english masters personal statement

How To Write A Personal Statement For Masters (17 PDF Sample Examples)

Published: 14 Mar 2022 Study Abroad 109,245 views

A personal statement for masters program is one of the most important parts of your college application and writing a good one is what’s the exception between receiving an offer and being rejected.

If you’ve been tasked with presenting a personal statement, you should keep in mind that whatever you submit must put you forward as the right candidate for the course. Additionally, it should convince the admissions officers that you deserve a place on your program of study.

Achieving the above, is a skill most postgraduate students are yet to acquire but thankfully this article on How To Write A Personal Statement For Masters covers everything you need to know on doing this.

In this article you’ll learn:

• What is a personal statement?
• Tips for making your personal statement for masters stand out
• How to write a personal statement for masters
• Personal statement for masters sample
• Examples of personal statement for masters
• Conclusion – things to avoid when writing a personal statement for masters

Read:  Admission Interview Tips .

What Is a Personal Statement?

A personal statement AKA admissions or application essay or statement of purpose is a type of essay or written statement a candidate presents to a college, university, or graduate school they are applying to, explaining why they want to attend that school, study a particular course, and why they would be a perfect fit for these things.

A personal statement for masters is an essay you submit specifically for your postgraduate application. Writing one presents the opportunity for you to promote yourself to a school and show the admissions teachers that you are the perfect candidate for a course.

Tips For Making Your Personal Statement For Masters Stand Out

Before we get into how you should write a statement of purpose for masters, we would first like to share with you certain tips to include in your essay to make it stand out from that of other applicants and be convincing enough to any admissions officer that reads it. The tips we have mentioned here, cover general things like starting and ending your personal statement, timing, length, and what to include and what not to include in the essay, etc.

1. Starting And Ending A Personal Statement

When starting a personal statement, you would want to right off the bat grab the reader’s attention. To do this, start the statement by writing about your degree of choice, next why you want to study it and then how you got interested in it.

The next 2 sentences after that should cover a summary of your background in the chosen field, and you conclude by saying what you plan to do once you acquire your graduate degree.

Also start with that the evaluators reading want to hear first, then every other information should come second. You will notice we’ve used in the sop examples for masters we will share with you later in this article.

2. Plan Ahead

A personal statement is not something you rush while writing, which means if you want to get something good before you application then you must start to decide things like the length and how long it should take to complete.

Let us throw more light on this…

For length, a personal statement should be brief ranging somewhere between 500 -700 words, although schools often detect how long it should be. So, this is dependent on the institution you are applying to.

In terms of what to say in a statement, you could include personal experiences like why you were driven to apply for the program, an experience you had with a scholar in your chosen discipline, a course you took that inspired you to pursue masters, or a key moment during your studies which further motivated you.

No matter what you decide to write, just keep in mind that you need to take your time to craft something good even if it means creating several drafts before the real thing and do not forget to proofread the statement for errors.

3. Research Your Program Of Study

Researching your program of study is one way to establish that you truly understand the discipline you’re getting into and prove to the admissions officer that you thoroughly thought about it before applying.

And because you want to put yourself forward as a serious candidate, one way to make you research easier is for you to visit the website of the department you are applying to. This page will contain information about faculty members, their specialisation, and publications.

From the intel, you gathered there you can now identify which professors match your interests and which ones you will benefit the most from learning under. After you’ve found this out, relate the same in a sentence or two in your statement of purpose for masters.

Example: “I would be honoured to study under the tutelage of Professor Nadia whose work I found resonated strongly with my beliefs and intended projects in this course”.

4. Avoid Clichés, Junks, And Many Details

When writing a statement of purpose for master degree try to avoid clichés, junks, and unnecessary details so that you don’t lose or bore your readers in between. Be as concise as possible, even if it’s your chance to express yourself.

A personal statement is an opportunity for the admissions committee to get information that tells the that you are suitable for the course. So, when you overpower your statement with too many words, stories, and useless details, you come off as someone who is just trying to meet the word count.

5. Include Your Personal History Only If It Adds To The Statement

Do not include your personal history in your statement of intent for masters if it is not relevant to your purpose of study. This means no need for you to tell that story about that time you helped someone treat a cut and immediately realised that you wanted to be a doctor or nurse or how you developed a taste for reading at a very young age.

We can guarantee you that the hundreds of other applications competing for the same spot you are felt the same way, so saying those things really doesn’t make you unique.

On the other hand, if you are going to add personal history to your statement, you can put in things like an internship you did and the experience you got from the job, a major research project you ran by yourself, publications you’ve read or published, conferences you’ve attended or presentations you’ve done. These experiences are more concrete and are directly related to your program of study. They also set you apart from other applicants.

