personal statement line counter

UCAS Personal Statement Length Checker

Please note: The line count may differ than the number of lines in the textbox above but when copy and pasted will match the line count on the UCAS application.

UCAS Personal Statement Requirements

No longer than 4000 characters.
No longer than 47 lines.
Each line can be no longer than 94 characters. (Our character counter above already has a max line length of 94 characters unless otherwise noted.)
Characters include spaces, carriage returns, and punctuation.

To see additional features including word count, paragraph count, space count and more use the character counter on our home page.

How to write your UCAS personal statement

The UCAS personal statement scares most high school students. Writing a perfect personal statement is a strenuous and unavoidable process. With roughly about 6 million university applications each year, officials need a method for filtering stronger applicants from everyone else.

As challenging as this task may appear, it is also your only chance to share your personality and eligibility for the degree program you have chosen. Follow our practices given, and you can absolutely make your personal statement up to the mark.

Start with a plan

Each year thousands of applications are received for the best degrees in the world and are best focused on the goal of making their application stand out from the rest.

Thus, planning out what you want to say prior to writing your UCAS statement makes it easy to write a convincing personal statement. Start off by making a rough draft, answering some questions like

What subjects do you want to study?
Why have you particularly chosen this path for yourself?
What makes you think that you are best suited to study this degree program at the college?

Some of these points will form the backbone of your personal statement, so write them in a manner that makes sense to you.

Sometimes you want to create simple bullet points or use mind maps. No matter what you decide; your goal is the same. You want to clarify why the university should provide you with a spot.

Bigger Picture of the Degree

Talk about the course that you have applied to. How did you learn about it in the first place? What means did you use to deepen your interest and knowledge in this area?

It would be a huge plus to list the books you read and the meetings you have attended regarding the subject.

Please elaborate on your academic attitude towards the degree. What are your goals after graduating? What role will it play in helping you achieve your greatest ambitions? What sort of vocation plans do you have after graduation?

Write about your work experience and achievements

Your previous achievements are an essential part of your personal statement. Think about all the accolades you have received and the contests you have participated in. These can be in-school, national or international. Both academic and sports awards can greatly help emphasize your commitment.

Write about the important skills and experiences acquired elsewhere (such as hobbies) that can be chained to the degree of your choice.

Remember, you are searching for experience that shows why you need to study the subject that you have chosen. You are not just writing an essay about what you are doing in your high school syllabus.

Extracurricular Activities

Your extracurriculars ought to likewise be included in the personal statement. Whether it be a MUN or a cross country race, they pass on the message that you love participating in different events.

Likewise, it is really smart to discuss any expertise you have acquired through extracurriculars.

Discuss any leadership roles you could have held, as they improve your capacity to appreciate people on a profound level and put you across as a pioneer.

Community service is a plus in the UCAS statement as it shows a promise to a reason bigger than oneself.

You can link all these activities to your selected course in the best case. Be careful not to elaborate too much on extracurricular activities.

UCAS Character Count

There are some specific instructions for your personal statement that you can never ignore.

First, it must not exceed 4,000 characters or 47 lines of text (including blank lines), whichever comes first. If you do exceed this, the university will not get your entire statement.

So make sure your personal statement has a solid and decisive ending. It will look bad if you cut it off in the middle of a sentence after realizing that you have exceeded the text limit.

Instead, give each section proper attention, time, and character to plan your essay thoroughly.

However, while you are getting everything rolling, you ought to overlook these restrictions.

Tips for reducing the character count

From the get-go, you simply need to jot down all that you feel is significant. You will probably wind up with something very lengthy, but that is okay.

This is where you get to do some polishing and trimming. Maintain the focal point of your piece on the course you are applying for, why you want to do it and for what reason you are impeccably fit for it.

Glance through what you have composed until now - do you have the right balance? Cut off whatever continues a little to far, as you want to keep each point crisp and concise.

It is a difficult process to try to keep as much content as possible while keeping the character count low, so here are some simple ways to make it easier for you.

Avoid quotes

Read your personal statement and eliminate platitudes if there are any - for instance, 'I've wanted to study psychology since I was young'…The same goes for the quotations: except if they increase the value of your statement (which they don't most of the time!), it is really the best practice to remove them.

Make sure everything is concise

For each sentence in your piece, use the "so what?" rule. Does this sentence appear to be more reasonable for the course? If not, cutting it is best. This frequently happens when individuals write too much about their extracurriculars in a frantic endeavour to fit everything in. For extra analysis, feel free to use our sentence counter to calculate the average length of your sentences.

Colleges, notwithstanding, need to see a reflection and what you have extracted from your encounters; this implies it is normally better to simply discuss a few extracurriculars than to list many things that the reader is likely to skim.

Also, note that you don't have to use hospital or volunteer location names. This further allows you to remove the last few characters from the count.

Use colour coding

An easy way to see where you are losing most of your characters is to highlight the sections of your statement with different colours.

Check your language

We frequently invest a great deal of energy looking up big words with the expectation that it will make our work impressive. However, this isn't generally the best practice. It is, in many cases, best to cut these words for fundamental and engaging sentences.

I hope the process will now be transparent, and it will be more exciting for you as you embark on your writing.

How to use our UCAS personal statement checker

To use our tool simply copy and paste your personal statement into the text-box above.

At the top, you will see two metrics displayed. The first metric on the left is the total characters you've typed out of the limit of 4,000 characters.

The second metric on the right is the number of lines your text contains out of the max of 47 lines. The UCAS allows a maximum of 94 characters per line, which our line count feature already takes into consideration.

To make it easier you can click the green "copy text" button to copy the text in the text box. You can also click the red "clear text" button to delete all the text in the text-box.

Why use an online UCAS personal statement checker?

Reason number one: The character count feature in Microsoft Word will not give you an accurate reading. The reason is that Word does not count the carriage return (also known as the enter key) as a character while UCAS does count it as a character.

The problem is that this will cause Word to underestimate the character count. This could cause your essay not to be able to submit when you try to upload it. If anything it would be better to overestimate the word count on Word that way it will fit.

