burden” on disadvantaged students, and it said that the 4,000-character essay was a factor “contributing to inequalities in higher education access”.

The personal statement will be replaced by a series of questions covering six key areas: motivation for the course, preparedness for the course, preparation through other experiences, extenuating circumstances, preparedness for study, and preferred learning style.

UCAS said that it hopes that the questions will “bring focus and clarity for students” and “reduce the need for support”.

The report found that 83% of students find the process of writing a personal statement to be stressful , and 79% believe that the statement is difficult to complete without institutional or external support.

UCAS consulted with 1,200 students, more than 170 teachers and advisers, 100 universities and colleges, and government representatives when creating the report.

In February 2022, UCAS announced that it was considering making changes to the application process.

Michelle Donelan, the Universities Minister at the time, said: “I have always felt that personal statements in their current form favour the most advantaged students.

“So I’m pleased that UCAS have confirmed that reform of the personal statement is in their plans so that personal statements work to the benefit of all students.”

The report also revealed that academic references are to be replaced with three structured questions for referees to answer, in order to make it easier to compare applicants against each other.

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UCAS Scraps The Personal Statement: Farewell To An Old Friend

Posted by Naomi | Jan 16, 2023 | | 0 -->

The past few years have represented significant upheaval for anyone involved in education.

For students, that has meant teacher assessment for grades, and heavily disrupted exam periods, not to mention the bulk of their tuition taking place online. Particularly badly affected were the students for whom access to higher education might already have represented a skewed and uneven playing field.

For those students – and in fact, for all university applicants – the news that the 4000 character/47 line UCAS personal statement will be radically overhauled for 2024 entrants onwards has been generally welcomed by students, teachers and universities.

The personal statement has always presented difficulties for students who might be academically able, but who are yet to find their own personal voice.

It has been worse still for those without access – financially or logistically – to the extracurricular activities that stuff the personal statements of their peers. Often from families where they might be the first to go on to degree level study, filling those 47 lines with information about why they are suitable can seem an impossible hurdle.

Other groups who have traditionally had difficulties with the statement are neurodiverse students who might require educational support. The kind of free and personal writing required can seem particularly difficult for students who respond best to structure and clear questions.

The personal statement has naturally favoured those whose families can either advise from personal experience, or who can afford coaching or editing services for the personal statement as well as additional academic support. For those who look to acquire knowledge rather than musical, scouting or volunteer achievements, it can seem to them as if they have nothing to say.

The Universities UK Fair Admissions Code of Practice has found that the statement in its current form is incompatible with its aims to level the playing field for all applicants.

No matter how able the student, over 80% of drafted statements failed to supply opinions backed up by evidence on the student’s chosen academic topics. At least 35% failed to organise their statement with any coherence or effectiveness at all (the skills required for the personal statement tend not to be acquired until the second or even third year of university study).

Grammatical skill also seemed to depart, even amongst the students that would normally score highly in this area. In other words, even those who might be expected to fare well, fared less well than they might think. In an academic year where time is precious – either for study or necessary recreation – an application necessity which can take the time equivalent of a working week to complete is ripe for change.

How were the changes to the UCAS appication process decided?

Ucas consulted with 1,200 students, 170 teachers, and more than 100 universities and colleges before making the reforms, as reported by The Times.

According to UCAS, although 72% of respondents surveyed felt positive about the personal statement, 79% agreed that writing the statement is difficult to complete without support, and 83% said they found the process of writing a personal statement stressful.

The structured questions aim to “bring focus and clarity for students, reducing the need for support”. Kim Eccleston, Head of Strategy and Reform at UCAS, said: “We believe this will create a more supportive framework, which in turn will help guide students through their responses by removing the guesswork, as well as capturing the information universities and colleges have told us they really need to know from applicants when it comes to offer-making.”

What will replace the personal statement?

The personal statement won’t disappear altogether, and nor should it – getting a flavour of the person behind the student is important to admissions officers. Indeed, this is why Studential was set up in the first place - to support students with this exercise and make sure they present themselves in the best possible light to prospective universities .

However, a series of structured questions which require shorter responses, and which by their nature will guide the applicant to a more relevant and revealing demonstration of their suitability for a course of academic study, will help both student and selection panel.

The questions will be about the course the student has applied for, so should present a more equal platform. UCAS have stated that the areas these questions might cover include:

• Motivation for the course
• How prepared you are for the course academically
• How any experiences might have prepared you for a degree
• Extentuating circumstances
• Preferred learning style.

In addition, teachers will receive more guidance on how to write references for students, and several university entrance exams will be scrapped, including those for medicine, engineering, natural sciences and mathematical skills. However, some institutions will maintain the BMAT (medicine) element, so it’s worth checking first.

However, as students find their way back through the disruption of post-pandemic fallout, the introduction of structure into one more area of their academic life can only be welcome.

About The Author

Naomi Lofts

Going through school and applying to university myself in 2002, I know how difficult it can be to make the right choices regarding your academic journey, especially when you're uncertain of where you want to be in the future.

Student Underground was created to provide reassurance to those students currently going through this period, as well as an outlet for sharing extra, up-to-date advice on a range of further and higher education topics.