6. Don't Use The Same Personal Statement For All Your Applications

One common mistake applicant make that you shouldn’t is using the same statement of purpose for master degree for all your applications. Using the same information repeatedly even if you are going to change the university names is risky and could land you in a big mistake on a day you forget to be thorough.

All programmes have their own unique set of questions they want to see answered and information they need in your personal statement.

And even if some of them like extracurricular activities, proposal for project, why you are applying to the school, your unique qualities, and research works you’re doing might appear the same, do not use one statement to respond to all of them.

Write a new unique personal statement every time you want to apply.

Check out:  How to Write a Good CV for Students - Resume Examples for Students (PDF).

How To Write A Personal Statement for Masters

When writing a personal statement for masters there are several steps and ground rules you need to follow to ensure that it comes out good enough to impress the admissions team of a school, and ultimately convince them to give you a spot on your program of study.

If writing one is something you are currently struggling with and can’t seem to get down the process of it right no matter what, this section on how to write a personal statement for masters, discusses in detail everything you need to get help with yours.

There are 4 parts to consider when writing your personal statement and we have listed them below:

1. Planning A Personal Statement

A personal statement is a piece of writing showing your academic interests and is only for application purposes which means there is no room for any autobiographical information in it about your personal life. Be as to-the-point as possible when writing it and stick to telling the school why you are the right person for the course, plus any other extra information detailing your achievements.

Before You Start:

Allot plenty of time to write your msc personal statement so that you don’t rush it. Remember, this simple piece of writing is your one shot at convincing a school that you are the best applicant they’ve seen and as such can either make or break your application.

Read the information expected of you from the university, rules and guidelines given, selection criteria and understand what they mean. Also research the institution.

Do a thorough research on the course you are applying for; this will help you explain better why you want to study it. The tutors interviewing you can tell when you are lying and presenting yourself as uninformed can cost you the admission.

Ensure that you don’t use the same personal statement for all your applications.

When Writing:

When writing the statement there are some questions to ask yourself that can help you plan it better. Those questions are:

• Why you want to study a master’s and how does it benefit you in future?
• How does the course you have chosen fit into your pre-existing skill set?
• How do you stand out from the crowd as an applicant - e.g., work experiences you’ve had in the same field you are applying for?
• What do you aspire to do or be as a future career and how will the course help you achieve that?
• How can your work or skillsets contribute positively to the department/ university you are applying to, or society at large?

On the other hand, if you are applying for the masters to change from the field you studied in your undergraduate to another field, you should tell the school why you decided to take a different path in your studies.

Questions to ask yourself for this include:

• Your reason for deciding to change your discipline.
• How your undergraduate degree will be material for bringing fresh insights into your masters course.
• How changing your study path will help you attain your future career.

2. Structuring A Personal Statement

Having good structure for your personal statement for master degree is important because it ensures that everything from the beginning, middle, and ending of the statement is written and equally falls in place perfectly.

We’ve left some tips for you below to help you:

Start your personal statement with an attention-grabbing introduction that is not dramatic or cliché. That means you should not begin with any of these over-used phrases we’ve listed out below:

For as long as I remember…

Since my childhood…

I want to apply to this course because I’ve always felt a strong connection to it…

All my life, I have always loved…

My interest in (course) always ran deeper than…

I’ve always been zealous about…

Ever since I was a child, I’ve always wanted to pursue a career in…

My past educational experiences have always…

You would want to be as snappy as possible with your opening because the admission officer has over a hundred applications to read and can’t waste all their time on yours. This means you should avoid overpowering it with unnecessary facts, quotes, and stories from your life.

The middle part of your ma personal statement is where the main content of the write-up should be. This is where you show your dedication to the course you’ve chosen, what motivated you to choose it, and why you are the right candidate for it.

When writing the middle part of a graduate personal statement, you should:  

• Give concrete reasons why you want to study a course at the University. The reason could be because of how the course is aligned to your future career or the University’s reputation in teaching that program.
• Mention relevant things like projects, dissertations, or essays you’ve done, and any work experience you have.
• Show proof of your core skills like and how they can contribute to the department.
• Prove what makes you a unique candidate.
• Discuss who your main influences for wanting to study the course are and why.
• Add experiences like memberships to clubs that are related to your field, papers you’ve written before, awards, scholarships, or prizes.
• Draw focus to how the course links to your past and future.
• Mention your academic and non-academic skills and how they fit the course.