Our personal statement checker however will give you the same character count as UCAS unlike the Microsoft Word character count.

It can be helpful to see the character count in real-time as you are typing your personal statement. This way you are constantly reminded of how long your essay is.

If you are not paying attention it can be easy to lose track of how long your essay is and go over the limit.

Our tool makes it easier to be aware of the length and easy to cut back if necessary.

How many characters in a personal statement?

UCAS requires 4,000 characters in their personal statement. Use our personal statement checker above to see if your essay meets the requirements.

How many words in a UCAS personal statement

UCAS has a character limit of 4,000 characters. This equates to about 615 to 800 words.

How many words is 4000 characters?

4,000 characters is about 615 to 800 words. For more Characters to Words conversions, check out our Characters To Words Converter .

Does the personal statement character limit include spaces?

Yes, it does include spaces as well as carriage returns. Check your statement with our personal statement checker above.

Thanks for using our UCAS personal statement checker!

We appreciate you taking the time to check your personal statement using our webpage. As you know, this is a very important college application essay to get into British universities. UCAS stands for Universities and Colleges Admissions Service and is what the UK uses for the college application process. Good luck on your personal statement!

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Personal statement length checker

Enter your personal statement below to check if it meets the UCAS Apply requirements for the number of lines and character length.

The requirements for teacher training personal statements are different for UCAS Apply so this checker won't produce the correct results.

Your personal statement will be shown formatted according to UCAS's requirements, and the length and character limit calculated to check it's length.

Please note that the results of our personal statement checker may differ slightly from the UCAS Apply length checker. If you notice any differences please email us with copy of your personal statement and we'll. investigate further

UCAS Personal Statement Line & Character Counter

This program is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it under the terms of the GNU GPL. This program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. View the source for details.

This site is not affiliated with, endorsed by, approved by, or related to UCAS.

Unlike the counter by Maccery , no personal statements are sent to the hosting server. All codes are executed on the client-side.

UCAS Personal Statement Line & Character Counter

Automatic analysis is not recommended for slow computers. For readability purposes, the author used a different counting method than the standard UCAS system. However, the author did not use any automatic counting methods.

The line count may vary depending on the font size used.

UCAS Personal Statement Requirements

Our character counter has a maximum line length of 94 characters.

We do not allow any other characters except spaces, carriage returns, or punctuation. You may enter your text into our character counter by typing it directly into the box .

Not Sure How To Start Your Personality Statement?

A personal statement is a document that explains why you want to study a certain course or subject. You should include information about yourself, such as your interests, hobbies, and achievements.

You should include your hobbies, interests, skills, qualifications, work experience, and any other relevant information about yourself. Your CV is also known as a curriculum vitae, or CV.

What to Do You Write About in the Personal Statement of Yourself?

You should be careful when writing your personal statement. Don’t mention any specific universities or colleges by name, as this could make you seem uninterested in studying there.

Instead, think about what you want to achieve and how you plan to do it. This will help you focus on the most important things.

Here are some ideas to help you start writing:

Look at course descriptions to identify the qualities, skills, and experience required – you can use this to help you decide what topic to write about.
Tell your reader why you’re applying – include your ambitions, as well as what interests you about this subject, the course provider and higher education.
Consider what qualifies you for the job for the job – this could be your relevant experiences (such as playing sports) or capabilities (such like programming) or accomplishments (such for being an part of a group).
Include any clubs or societies you’re involved in (such as sports or music).
Mention any relevant employment experiences or volunteering you’ve done (such as Inspired Awards, Step Together or Project Trust).
With the current restrictions on your life, carrying this out in person can be difficult. Don’t worry, universities and colleges understand this and we’ll take it into account when considering you.

If you’ve developed skills through the Duke of Edinburgh, ASDAN, National Citizen Service, the Crest Awards scheme, or young enterprise, talk about it. If you took part in a higher education taster programme, placement, summer school, or something similar, talk about it.

How To Write Your Personal Statement

Your personal statement should be unique. So there’s no definitive format for you to follow. But here are some guidelines for you:

Take your time.
Write in an enthusiastic and concise manner.
Remember, your personal statement must be “personal.” Don’t use any clichés or overused words.

Try to stand out, but do not go too far with humour, quotes, and anything unusual.

Just in case the admissions tutor does not share the same sense of humour. Use the course descriptions to help structure your information.

Make sure you check the line and character limit. In this case, you have 47 lines and 4,000 characters. Certain word processors have different results if they do not take paragraphs and tabs into account in terms of individual character.

Proofread aloud, then get your teachers, advisers, and family to check. Then redraw it until you’re happy with it and spelling, punctuation, and grammar are correct.

We recommend you write your personal statements first, then copy and paste them into your online applications once you’re happy with them.

Make sure you save them regularly, as they time out after 35 minutes of activity.

How To Use Our UCAS Personal Statement Checker

To use our tool, simply copy and paste your personal statement into this box. At the top, there will be 2 metrics displayed. The first on the left is the number of characters you’ve typed out (4,000) and the second on the right is the number of lines you’ve written (47).

Our tool automatically calculates the number of lines based on the character length. You may now continue typing your personal statement.

To make it easier, you can copy the text in the box by clicking the green “copy text”. You can also clear the text in the box with the red “clear text”.

Why Use An Online UCAS Personal Statement Checker?

The character count feature of Microsoft Word will not give an accurate reading. The problem is that Word doesn’t count the carriage return (or the enter key) as part of a character while UCAS counts it as such.

This causes Word to underestimate the character counter. This could cause your paper not to be submitted when you try uploading it. If anything, it’d be better to overestimate your word count on Word; that’ll make it fit.

Our personal statement editor, however, will give you the exact same count as UCAS, so there won’t be any problems with that.

You can check the character count in real time as you type your personal statement. This helps you stay focused on writing your essay.

If you are not careful, it can be easy to forget about the length of your essay and write too much or too little. Our tool makes it easy to be aware of the total number of characters and make sure you do not exceed the word limit.