These include choosing GCSEs and A levels, filling out the UCAS application form, taking a gap year, postgraduate study options, starting a business and more.

We hope you find it useful, and if you have any feedback, please leave a comment or email us directly at: [email protected]. Thank you,

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Personal statements scrapped over growing ChatGPT use

Singapore management university provost timothy clark says reforms will push students away from using generative ai in admissions statements.

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A Singapore university is scrapping its use of personal statements in undergraduate admissions amid concerns about applicants’ growing use of ChatGPT.

Under new changes for this autumn’s entry, Singapore Management University (SMU) has abolished the essay used by applicants to explain their values, approach to learning and achievements beyond academia, and replaced it with shorter structured answers related to a potential student’s intended course.

The reforms are intended to reduce the use of ChatGPT and other generative artificial intelligence chatbots – some of which are expressly geared around creating personal statements – as the questions in the new format are “much easier for applicants to answer”, explained the university’s provost, Timothy Clark.

“There’s less of a temptation or need to go to AI for help,” said Professor Clark, a former pro vice-chancellor at Durham University . “In fact, it’s probably even faster for students to just come up with their own short response rather than having to think of the right prompt to input into ChatGPT in order for a plausibly useful response to be generated.”

Campus resource collection: AI transformers like ChatGPT are here, so what next?

However, the use of generative AI would not be banned when answering the new questions in the new format, said Professor Clark, who insisted that the university was “not against students using generative AI to spark ideas and for inspiration”.

“What we do want to see, however, is authenticity and a strong personal voice, which is hard to do with generative AI still in the early stages at this moment,” he said, adding that he hoped the answers would “provide a little glimpse into the applicant’s personality and potential fit for both the student and the university” ahead of an admissions interview.

SMU is one of the first universities to scrap the personal statement directly in response to the rise of artificial intelligence, although the UK’s admissions body, Ucas, is withdrawing the essay for 2025 entry onwards on the basis that the 4,000-character essay unfairly advantages middle-class students.

In the first admissions window since generative AI went mainstream last year, SMU’s clarification on how it will treat AI-generated admissions content remains unusual within higher education. Only a handful of US universities have publicly banned AI use by students in admissions, although Ucas currently advises that “generating…all or a large part of your personal statement from an AI tool such as ChatGPT, and presenting it as your own words, could be considered cheating by universities and colleges and could affect your chances of an offer”.

Conversely, university admissions teams are increasingly using AI to help select promising students despite concerns that algorithms might inadvertently discriminate against certain groups .

Reflecting on how SMU used AI, Professor Clark said an applicant’s academic performance was still the most important piece of data to assess “the applicant’s intellectual potential and readiness for university-level work”.

“This is the starting point for most selective universities around the world,” he said, adding that SMU also used individual and group interviews to gauge university readiness.

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Social mobility expert calls to scrap Ucas personal statements

Independent school applicants have more support writing Ucas personal statements, says Professor Lee Elliot Major

By Irena Barker . 19 January 2022

2 minute read

Using personal statements as part of university applications should be scrapped because it puts many state school applicants at a disadvantage, Britain’s first professor of social mobility has suggested – The Times reports .

Lee Elliot Major , from Exeter University, said the statements gave an advantage to teenagers from more privileged backgrounds and they were not a suitable way to judge candidates.

Thousands of young people will have been preparing their statements in recent weeks, as the deadline for standard applications draws to a close on January 26.

Elliot Major said in The Times: “There is growing scepticism of their [personal statements’] educational worth among admissions professionals in universities and the statements have become a systematic disadvantage to poorer students.”

The professor believes the statements should be scrapped and replaced with a series of questions and universities should publish clear criteria for what they want to see in candidates.

He added: “Studies of personal statements have revealed a chasm in quality and style between independent and state school applicants. Independent school applicants were more likely to have well-written statements, with fewer grammatical errors, while state school pupils struggled to draw on suitable work and life experiences. The time has come to ask fundamental questions about their educational worth and the unfairness they create.

“It is increasingly clear they are more a reflection of how much support candidates benefit from rather than genuinely indicating an individual’s passion for their subject.”

Clare Marchant, the chief executive of Ucas , said that reform of the personal statement was “absolutely in our plans” and more support would be provided to students from poor backgrounds.

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• Coffee House

Scrapping university personal statements is a mistake

• 13 January 2023, 5:22pm

William Atkinson

The decision to scrap personal statements shows up our university system for what it really is: the priority is no longer about educating students, or academic endeavour, but expansion for expansion’s sake.

Ucas (the Universities and College Admissions Service) plans to replace the current applicant essay with a survey. This will reportedly ask taxing questions such as why applicants are motivated to study a particular course, why they are ‘ready to succeed’ and any context for their academic achievements – or lack thereof – so far. The justification? That the status quo is unfair on those students without access to ‘high-quality advice and guidance’. Yet the decision to get rid of personal statements from the university application process will erode standards and only makes the case for total reform of the sector stronger.