For Formatting:

• Keep the statement length between 250 -500 words or as directed by the school.
• Sentences should be no more than 25-30 words.
• Use headings to break up the content – Why this university? Why this subject? Etc.
• Make claims and provide evidence to back each of them up. This can be done by discussing your work experience and academic interests.

Language and tone to use:     

• The tone for your masters application personal statement should be positive and enthusiastic, to show you eagerness to learn and so that you convince the evaluators that you have what it takes to succeed.
• Use exciting and refreshing language, and an engaging opening line.
• Ensure you grammar, punctuations, and spellings are accurate.
• Avoid exaggerated claims you cannot backup.
• Don’t use cliché generic terms and keep your focus on the course.

Keep the ending of your essay for master degree application concise and memorable, leaving no doubt in the admission officers mind that you deserve a spot on the program.

To create the best ending summarise all your key points without dragging it our or repeating yourself. The ending should be simple, end on a positive note and make it clear that the school will be lucky to have you on their program.

Personal Statement for Masters Sample

In this section, we have left a masters personal statement example for you, which you can use as material to write yours for any course of study you are applying to a school for.

Personal Statement PDF

You can also download this statement of purpose sample for masters degree pdf here and take your time to read it later – Personal Statement For Masters Sample .

See Also:  Student CV Template .

Examples of Personal Statement for Masters

We have taken the time to source for some of the best postgraduate personal statement examples, which you can use in addition to the personal statement for masters program example as a template to write yours.

While you scroll through our list, you will find the perfect masters essay example for any field you wish to apply for, from business administration, to Psychology, to information technology, and lots more.

1. msw personal statement

We have found one of the best msw personal statement examples out there for you.

social work masters personal statement .  

2. personal statement for masters in public health

mph personal statement examples

3. personal statement for masters in management

Personal statement for master degree sample for masters in management .  , 4. personal statement for masters in education example.

personal statement for masters in education example

5. psychology masters personal statement

psychology masters personal statement example

6. sample personal statement for masters in data science data science masters personal statement

7. speech and language therapy personal statement statement of purpose for masters sample: speech and language therapy

8. business administration personal statement personal statement for masters in business administration

9. personal statement for masters in cyber security pdf masters degree personal statement examples for cyber security

10. personal statement for masters in finance msc finance personal statement examples

11. statement of purpose for masters in information technology pdf msc personal statement examples for information technology

12. international development personal statement statement of purpose for masters example

13. msc international business management personal statement international business management personal statement examples

14. computer science masters personal statement

statement of purpose for masters in computer science pdf

15. personal statement for masters in economics statement of purpose sample for masters degree in economics

16. mha personal statement statement of purpose format for masters in health administration    

Conclusion – Things to Avoid When Writing A Personal Statement For Masters When writing a personal statement for university masters, there are some things you should avoid, so that you don’t ruin your essay. We have listed out those things below: •    Avoid negativity. •    Following an online template blindly. •    Do not include unnecessary course modules, personal facts, or extra-curricular activities in your personal statement. •    Do not lie or exaggerate an achievement or event. •    Do not include inspirational quotes to your statement. •    Avoid using clichés, gimmicks, humour, over-used word such as 'passion' or ‘driven’. •    Do not make pleading statements. •    Avoid mentioning key authors or professors in your field without any explanation. •    Avoid using sentences that are too long. •    Avoid flattering the organisation or using patronising terms. •    Do not repeat information in your statement that you have already listed in your application. •    Avoid waffling i.e., writing at length. •    Don’t start writing your personal statement at the last minute.  

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PrepScholar GRE Prep

Gre prep online guides and tips, 3 successful graduate school personal statement examples.

Looking for grad school personal statement examples? Look no further! In this total guide to graduate school personal statement examples, we’ll discuss why you need a personal statement for grad school and what makes a good one. Then we’ll provide three graduate school personal statement samples from our grad school experts. After that, we’ll do a deep dive on one of our personal statement for graduate school examples. Finally, we’ll wrap up with a list of other grad school personal statements you can find online.

Why Do You Need a Personal Statement?

A personal statement is a chance for admissions committees to get to know you: your goals and passions, what you’ll bring to the program, and what you’re hoping to get out of the program.  You need to sell the admissions committee on what makes you a worthwhile applicant. The personal statement is a good chance to highlight significant things about you that don’t appear elsewhere on your application.

A personal statement is slightly different from a statement of purpose (also known as a letter of intent). A statement of purpose/letter of intent tends to be more tightly focused on your academic or professional credentials and your future research and/or professional interests.