How Many Characters Are Usually In The Words?

4,000 characters is about 1,500 to 2,200 words. How Many Words In A UCAS Personal Statement

UCAS has a character limit set by the university. This means you should be careful when writing your essay.

You may need to cut down on some parts of your text.

Does The Personal Statement Character Limit Include Spaces?

Yes, it includes spaces as well as carriage return. You can use this space-separated string as an input to any programming language you want.

Personal statement checker

Personal statement length checker.

Do you want to know how long your personal statement is? You are in the right place.

**Important note – We don’t store or share your personal statement. It is 100% safe to use**

Benefits of using our personal statement checker:

You don’t need to login to UCAS and don’t need to use their tricky online form
Our nifty checker uses their method of counting lines with 94 characters maximum per line
It also uses their method of counting characters (including spaces etc.)
Worried about the spelling, grammar and content of your statement? We offer an affordable personal statement editing service to improve the message of your personal statement.

Paste your personal statement below to check if it meets the UCAS Apply requirements for the number of lines and character length. Click “check length”.

NOTE : W e do not store your personal statement and you will not have problems with Turnitin.

Make your personal statement stand out by removing grammar, spelling, punctuation and sentence errors:

We offer a personal statement editing service to improve the grammar, spelling and punctuation of your statement. It only costs £30 and can really improve your personal statement before you send it to the institution you are applying for. Click on the order now button!

What is the UCAS personal statement word count?

UCAS does not specify a certain number of words. However, the personal statement is limited to 4,000 characters including spaces. You cannot use Word to check your statement length because they count words and spaces differently, hence why we have developed this tool for you.

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UCAS PERSONAL STATEMENT EDITOR

Use this page to check and edit your personal statement according to the UCAS guidelines. Scroll down to take advantage of the tips and tricks for writing a superb personal statement for medical school!

INSPIRATION

What is this page for?

This page simply allows you to check and edit the length of your personal statement against the UCAS criteria of 47 lines.
Microsoft word and google docs don’t necessarily count a “line” the same way UCAS does so this is a simple tool that checks everything against the strict UCAS criteria. Scroll down to get some inspiration while you write.

When to use?

You can essentially use this page as a text editor for your statement if you wish. Microsoft Word and google docs have formatting options such as bold/ headings etc which are all stripped when you submit your personal statement.
The editor on this page strips such formatting by default so you can focus on writing a top-notch statement, with a bit of inspiration from the tips below!
MAKE SURE TO COPY ANY CHANGES MADE BACK INTO YOUR WORD EDITOR

Starting a statement is hard!

Which is why we put together some resources below to help make a start.
We also have an the inspiration page with exemplar personal statements and dissected paragraphs from previous medical students. Check it out here , or click the inspiration button below !

Paste Text Below

[ucas commentary=’false’]

TIPS TO WRITING A GOOD STATEMENT

Statement Outline

Why do you want to be a doctor? Believe me this won’t be the first or last time you answer this so have a good answer!

What experience of medicine do you have, and what did you learn from these experiences? Skills gained?
What are some extra-curricular activities that make you a well rounded candidate?
Do these extra-curricular activities make you well suited for medicine? ie good communication as part of the debate team
short and sweet conclusion to end

Introduction

Always Be original and honest.

Most people open with cliches. Don’t do that.
Maybe prepare an anecdote about your experiences with healthcare professionals.
They may have inspired you from a young age but don’t say you wanted to become a doctor from day 1.

Why do you want to become a doctor?

This is usually the hardest question to answer and it takes a lot of figuring out. As cliche as it sounds, you must be compassionate, caring and willing to put your knowledge to good use in helping others.

is it because you care for others?
Who inspired you and how?
Did you have an experience in a hospital or care home, or even a non-medical experience that made you discover that caring for others was your passion?

Exploration and Suitability

How do you know you are cut out for medicine?

What are the steps you have taken that demonstrate your passions for medicine?
Have you done your research and actually sought out experiences that give you glimpses into the healthcare system?
Most importantly what have these experiences taught you?

Extra-Curricular Activities

What do you do in your spare time?

What is a notable activity you do that demonstrates your commitments, communication skills, general roundedness, empathy, drive, ambition?

Are you in a band , church choir , drama group, football club , or actively learning a new language ? These things prove you are driven and committed to achieving a goal
are you in the debate team , an avid reader, part of the welcome team in your church , an open day host at your school, or a babysitter ? These things, as small as they sound can demonstrate your language and interpersonal skills , and your ability to be patient.
are you a volunteer at a homeless shelter, care home or charity shop? These things show your compassion, care and kind nature, and will certainly give your personal statement a huge boost.

You have done all the work!

now just end with a nice closing remark summarising your suitability.
Don’t however just repeat yourself over and over again.

See some good examples below!

EXAMPLE STATEMENTS

Example personal statments – Taken from our PS commentary page and originally from The Student Room PS archives.

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Personal Statement Editing & Coaching

Take your personal statement to the next level.

Expert editors polish your writing to reflect the work you put into it. Professional statement editing will:

Make sure you submit your personal statement with confidence
Make your personal statement tell a complete, convincing story
Maximize your chances of getting accepted

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Personal Statement Editing

Scribbr editors correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors using track changes, but that’s not all. To take your personal statement to the next level, they also give feedback and ensure

Clear sentence structure
Concise, coherent phrasing
Consistent tone and style
and more…

Rest assured, we make sure your voice remains dominant throughout your personal statement.

Get matched to the perfect editor

At Scribbr, you can rest assured that only the best editors will work on your personal statement.

All our 800+ editors have passed the challenging Scribbr Academy, which has a passing rate of only 2%.

We handpick your editor on several criteria, including field of study.

Janice holds a PhD in German studies from Duke University. As a former professor, she has helped many students refine their application essays for competitive degree programs and study-abroad programs.

Alexandra earned an Erasmus Mundus MA in cultural narratives and a BA in English from Emory University. As a teacher, editor, and writing coach, she has spent nearly a decade helping students find their voice and express their ideas.