It’s no surprise that  pupils at  leading private schools receive more application help than state school students from poorer homes. The private school I went to provided me with plenty of advice, and I wrote up seven or eight drafts of my personal statement before it was finalised. My Oxford contemporaries who got in without such help deserve more credit than me – even if being a public schoolboy at Oxford now looks to be an  increasing disadvantage . 

But just because the current personal statement system can be unfair, it doesn’t mean replacing it is wise. More than eight in ten university applicants  surveyed  by Ucas found the current application process stressful; 79 per cent found it difficult to complete. This should be welcomed: stress and difficulty are natural parts of a process designed to test candidates’ ability to communicate subject aptitude. That Ucas wants to get by without them shows how little importance our universities now place on studying and academics. 

This week’s announcement is the latest sorry symptom of a sick university system

Most popular

Patrick o’flynn, keir starmer’s problems are of his own making.

Tony Blair’s dream of more than 50 per cent of school leavers going to university  has now been realised . That represents a tenfold increase in the number of people taking degrees since the 1980s. This is  despite  English 16–24-year-olds being less likely to be numerate and literate than their parents and grandparents. It’s not higher academic standards, though, that are responsible for these increased student numbers over the decades, but a broken business model. 

Rampant grade inflation at school has bedded in over a number of years. Even before the pandemic, A and A* grades almost doubled at A-level, and more pupils than ever were receiving top grades. This has fed through into universities. By  last summer , four in ten graduates were receiving a first; in particular, the number doing so after achieving three Ds or lower at A-level had soared. This is hard to square with a generation struggling to read and write properly. Instead, it shows that what students learn at university has increasingly little bearing on the grades they are given. The so-called ‘graduate premium’ is  increasingly meaningless  in an over-saturated market. 

Who is responsible for the mess the university system finds itself in? Successive governments share the blame. Margaret Thatcher put universities on track to becoming businesses first and places of learning second. John Major renamed the polytechnics to create dozens more universities overnight; Tony Blair put numbers before standards. The coalition’s tuition fee hike meant more students racked up more debt doing courses of decreasing value. 

All this has done is create one big vicious cycle. An ever-expanding undergraduate population has forced universities to borrow money for increasing capacity years in advance. To attract students, they want to be as high up the league tables as possible. This incentivises them to provide the best grades possible – whatever the quality of work produced. The intellectual quality of students entering the system is becoming increasingly irrelevant. Who needs a personal statement when the logical outcome is that one day everyone will get firsts? 

This model cannot be sustained. Rising interest rates mean the university debt bubble will become harder to finance. With increasing numbers of graduates unlikely to ever pay off their tuition fee loans, this means a bigger burden on the taxpayer. By the 2040s, it has been predicted that this could cost the Treasury well above 10 per cent of GDP. This cost will only rise if undereducated graduates contribute less to the economy than government modellers expect. 

What, then, can be done about this? The university system has to be overhauled, grade inflation stamped out in school, underperforming universities closed. Personal statements should be retained and the application system made more rigorous. Undergraduate numbers must fall – draw a line: no university places for anyone receiving anything under a B or C. Those institutions that survive should be funded by central government, private donations or fees, rather than a debt mountain.

Neither the Conservative or Labour party wants to change the status quo. The Tories may rail against campus wokery, but they have no desire to reform a sector that provides one of the country’s few growing industries. A conveyer belt of arts graduates also conveniently provides Labour with a substantial chunk of their future voter base. 

This week’s announcement is the latest sorry symptom of a sick university system. Whether you believe a degree is worthwhile for its own sake, or just a necessary step towards a job, this constitutes a tragic waste of human potential. The university blob’s unwillingness to wake up to their delusion of a thriving university system means the problem of falling standards, meaningless grades and ballooning debts will only grow. It will be students – and the taxpayer – who pay the price.

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Olivia Nuzzi, New York Magazine Writer, Put on Leave Over R.F.K. Jr. Relationship

Ms. Nuzzi told her editors about the relationship that had turned personal, the outlet said. A representative for Mr. Kennedy said the pair had met only once.

• Share full article

By Katie Robertson

A star New York Magazine political reporter has been placed on leave after disclosing a personal relationship with the former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

In a statement posted online on Thursday night, New York Magazine said that its Washington correspondent, Olivia Nuzzi , had recently acknowledged to the magazine’s editors that she had engaged in a relationship “with a former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign while she was reporting on the campaign.” The outlet said the relationship was “a violation of the magazine’s standards around conflicts of interest and disclosures.”

A person familiar with the matter confirmed that the relationship was with Mr. Kennedy, a former Democrat who ended his independent run for president in August and has since endorsed former President Donald J. Trump. Mr. Trump’s campaign has named Mr. Kennedy to his transition team should he win the election in November.

New York Magazine said on Thursday that it had reviewed Ms. Nuzzi’s work and found “no inaccuracies nor evidence of bias.”

“She is currently on leave from the magazine, and the magazine is conducting a more thorough third-party review,” the publication said.

David Haskell, the editor of New York magazine, said in a note to staff on Friday that Ms. Nuzzi had told editors about the relationship a few days ago. She told them that it had started in December 2023 and ended in August.

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