While a personal statement also addresses your academic experiences and goals, you have more leeway to be a little more, well, personal. In a personal statement, it’s often appropriate to include information on significant life experiences or challenges that aren’t necessarily directly relevant to your field of interest.

Some programs ask for both a personal statement and a statement of purpose/letter of intent. In this case, the personal statement is likely to be much more tightly focused on your life experience and personality assets while the statement of purpose will focus in much more on your academic/research experiences and goals.

However, there’s not always a hard-and-fast demarcation between a personal statement and a statement of purpose. The two statement types should address a lot of the same themes, especially as relates to your future goals and the valuable assets you bring to the program. Some programs will ask for a personal statement but the prompt will be focused primarily on your research and professional experiences and interests. Some will ask for a statement of purpose but the prompt will be more focused on your general life experiences.

When in doubt, give the program what they are asking for in the prompt and don’t get too hung up on whether they call it a personal statement or statement of purpose. You can always call the admissions office to get more clarification on what they want you to address in your admissions essay.

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What Makes a Good Grad School Personal Statement?

A great graduate school personal statement can come in many forms and styles. However, strong grad school personal statement examples all share the same following elements:

A Clear Narrative

Above all, a good personal statement communicates clear messages about what makes you a strong applicant who is likely to have success in graduate school. So to that extent, think about a couple of key points that you want to communicate about yourself and then drill down on how you can best communicate those points. (Your key points should of course be related to what you can bring to the field and to the program specifically).

You can also decide whether to address things like setbacks or gaps in your application as part of your narrative. Have a low GPA for a couple semesters due to a health issue? Been out of a job for a while taking care of a family member? If you do decide to explain an issue like this, make sure that the overall arc is more about demonstrating positive qualities like resilience and diligence than about providing excuses.

Specific Examples

A great statement of purpose uses specific examples to illustrate its key messages. This can include anecdotes that demonstrate particular traits or even references to scholars and works that have influenced your academic trajectory to show that you are familiar and insightful about the relevant literature in your field.

Just saying “I love plants,” is pretty vague. Describing how you worked in a plant lab during undergrad and then went home and carefully cultivated your own greenhouse where you cross-bred new flower colors by hand is much more specific and vivid, which makes for better evidence.

A strong personal statement will describe why you are a good fit for the program, and why the program is a good fit for you. It’s important to identify specific things about the program that appeal to you, and how you’ll take advantage of those opportunities. It’s also a good idea to talk about specific professors you might be interested in working with. This shows that you are informed about and genuinely invested in the program.

Strong Writing

Even quantitative and science disciplines typically require some writing, so it’s important that your personal statement shows strong writing skills. Make sure that you are communicating clearly and that you don’t have any grammar and spelling errors. It’s helpful to get other people to read your statement and provide feedback. Plan on going through multiple drafts.

Another important thing here is to avoid cliches and gimmicks. Don’t deploy overused phrases and openings like “ever since I was a child.” Don’t structure your statement in a gimmicky way (i.e., writing a faux legal brief about yourself for a law school statement of purpose). The first will make your writing banal; the second is likely to make you stand out in a bad way.

Appropriate Boundaries

While you can be more personal in a personal statement than in a statement of purpose, it’s important to maintain appropriate boundaries in your writing. Don’t overshare anything too personal about relationships, bodily functions, or illegal activities. Similarly, don’t share anything that makes it seem like you may be out of control, unstable, or an otherwise risky investment. The personal statement is not a confessional booth. If you share inappropriately, you may seem like you have bad judgment, which is a huge red flag to admissions committees.

You should also be careful with how you deploy humor and jokes. Your statement doesn’t have to be totally joyless and serious, but bear in mind that the person reading the statement may not have the same sense of humor as you do. When in doubt, err towards the side of being as inoffensive as possible.

Just as being too intimate in your statement can hurt you, it’s also important not to be overly formal or staid. You should be professional, but conversational.

Graduate School Personal Statement Examples

Our graduate school experts have been kind enough to provide some successful grad school personal statement examples. We’ll provide three examples here, along with brief analysis of what makes each one successful.

Sample Personal Statement for Graduate School 1

PDF of Sample Personal Statement 1 – Japanese Studies

For this Japanese Studies master’s degree, the applicant had to provide a statement of purpose outlining her academic goals and experience with Japanese and a separate personal statement describing her personal relationship with Japanese Studies and what led her to pursue a master’s degree.