Originally from Maryland, Amy headed west to attend Scripps College in California, where she earned a bachelor's degree in music and gender studies. In 2009, she began working for the admissions office of her alma mater, where she focused on reviewing applications and interviewing prospective students.

For the Personal Statement Editing & Coaching service, you’ll be matched with a personal statement editor, who will review your draft and help you strengthen your writing.

You’ll receive…

A professionally edited personal statement
Advice on how to tell a clear and compelling story
Assurance that you’ve made a strong case for your admission
Suggestions to help you meet your word count

You can receive your feedback in as little as 3 hours or less. Get peace of mind knowing your personal statement is the best it can be, and boost your chances of getting accepted at your top schools.

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Stay in control throughout the editing process, upload your draft.

Send us your draft. Share important information, including your prompt and any questions you have for your editor.

Feedback from an expert

Your editor reviews your work. You’ll receive a polished personal statement along with in-depth content advice.

Apply with confidence

The application process can be stressful, but with the help of your personal statement editor, you can apply with confidence.

Scribbr & academic integrity

Scribbr is committed to protecting academic integrity. Our proofreading service, our AI writing tools ( plagiarism checker , paraphrasing tool , grammar checker , summarizer, Citation Generator ) as well as our free Knowledge Base content are designed to help students produce quality academic papers.

We make every effort to prevent our software from being used for fraudulent or manipulative purposes.

Your questions, answered.

Yes! Our personal statement editors can help you reduce your word count by up to 25%. You can choose to receive this feedback through direct edits or suggestions in comments – just select your choice when you upload your personal statement.

At Scribbr, we promise to make every customer 100% happy with the service we offer. Our philosophy: Your complaint is always justified – no denial, no doubts.

Our customer support team is here to find the solution that helps you the most, whether that’s a free new edit or a refund for the service.

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How to Keep Your UCAS Personal Statement Within the Character Limit

The perfect law personal statement will by its very nature include all the skills, experience and knowledge to highlight a true passion for the subject. However, the problem with such an in-depth statement is that it almost always goes over the UCAS character count.

It can be frustrating that your statement can only be 4,000 characters when you feel like you have so much more to say. Being concise is key. You can still include all the most valuable content without surpassing this limit. Let me show you how.

Have Someone Else Read it

After your own personal first proofread to cut out anything unnecessary, you should ask someone else to have a look over it. If you can get more than one person to look at it, that’s even better. The benefit of this lies in objectiveness. Your mum, dad, sister, aunt, history teacher or best friend will be able to pick out must faster than you can if you are repeating the same ideas, explaining something badly or in too many words or being cliché.

It is completely natural to look at any piece of work you have completed and struggle to know what the less important parts are but an objective third party will not be as tied to the work. This step is especially helpful if you have gone over the word count substantially.

Make Sure it’s Relevant

Half of the reason why your personal statement can end up so long as it’s very easy to waffle as you try to order your points coherently. However, in general, most “waffle” is not relevant.

The best way to highlight what is relevant is to ask the “so what?” question. That is, as you are reading each sentence of your personal statement, ask yourself “so what?” Does the information I have provided help the admissions tutors at my chosen universities conclude that I am suitable for this course, and have I shown why it makes me a good candidate? If the answers are no, then the point is probably irrelevant and should be removed.

Moreover, this is a brilliant strategy to use once you know your points have value to ensure that you have properly reflected on and explained why this particular extra-curricular or experience makes you suitable for the course.

Separate Your Sections

The risk when it comes to cutting down your personal statement is that you will cut down too much in one section and keep too much of another. Often, personal statements are set out to include your experience of the subject you are applying for, your school experience and relevant extracurriculars and wider reading of the area.

It’s a good idea to begin writing your personal statement in sections – even taking a new word document for each one at the beginning. Then when it comes to editing and removing characters to get yourself down to the word limit, you will be able to see which section is using up most of your precious characters. Then if there is no good reason why one section is much longer than the rest, that is the right section to begin cutting down.

Throw Out the Flowery Language

You are going to be a university student, so that means you must start using “adult” academic words right? Wrong! try to keep your language simple and concise. Although many aspects of a law degree will introduce you to long words, Latin, and complex concepts, you do not have to start now. In fact, it will be most preferred by admissions tutors if you skip the flowery language and keep your points clear, simple and concise. It will be much more impressive if your personal statement demonstrates your interest in the subject without over-complicated language.

However, if you have got the odd long or incredibly intellectual sounding word in a sentence and you want to keep it in as it helps make your point, please do not feel that you have to go and delete it now. The number one rule is to make sure every word you use, you understand.

Assess Your Use of Commas, Adverbs and Conjunctions

Finally, you are getting there! You are no longer leaps and bounds over the character limit and now just have to find a way to cut those last 50-100 characters. So here is what to do next. Start with removing ands, buts and in some places commas where you can. Conjunctions and heavy comma use tend to elongate sentences and removing them in favour of a full stop will turn the one sentence into two crisper sentences. Alternatively, shortening the sentence altogether will not only make your writing clearer but remove extra pesky characters.

Another tip I admittedly only learned a few months into my university course is that you don’t need adverbs and adjectives as much as you think you do. These descriptive words often merely fill up sentences and fail to add value to the purpose of the point. When you are only a few characters away from a perfect statement, it is helpful to go through and pinpoint whether the adverb or adjective is helpful or just using up words. More often than not I found the sentence stood alone just as well without using them.

Words: Alicia Gibson

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UCAS Personal Statement Length

What are the things to put in your personal statement when applying at UCAS? This is the question that has been bothering you for quite some time because you want to come up with a stellar application essay. That is why you are looking for ways on how to write a personal statement for university or your statement of purpose post baccalaureate . Here are some tips.

Admissions Process: UCAS Personal Statement Characters

Based on online counters for personal statements for UCAS, the university requires 4,000-character count or about 47 lines of texts in your essay. This is not that long that is why you have to know how to maximize your essay by using the space allotted wisely and correctly.

If you want to make it to the UCAS using your PS, ensure that you follow this personal statement word counter guideline when writing, and follow this UCAS Personal Statement Length and Tips:

Aside from the word limit of 47 lines of texts, you should also know that no two personal statements are alike . It is understood that you should tailor your PS for UCAS and avoid submitting the same essay you are going to submit in other universities. If you do submit the same PS across applications, you might lose the chance of capturing the attention of the admissions committee and lose your chance of entering UCAS. Remember, you should write a unique personal statement, which one is of the biggest factors in winning or losing in this application. It may also be the deciding factor to choose between you and another applicant.
Clearly, explain the reasons for applying in UCAS and reasons you want to take up the course. There should be a clear explanation that will help the committee in deciding whether you are one of those applicants that they are looking for or not. You should also tell them what made you interested or the factors that developed your interest in the course. So aside from following the UCAS personal statement word count, you should show why you deserve to become one of their students and express what you can bring to the table when they get you in.
Why do you fit the bill? This should be the focus of your personal statement so that you can show what makes you a great student who meets the criteria for selecting the most suitable applicants. You should show them that you understand what it means to take up the course and how you are prepared for the challenges that you will face.
Stay on the topic and make sure that your paper shows that you did your homework about the school. You should be able to show why you are one of the best candidates to become a student in UCAS.
Mention what you did outside the classroom by writing about any volunteer works, education and experiences you gained, but make sure that they are related to the course. Also, write about your long-term plans.

Follow and apply this tips on your paper to ensure that you increase your chances of taking part into the program!

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Personal statement FAQs

We've gone through some of the most commonly asked personal statement questions and put all the answers in one place

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Your personal statement is a big part of your uni application. It's where you can show universities why they should give you a place on your chosen course. Read on for quick tips on writing your personal statement. We'll cover what sort of things to include, along with answers to some of the most commonly asked questions that crop up over on our sister site The Student Room . If you can't find an answer to your question here, try posting it to the personal statements forum on The Student Room .

The university application personal statement is changing in 2025
University admissions service Ucas has announced that a new style of personal statement will be launched in 2025. This will affect anyone making a university application from autumn 2025 onwards. .

When should I start writing my personal statement?

It’s never too early to start thinking about it! However, you'll need a good idea of what course you’re going to apply for before you launch into writing it. On the other hand, don’t leave it too late as it's quite a long process and you're likely to have a few drafts before reaching your finished product.

Remember: your referee will need to see your personal statement before they can write your reference. If you get yourself organised over the summer, you can start by jotting down a few ideas over those few weeks - ready to start writing it when you arrive back to school or college in September.

The Ucas application deadline for most undergraduate uni courses starting in September 2024 is 31 January 2024. If you're applying to Oxbridge or for medicine, dentistry or veterinary science courses to start in 2024 there's an earlier deadline – 16 October 2023. You can find all the key Ucas deadlines and application dates for 2024 entry in this article .

Read more: universities reveal all about personal statements

How long can the personal statement be?

Statements are limited to whichever is shorter of either:

4,000 characters (including spaces) OR

Be aware that software such as Microsoft Word may not give a character or line count that completely matches what the Ucas form says. The character count should be reasonably accurate, but the line limit is more difficult because lines may wrap at different points depending on the software you're using.

The only way to be 100% sure what the character and line counts are is to copy your draft statement into your online Ucas form (but be careful not to submit it unless you're sure it's the final version). You can edit and save your personal statement without submitting it as many times as you like, and you'll only be able to mark the section as complete when you're on the preview screen.

If testing out your personal statement draft on your Ucas form still feels too risky, you can get a good indication of where you're at by using the Courier New font, size 10, with the default margins, to get a reasonable estimate how many lines your personal statement will be. If you've left a line between paragraphs, then you will probably reach the line limit before the character limit.

Read more: how to write an excellent personal statement in ten steps

Where do I start?

Most people won’t be able to just start writing the statement off the top of their head – so it’s a good idea to jot down a few notes first. The main things to think about are:

What do I want to study? (if you can't answer this, you should probably concentrate on working it out before writing your personal statement).
Why do I want to study it?
What personal qualities, interests and experience do I have which show I am suited to this subject, and to study at university?

Many people have trouble writing about themselves and their personal qualities. If you’re struggling with this step, it can be helpful to look up some information on writing a CV - there are a lot of parallels in how to put yourself forward effectively.

Read more: five practical tips to help with your personal statement

What sort of structure should I use?

Most people write their personal statement in an essay style, starting off with the course, and why they want to do it, then talking about their relevant work experience and skills and finishing off with extracurricular activities.

As a guide, spend around two thirds of the space talking about your course and how you’re suited to it, and one third on your work experience and other activities. Exactly how you write your statement depends on your subject – generally people write more about work experience for vocational subjects like medicine and law than they would for subjects like maths or English where work experience is less important.

Read more: avoid these ten biggest personal statement mistakes

No formatting of any type is allowed in your personal statement (except using capital letters), so any bold, italic, or underlined words will disappear in the preview.

Tabs and multiple spaces will be condensed to a single space, so it is not possible to indent lines. Single spaces at the beginning of lines will also be removed.

You have a very limited set of special characters. Common symbols that aren't allowed are € and the special quote characters “ ‘ ’ ” which will simply be removed from your statement, so remember to replace quotes with " and '.

Backslashes (\) are also not allowed, but will be replaced with forward slashes (/) and curly brackets will be replaced with normal ones.

What’s the most important part of the personal statement?

Write about your aspirations in a meaningful way. The crucial bit about a personal statement is where you talk about the subject you are applying for and why you want to do this at uni. Admissions tutors will always focus on this bit – so make this interesting and not just a list of books. Your personality should emerge here – they should be able to understand what is driving you to apply for this course, as well as getting a sense of your energy and enthusiasm.

Read more: how to write your university application

Should I talk about what I want to do after university?

You could, but only if you have a good idea of what you want to do. If you sound sure about what you want to do after uni it gives the impression that you’ve thought carefully about your course and what you want to do with it. It's also a nice way to round off your statement, rather than finishing on less important stuff like extra curricular activities. If you don’t have any future plans, then leave this bit out – you don’t want to be asked about them at interviews.