Here’s what’s successful about this personal statement:

• An attention-grabbing beginning: The applicant begins with the statement that Japanese has never come easily to her and that it’s a brutal language to learn. Seeing as how this is an application for a Japanese Studies program, this is an intriguing beginning that makes the reader want to keep going.
• A compelling narrative: From this attention-grabbing beginning, the applicant builds a well-structured and dramatic narrative tracking her engagement with the Japanese language over time. The clear turning point is her experience studying abroad, leading to a resolution in which she has clarity about her plans. Seeing as how the applicant wants to be a translator of Japanese literature, the tight narrative structure here is a great way to show her writing skills.
• Specific examples that show important traits: The applicant clearly communicates both a deep passion for Japanese through examples of her continued engagement with Japanese and her determination and work ethic by highlighting the challenges she’s faced (and overcome) in her study of the language. This gives the impression that she is an engaged and dedicated student.

Overall, this is a very strong statement both in terms of style and content. It flows well, is memorable, and communicates that the applicant would make the most of the graduate school experience.

Sample Personal Statement for Graduate School 2

PDF of Sample Graduate School Personal Statement 2 – Musical Composition

This personal statement for a Music Composition master’s degree discusses the factors that motivate the applicant to pursue graduate study.

Here’s what works well in this statement:

• The applicant provides two clear reasons motivating the student to pursue graduate study: her experiences with music growing up, and her family’s musical history. She then supports those two reasons with examples and analysis.
• The description of her ancestors’ engagement with music is very compelling and memorable. The applicant paints her own involvement with music as almost inevitable based on her family’s long history with musical pursuits.
• The applicant gives thoughtful analysis of the advantages she has been afforded that have allowed her to study music so extensively. We get the sense that she is insightful and empathetic—qualities that would add greatly to any academic community.

This is a strong, serviceable personal statement. And in truth, given that this for a masters in music composition, other elements of the application (like work samples) are probably the most important.  However, here are two small changes I would make to improve it:

• I would probably to split the massive second paragraph into 2-3 separate paragraphs. I might use one paragraph to orient the reader to the family’s musical history, one paragraph to discuss Giacomo and Antonio, and one paragraph to discuss how the family has influenced the applicant. As it stands, it’s a little unwieldy and the second paragraph doesn’t have a super-clear focus even though it’s all loosely related to the applicant’s family history with music.
• I would also slightly shorten the anecdote about the applicant’s ancestors and expand more on how this family history has motivated the applicant’s interest in music. In what specific ways has her ancestors’ perseverance inspired her? Did she think about them during hard practice sessions? Is she interested in composing music in a style they might have played? More specific examples here would lend greater depth and clarity to the statement.

Sample Personal Statement for Graduate School 3

PDF of Sample Graduate School Personal Statement 3 – Public Health

This is my successful personal statement for Columbia’s Master’s program in Public Health. We’ll do a deep dive on this statement paragraph-by-paragraph in the next section, but I’ll highlight a couple of things that work in this statement here:

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• This statement is clearly organized. Almost every paragraph has a distinct focus and message, and when I move on to a new idea, I move on to a new paragraph with a logical transitions.
• This statement covers a lot of ground in a pretty short space. I discuss my family history, my goals, my educational background, and my professional background. But because the paragraphs are organized and I use specific examples, it doesn’t feel too vague or scattered.
• In addition to including information about my personal motivations, like my family, I also include some analysis about tailoring health interventions with my example of the Zande. This is a good way to show off what kinds of insights I might bring to the program based on my academic background.

Grad School Personal Statement Example: Deep Dive

Now let’s do a deep dive, paragraph-by-paragraph, on one of these sample graduate school personal statements. We’ll use my personal statement that I used when I applied to Columbia’s public health program.

Paragraph One: For twenty-three years, my grandmother (a Veterinarian and an Epidemiologist) ran the Communicable Disease Department of a mid-sized urban public health department. The stories of Grandma Betty doggedly tracking down the named sexual partners of the infected are part of our family lore. Grandma Betty would persuade people to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases, encourage safer sexual practices, document the spread of infection and strive to contain and prevent it. Indeed, due to the large gay population in the city where she worked, Grandma Betty was at the forefront of the AIDS crises, and her analysis contributed greatly towards understanding how the disease was contracted and spread. My grandmother has always been a huge inspiration to me, and the reason why a career in public health was always on my radar.

This is an attention-grabbing opening anecdote that avoids most of the usual cliches about childhood dreams and proclivities. This story also subtly shows that I have a sense of public health history, given the significance of the AIDs crisis for public health as a field.

It’s good that I connect this family history to my own interests. However, if I were to revise this paragraph again, I might cut down on some of the detail because when it comes down to it, this story isn’t really about me. It’s important that even (sparingly used) anecdotes about other people ultimately reveal something about you in a personal statement.