Should I talk about my qualifications?

No. There’s already a section on the Ucas form for this, so don’t waste the space on your personal statement. If you have something important which doesn’t go in the qualifications section, ask your referee to put it down in your reference – it will sound better if it comes from them than from you. This goes for module marks as well. Some people are told they should try to link each A-level to the course they are applying for. It can be far more effective to focus your time and space on talking about the subject you are applying for – that is what matters.

How do I write it for two different courses?

There’s no easy way to write a personal statement for two totally unrelated courses. If the courses are similar you may find you can write a statement relevant to both, without mentioning either subject by name. If the courses are completely unrelated, it may be impossible to write for both subjects without your personal statement sounding vague and unfocused. Instead you will need to concentrate on just one subject and just ignore the other – it sometimes works!

What are admissions tutors looking for?

Different admissions tutors are looking for different things, but in general they will be thinking things like: “Do we want this student on this course?” , and “Do we want this student at this university?” And most will be looking for an interest in the subject you are applying for that goes beyond simply your A-level syllabus/reading list.

Remember, most universities and departments now publish information on applications and writing personal statements, so reading the subject section of their website might list more specific information on exactly what they’re looking for. If in doubt, google the name of the university along with the subject/course and admissions statement.

Read more: 6 steps you need to take to apply to university

Is it worth doing loads of extracurricular stuff to make it sound good?

There’s no point doing extra things just to try and make yourself look good to universities – you won’t enjoy it and it probably won’t help much either. An interest and aptitude for the course is likely to be more important to admissions tutors than lots of extracurricular activities. If you do want to do something to boost your application, read relevant books or do work experience related to the subject instead.

What happens if I lie on the personal statement?

If you aren't confident that the universities will accept you based on your predicted grades or something else, you might reconsider applying.

It's best not to write anything which you can't back up in interview if necessary. Interviewers can and do bring up nearly anything in a personal statement as a basis for questions.

Any last tips?

What have you done that's relevant to your subject, that is unique, and that it's likely no one else is going to write about in their personal statement? Many people have similar interests and work experience, so you need something to separate you from the crowd. For example, everyone who applies for economics seems to read The Economist, The Financial Times, and The Guardian. So if you put down those, don't expect them to be amazed by your reading around the subject. Have a deeper think – what makes you special?

Read more: how to write your personal statement in an evening

And the most important thing?

Finally, remember that it’s your personal statement, and you can write whatever you want on it. If everything in this guide conflicts with what you’ve got already, but you think you still have a killer personal statement, then use that. A personal statement is about you , and you shouldn’t let anyone tell you what to put – sticking blindly to a formula will just stop your true personality showing through.

Tricks to squeeze more in

Remember it's a personal statement, and leave out anything unnecessary.
Don't repeat yourself.
Cut out the waffle – be concise!
Get rid of pointless words, such as very specific details or unecessary adjectives
Ask your referee to mention some stuff that you cannot
Get some structure to your statement
If you can't get it under the line/character limit, you may just have to chop whole sentences

What should I do once I’ve written it?

Get people's opinions on it! Show it to your friends, parents, teachers, career advisors and so on and note down their comments. The most useful comments are likely to come from your teachers in the subject and the people at your school or college who handle Ucas applications. If you have enough time, leave your personal statement for a couple of weeks to a month and come back to it – if you’re not still happy with what you wrote, it’s time to start redrafting.

Definitely do not post it on an internet forum or discussion board. If your personal statement is published online before your application is complete, it may get picked up by Ucas' plagiarism detection .

You may want to look at these...

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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Writing a personal statement is one of the most important things you will do when applying to university. Here is some useful advice and insider knowledge from Mrs Kinetta, who has more than 25 years of experience as a sixth form tutor.

How to write an excellent personal statement in 10 steps

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5 Easy Ways to Make Your Personal Statement Fit the Character Count

Read our five tips for making your personal statement fit the character count!

One of the most frustrating parts of the university admissions process is cutting down the personal statement to less than 4000 characters and 47 lines. Trying to retain as much content as possible whilst remaining under this character count is a difficult process, so here are a few easy ways to make it slightly easier!

You’ve spent weeks refining your personal statement – and there is now only one thing standing in the way of you and hitting send on your UCAS application: the UCAS character count. Here are the five proven way to make your personal statement fit the character count!

1. Avoid clichés and quotes

Every year, admissions tutors stress that there are a few personal statement mistakes to avoid , yet year after year, people continue to make them. Perhaps the most common of these mistakes are clichés and quotes.

Go through your personal statement and remove any clichés – for example, ‘I’ve wanted to do medicine since I was young’…

The same goes with quotes: unless they add true value to your personal statement (and most of the time they don’t!) it is usually a good idea to remove them. You only have 4000 characters to let the admissions tutor know who you are, don’t waste it by giving them somebody else’s words!

Read exactly how different medical schools use your personal statement

2. Make sure everything is relevant

A good way to cut words is to make sure you are never losing focus by using the “so what?” rule. For each sentence in your personal statement, ask “so what?”.

Does this sentence make me seem even more suitable for the course? If not, it is probably best to cut it. This often happens when people write long lists of their extracurriculars in a desperate attempt to fit everything in.

Universities, however, want to see reflection and what you have taken away from your experiences; this means it is usually better to just talk about a few extracurriculars and reflect on them, instead of listing a lot which someone reading it is likely to skim over.

Read how to write about your exploration of medicine

Personal Statement Review

Get your Personal Statement reviewed by a Medical School Admissions Tutor or a high-flying Medic

3. Make use of colour coding

This is a quick tip, but an easy way to see where you are losing most of your characters is to highlight sections of your personal statement.

For example, if you put each of your sections – work experience, volunteering, extracurriculars and so on – in different colours, it is suddenly a lot easier to identify which section is particularly heavy in terms of characters.

If one section is much longer than the rest without there being a good reason for this, it is usually a good indication that you should start cutting there.