Paragraph Two: Recent years have cemented that interest. In January 2012, my parents adopted my little brother Fred from China. Doctors in America subsequently diagnosed Fred with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). My parents were told that if Fred’s condition had been discovered in China, the (very poor) orphanage in which he spent the first 8+ years of his life would have recognized his DMD as a death sentence and denied him sustenance to hasten his demise.

Here’s another compelling anecdote to help explain my interest in public health. This is an appropriately personal detail for a personal statement—it’s a serious thing about my immediate family, but it doesn’t disclose anything that the admissions committee might find concerning or inappropriate.

If I were to take another pass through this paragraph, the main thing I would change is the last phrase. “Denied him sustenance to hasten his demise” is a little flowery. “Denied him food to hasten his death” is actually more powerful because it’s clearer and more direct.

Paragraph Three: It is not right that some people have access to the best doctors and treatment while others have no medical care. I want to pursue an MPH in Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia because studying social factors in health, with a particular focus on socio-health inequities, will prepare me to address these inequities. The interdisciplinary approach of the program appeals to me greatly as I believe interdisciplinary approaches are the most effective way to develop meaningful solutions to complex problems.

In this paragraph I make a neat and clear transition from discussing what sparked my interest in public health and health equity to what I am interested in about Columbia specifically: the interdisciplinary focus of the program, and how that focus will prepare me to solve complex health problems. This paragraph also serves as a good pivot point to start discussing my academic and professional background.

Paragraph Four: My undergraduate education has prepared me well for my chosen career. Understanding the underlying structure of a group’s culture is essential to successfully communicating with the group. In studying folklore and mythology, I’ve learned how to parse the unspoken structures of folk groups, and how those structures can be used to build bridges of understanding. For example, in a culture where most illnesses are believed to be caused by witchcraft, as is the case for the Zande people of central Africa, any successful health intervention or education program would of necessity take into account their very real belief in witchcraft.

In this paragraph, I link my undergraduate education and the skills I learned there to public health. The (very brief) analysis of tailoring health interventions to the Zande is a good way to show insight and show off the competencies I would bring to the program.

Paragraph Five: I now work in the healthcare industry for one of the largest providers of health benefits in the world. In addition to reigniting my passion for data and quantitative analytics, working for this company has immersed me in the business side of healthcare, a critical component of public health.

This brief paragraph highlights my relevant work experience in the healthcare industry. It also allows me to mention my work with data and quantitative analytics, which isn’t necessarily obvious from my academic background, which was primarily based in the social sciences.

Paragraph Six: I intend to pursue a PhD in order to become an expert in how social factors affect health, particularly as related to gender and sexuality. I intend to pursue a certificate in Sexuality, Sexual Health, and Reproduction. Working together with other experts to create effective interventions across cultures and societies, I want to help transform health landscapes both in America and abroad.

This final paragraph is about my future plans and intentions. Unfortunately, it’s a little disjointed, primarily because I discuss goals of pursuing a PhD before I talk about what certificate I want to pursue within the MPH program! Switching those two sentences and discussing my certificate goals within the MPH and then mentioning my PhD plans would make a lot more sense.

I also start two sentences in a row with “I intend,” which is repetitive.

The final sentence is a little bit generic; I might tailor it to specifically discuss a gender and sexual health issue, since that is the primary area of interest I’ve identified.

This was a successful personal statement; I got into (and attended!) the program. It has strong examples, clear organization, and outlines what interests me about the program (its interdisciplinary focus) and what competencies I would bring (a background in cultural analysis and experience with the business side of healthcare). However, a few slight tweaks would elevate this statement to the next level.

Graduate School Personal Statement Examples You Can Find Online

So you need more samples for your personal statement for graduate school? Examples are everywhere on the internet, but they aren’t all of equal quality.

Most of examples are posted as part of writing guides published online by educational institutions. We’ve rounded up some of the best ones here if you are looking for more personal statement examples for graduate school.

Penn State Personal Statement Examples for Graduate School

This selection of ten short personal statements for graduate school and fellowship programs offers an interesting mix of approaches. Some focus more on personal adversity while others focus more closely on professional work within the field.

The writing in some of these statements is a little dry, and most deploy at least a few cliches. However, these are generally strong, serviceable statements that communicate clearly why the student is interested in the field, their skills and competencies, and what about the specific program appeals to them.

Cal State Sample Graduate School Personal Statements

These are good examples of personal statements for graduate school where students deploy lots of very vivid imagery and illustrative anecdotes of life experiences. There are also helpful comments about what works in each of these essays.

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However, all of these statements are definitely pushing the boundaries of acceptable length, as all are above 1000 and one is almost 1500 words! Many programs limit you to 500 words; if you don’t have a limit, you should try to keep it to two single-spaced pages at most (which is about 1000 words).

University of Chicago Personal Statement for Graduate School Examples

These examples of successful essays to the University of Chicago law school cover a wide range of life experiences and topics. The writing in all is very vivid, and all communicate clear messages about the students’ strengths and competencies.

Note, however, that these are all essays that specifically worked for University of Chicago law school. That does not mean that they would work everywhere. In fact, one major thing to note is that many of these responses, while well-written and vivid, barely address the students’ interest in law school at all! This is something that might not work well for most graduate programs.

Wheaton College Personal Statement for Graduate School Sample 10

This successful essay for law school from a Wheaton College undergraduate does a great job tracking the student’s interest in the law in a compelling and personal way. Wheaton offers other graduate school personal statement examples, but this one offers the most persuasive case for the students’ competencies. The student accomplishes this by using clear, well-elaborated examples, showing strong and vivid writing, and highlighting positive qualities like an interest in justice and empathy without seeming grandiose or out of touch.

Wheaton College Personal Statement for Graduate School Sample 1

Based on the background information provided at the bottom of the essay, this essay was apparently successful for this applicant. However, I’ve actually included this essay because it demonstrates an extremely risky approach. While this personal statement is strikingly written and the story is very memorable, it could definitely communicate the wrong message to some admissions committees. The student’s decision not to report the drill sergeant may read incredibly poorly to some admissions committees. They may wonder if the student’s failure to report the sergeant’s violence will ultimately expose more soldiers-in-training to the same kinds of abuses. This incident perhaps reads especially poorly in light of the fact that the military has such a notable problem with violence against women being covered up and otherwise mishandled

It’s actually hard to get a complete picture of the student’s true motivations from this essay, and what we have might raise real questions about the student’s character to some admissions committees. This student took a risk and it paid off, but it could have just as easily backfired spectacularly.

Key Takeaways: Graduate School Personal Statement Examples

In this guide, we discussed why you need a personal statement and how it differs from a statement of purpose. (It’s more personal!)

We also discussed what you’ll find in a strong sample personal statement for graduate school:

• A clear narrative about the applicant and why they are qualified for graduate study.
• Specific examples to support that narrative.
• Compelling reasons why the applicant and the program are a good fit for each other.
• Strong writing, including clear organization and error-free, cliche-free language.
• Appropriate boundaries—sharing without over-sharing.

Then, we provided three strong graduate school personal statement examples for different fields, along with analysis. We did a deep-dive on the third statement.

Finally, we provided a list of other sample grad school personal statements online.

What’s Next?

Want more advice on writing a personal statement ? See our guide.

Writing a graduate school statement of purpose? See our statement of purpose samples  and a nine-step process for writing the best statement of purpose possible .

If you’re writing a graduate school CV or resume, see our how-to guide to writing a CV , a how-to guide to writing a resume , our list of sample resumes and CVs , resume and CV templates , and a special guide for writing resume objectives .

Need stellar graduate school recommendation letters ? See our guide.

See our 29 tips for successfully applying to graduate school .

Ready to improve your GRE score by 7 points?

Author: Ellen McCammon

Ellen is a public health graduate student and education expert. She has extensive experience mentoring students of all ages to reach their goals and in-depth knowledge on a variety of health topics. View all posts by Ellen McCammon

How to write a personal statement

How to approach writing your personal statement for graduate applications.

If you’re applying for a grad course that requires a personal statement (sometimes also called a ‘statement of purpose’), it can be difficult to know where to start and what to include. Read on for tips from some of our masters’ students about their process and what they found helpful.

1. Before you start

The academic work is the most important reason why we’re here, but that also translates into work experiences, internships, volunteering. I think a big part of the personal statement is crafting that narrative of academic self that fits alongside your professional experiences, to give that greater picture of who you are as an academic. Lauren (MSc Modern Middle Eastern Studies)

Start by thinking about the skills, knowledge and interests you’ve acquired over time and how the course at Oxford will take them forward.

Your statement is the story you want to tell about yourself and your academic work to the department you are applying to.

Most of your application and its supporting documents communicate plain facts about your academic career so far. Your personal statement is your best opportunity to put these facts into context and show assessors how you’ve progressed and excelled.

Make sure you highlight evidence of your achievements (a high grade in a relevant area, an award or scholarship, a research internship).