Read our 11-step checklist for your personal statement

4. Watch your language

We often spend a lot of time looking up big words on thesaurus.com in the hope that it will make our work sound more impressive. However, in light of the UCAS character count, this is not always the best approach.

Long, “impressive” words can often hinder meaning and make it more difficult for the person reading your work to follow, especially after they have already read many personal statements that day. It is often best to cut these words in favour of more simple and concise sentences using straightforward language.

If you are still looking to remove characters, it is helpful to look through your personal statement for adverbs and adjectives. Often, we use these words as filler words which do not add much value to our writing. Go through all the adverbs and adjectives you have used and check whether they actually add any value or are merely taking up unnecessary characters.

Read about the writing style of medicine personal statements

5. Still need to shave off the last few characters?

Once it’s down to the last few characters, there are a few small things you can do to push your personal statement down to the 4000 character mark. Firstly, some ‘and’s can be removed in favour for full stops to make shorter, crisper sentences.

Another thing to note is that it is not necessary to use names, for example of hospitals or of places you volunteer, which can remove those final few characters from your count.

Don’t worry that cutting it down will make your personal statement worse – universities know that you can’t write about everything you want to in 4000 characters!

I hope these tips have been useful and good luck with your personal statements!

Written by: Cambridge Medicine Student

How Medical Schools Use Your Personal Statement
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Personal statements for 2026 entry onwards

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What is changing with personal statements?

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?

What isn't changing?

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.

Personal statement announcement

The new personal statement

Sam Sykes, Customer Success Manager at UCAS, explains the changes to the new personal statement for 2026 entry.

You can also hear from students and an admissions professional on their thoughts and insight into the new structure, which aims to support students and advisers through the application process with a new scaffolded approach.

Supporting equal opportunities for all students

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.

Who did we consult?

We engaged with a diverse spectrum of voices, including over 1,200 UK and international students, alongside input from 170 teachers and advisers, and representatives from over 100 universities and colleges. 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:

When surveyed during the research phases of the proposed personal statement changes, over half the students UCAS spoke to found completing the three questions "very easy" or "easy".
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.

Dr Jo Saxton, Chief Executive, UCAS

What are students expected to include in their answers.

The three new questions will enable students to talk about why they're interested in the course they're applying to, linking their academic and extra-curricular experience to their chosen course. The personal statement is an opportunity for students to show admissions staff evidence that they're passionate, curious and knowledgeable about the subject area they're looking to study further and have the relevant skills and potential to be a great student who has a genuine interest in the subject and a desire to learn more. Students may feel an example could fit into more than one section — there's no right or wrong section to include something in, the important thing is to explain why they're including it and what they've learned from it.

It's important to note that any examples given by UCAS are merely guidance, and not everything suggested needs to be included in every personal statement. Requirements may differ for each university or college, as well as depending heavily on the course.

Question 1: Why do you want to study this course or subject?

This is the opportunity for students to showcase their passion, curiosity, interest, and knowledge of their chosen subject area and to demonstrate to universities and colleges why it’s a good fit for them and their future ambitions.

Examples of what they might talk about here are:

Their motivations for studying this course(s): Have they been inspired by a key role model or moment in their life? Maybe it’s a subject they love and want to pursue further. We’re all driven by something and it’s important for students to talk about how their path has led them to this course or subject area.
Their knowledge of this subject area and interests: Perhaps there’s a particular subject area they've researched and can’t wait to learn more about, or a book or subject expert doing great things that have sparked their interest? Universities and colleges want to see students have done their research so they can be confident this is something they will enjoy and excel in. This is a great place to highlight super-curricular activities as evidence of curiosity and interest in the subject outside of the classroom.
Future plans and why this course/subject is a good fit: If they already have a particular profession in mind, they could talk about how they'll use their studies to launch their career. If they don’t, think about what’s important to them and their future, and how the knowledge gained from their chosen course(s) will help them to achieve this.

Here are some more examples for this section:

Personal life experiences e.g. being a carer, the environment where you grew up or lived, an inspirational friend, colleague or family member, a book you read, a news article or blog/vlog, a YouTube video, a podcast, a show you saw, subject tasters
Understanding of the area and the qualities you might need to succeed in it – research into the course/area

Question 2: How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject?

This is the chance for students to show evidence of the relevant or transferable skills they've gained from their formal education and highlight their understanding of how this will help them succeed in this subject area.

How their studies or training relate to their chosen course(s) or subject area: This could be current or previous studies within a school, college, training provider, or even a short online university course – any form of formal education. The main thing here is to focus on what’s most recent and relevant to their chosen course(s).
What relevant or transferable skills they have that make them a great candidate: Maybe there are a couple of subjects that have helped them develop a core set of skills required for their chosen course(s). Or, a particular module that helped them understand where their interests and strengths lie.
Any relevant educational achievements: Universities and colleges will see students' grades elsewhere on their application, so don’t waste time talking about these. Consider accomplishments like winning a school or national competition, serving as a student ambassador or team captain, or landing the lead role in a play.
Specific modules or topics
Essays or projects that explore a particular view point or technique
EPQ – Extended Project Qualification
School, local, or national competitions e.g. UKMT
Private lessons and qualifications e.g. music, stage school or sports if relevant to the course
Tutoring or mentoring
Online courses leading to a qualification

Question 3: What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?

This is students' chance to talk about any other activities they have undertaken outside of their formal education or personal experiences which further demonstrate their suitability for the course. This section is likely to be highly personal to them and anything they do include should reflect on why they're including it.

Work experience, employment, or volunteering: Whether it’s in-person work experience at their local school or virtual work experience through Springpod , or volunteering at a dog shelter, the key thing here is for them to reflect on their experiences and the skills gained relevant to their chosen course(s).
Personal life experiences or responsibilities: Is there a situation they've personally overcome that has influenced their decision? Are there responsibilities such as caring for a family member that has helped them develop essential qualities for the course like resilience and empathy?
Hobbies and any extracurricular or outreach activities: Think sports, reading, community work, summer schools – any activities outside of their studies that help further showcase why they'd make a great student.
Achievements outside of school or college: This could be a position of responsibility such as captain for their local club, a music, competition they won, or a qualification they've attained outside of the classroom.

Extra and super-curriculars

Volunteering

Personal life experiences e.g. caring for a family member, overcoming a challenge

Young enterprise

Work experience

Job/employment – part-time or full-time

Work-based learning/CPD

Online learning activities e.g. Springpod, MOOCs etc.

Trips and visits (online or in person) e.g. Museums, exhibitions, galleries, sites of historic interest, relevant sites connected to your course e.g. magistrate courts for law etc.

Podcasts, TED talks, documentaries etc.

Duke of Edinburgh/Duke of York awards

New personal statement: What you need to know

New personal statements: What you need to know

Helen reed, the head of admissions and data services, university of cambridge, adviser-updates-cta.jpg, resources and training for the new personal statement.

Classroom resources for personal statements

Supporting students with their personal statements for 2025 entry?

Looking for advice and resources for students applying for 2025 entry? Take a look at our adviser and student guidance.

Adviser resources for 2025

Student advice for 2025

FAQs for 2026 personal statements

Will the new three personal statement questions be assessed separately by admissions staff, are any of the questions more important or weighted more highly, what are the new three questions, does each answer have to be the same length, will the questions be included in the character count, when are personal statements changing, is the personal statement format changing for conservatoire applications.

Yes, conservatoire personal statements will also follow the new format for 2026 entry applications, with all students answering the same three questions.

Peter Dunscome, Director of Higher Education, RGS Guildford

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How do I reduce my personal statement line count without reducing the character count?

My personal statement is pretty much complete (~3600 characters), but when I paste it into the UCAS system it's 48 lines long, which is one more than the line limit. How am I supposed to reduce the line count and still get closer to 4000 characters? I could remove the line spacing between paragraphs so it is less like this:

Paragraph x Paragraph y

and more like this:

but I'm afraid that it would look unprofessional, since the majority of professionally-written texts have lines between paragraphs. Is this a normal thing to do for personal statements?

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IMAGES

UCAS Personal Statement Line & Character Counter [By Experts] October 2023
The Best Online Personal Statement Counter to Check Word Count
The Best Online Personal Statement Counter to Check Word Count
UCAS Personal Statement Length
🎉 Free personal statement template. Personal Statement Creator and
Most Essential Information to Include in 300 Word Personal Statement

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COMMENTS

UCAS Personal Statement Length Checker
UCAS Personal Statement Length Checker
Personal statement length checker
Personal statement length checker
UCAS Personal Statement Line & Character Counter
Separate paragraphs (For readability purpose only. Will NOT be present in the UCAS submission) Teacher Training (UCAS Teacher Training uses a different counting method. Check this box if you are applying for Teacher Training. Leave blank for undergraduate application.) Lines: 0/47. Characters: 0/4000. Warning: Extra space (s) found at end of ...
AI Personal Statement Generator
AI Personal Statement Generator
The Best Online Personal Statement Counter to Check Word Count
Our personal statement counter will simply check the length of your statement so that you can make sure that you are not going to exceed their requirements. Simply paste your text into the space provided and let us do the rest. Our tool will provide you with the personal statement word count and you can then compare this against the personal ...
UCAS Personal Statement Line & Character Counter
The line count may vary depending on the font size used. UCAS Personal Statement Requirements. Our character counter has a maximum line length of 94 characters. We do not allow any other characters except spaces, carriage returns, or punctuation. You may enter your text into our character counter by typing it directly into the box .
ucas-checker
These are the words that appear multiple times in this reference.
Introducing the personal statement builder
Introducing the personal statement builder | Undergraduate
Personal statement checker
Personal statement checker - Is yours the right length?
UCAS PERSONAL STATEMENT EDITOR
This page simply allows you to check and edit the length of your personal statement against the UCAS criteria of 47 lines. Microsoft word and google docs don't necessarily count a "line" the same way UCAS does so this is a simple tool that checks everything against the strict UCAS criteria. Scroll down to get some inspiration while you write.
How Long Should Your Personal Statement Be?
How Long Should Your Personal Statement Be?
How To Write Your Undergraduate Personal Statement
How To Write Your Undergraduate Personal Statement
Personal Statement Editing & Coaching
Personal Statement Editing & Coaching | Rated 4.9 / 5
Personal Statement: Keeping Within the Word Count
Personal Statement: Keeping Within the Word Count
UCAS Personal Statement Length
Based on online counters for personal statements for UCAS, the university requires 4,000-character count or about 47 lines of texts in your essay. This is not that long that is why you have to know how to maximize your essay by using the space allotted wisely and correctly. If you want to make it to the UCAS using your PS, ensure that you ...
Personal statement FAQs
Personal statement FAQs
How to start a personal statement: The attention grabber
How to start a personal statement: The attention grabber
Personal Statement Format + Examples
Personal Statement Format Examples
5 Easy Ways to Make Your Personal Statement Fit the Character Count
Here are the five proven way to make your personal statement fit the character count! 1. Avoid clichés and quotes. Every year, admissions tutors stress that there are a few personal statement mistakes to avoid, yet year after year, people continue to make them. Perhaps the most common of these mistakes are clichés and quotes.
Personal Statement Editing & Proofreading
Personal StatementEditing Services. When you submit a document to our personal statement proofreading service, one of our expert editors will: Correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. Tweak sentence structure and word choice for readability. Ensure your statement is clearly structured. Highlight issues of clarity or consistency.
Line Counter for UCAS Documents
Line Counter for UCAS Documents
Personal statements for 2026 entry onwards
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 ...
How do I reduce my personal statement line count without ...
emzyyx. • 3 yr. ago. As you have extra characters you can put, say 3 spaces, a couple of forward slashes, and then a few more spaces like this: End of one paragraph. // Start of new paragraph. That way you remove the lines but it's still clear. I think two forward slashes mean new paragraph. 1. Award.

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