Presenting yourself

When I was writing my personal statement, I went onto my course website. I looked at what they emphasised and what kind of students they were looking for, and I wrote about my experiences based on that. Kayla (MSc in Clinical Embryology)

Make it easy for an assessor to see how you meet the entry requirements for the course (you can find these on each course page ).

Don’t make any assumptions about what Oxford is looking for!

Get to know your department

You want to study this particular subject and you want to study at Oxford (you’re applying here, so we know that!) but why is Oxford the right place for you to study this subject? What interests or qualities of the academic department and its staff make it attractive to you?

Use your academic department’s website for an overview of their research, academic staff and course information (you'll find a link to the department's own website on each course page ).

I said, ‘why do I actually want to be here? What is it about being at Oxford that’s going to get me to what I want to do? Sarah (Bachelor of Civil Law)

Talk it out

Talking to others about your statement can be a great way to gather your ideas and decide how you’d like to approach it. Sarah even managed to get benefit out of this approach by herself:

“I spent a lot of time talking out loud. My written process was actually very vocal, so I did a lot of talking about myself in my room.”

2. The writing process

Know your format.

Make sure you’ve read all the guidance on the How to Apply section of your course page , so you know what’s needed in terms of the word count of the final statement, what it should cover and what it will be assessed for. This should help you to visualise roughly what you want to end up with at the end of the process.

Make a start

When it comes to writing your personal statement, just getting started can be the hardest part.

One good way to get around writer’s block is to just put it all down on the page, like Mayur.

First - write down anything and everything. In the first round, I was just dumping everything - whatever I’ve done, anything close to computer science, that was on my personal statement. Mayur (MSc Computer Science)

You’ll be editing later anyway so don’t let the blank page intimidate you - try writing a little under each of the following headings to get started:

• areas of the course at Oxford that are the most interesting to you
• which areas you’ve already studied or had some experience in
• what you hope to use your Oxford course experience for afterwards.

3. Finishing up

Get some feedback.

Once you’ve got a draft of about the right length, ask for feedback on what you’ve written. It might take several drafts to get it right.

This could involve getting in touch with some of your undergraduate professors to ask them to read your draft and find any areas which needed strengthening.

You could also show it to people who know you well, like family or friends.

Because they’re the first people to say, ‘Who is that person?’ You want the people around you to recognise that it really sounds like you. It can be scary telling family and friends you’re applying for Oxford, because it makes it real, but be brave enough to share it and get feedback on it. Sarah (Bachelor of Law)

Be yourself

Finally - be genuine and be yourself. Make sure your personal statement represents you, not your idea about what Oxford might be looking for.

We have thousands of students arriving every year from a huge range of subjects, backgrounds, institutions and countries (you can hear from a few more of them in our My Oxford interviews).

Get moving on your application today

To find out more about supporting documents and everything else you need to apply, read your course page and visit our Application Guide .

Applicant advice hub

This content was previously available through our  Applicant advice hub . The hub contained links to articles hosted on our  Graduate Study at Oxford Medium channel . We've moved the articles that support the application process into this new section of our website.

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• Knowledge Base
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• How to Write Your Personal Statement | Strategies & Examples

How to Write Your Personal Statement | Strategies & Examples

Published on February 12, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on July 3, 2023.

A personal statement is a short essay of around 500–1,000 words, in which you tell a compelling story about who you are, what drives you, and why you’re applying.

To write a successful personal statement for a graduate school application , don’t just summarize your experience; instead, craft a focused narrative in your own voice. Aim to demonstrate three things:

• Your personality: what are your interests, values, and motivations?
• Your talents: what can you bring to the program?
• Your goals: what do you hope the program will do for you?

This article guides you through some winning strategies to build a strong, well-structured personal statement for a master’s or PhD application. You can download the full examples below.

Urban Planning Psychology History

Table of contents

Getting started with your personal statement, the introduction: start with an attention-grabbing opening, the main body: craft your narrative, the conclusion: look ahead, revising, editing, and proofreading your personal statement, frequently asked questions, other interesting articles.

Before you start writing, the first step is to understand exactly what’s expected of you. If the application gives you a question or prompt for your personal statement, the most important thing is to respond to it directly.

For example, you might be asked to focus on the development of your personal identity; challenges you have faced in your life; or your career motivations. This will shape your focus and emphasis—but you still need to find your own unique approach to answering it.

There’s no universal template for a personal statement; it’s your chance to be creative and let your own voice shine through. But there are strategies you can use to build a compelling, well-structured story.

The first paragraph of your personal statement should set the tone and lead smoothly into the story you want to tell.

Strategy 1: Open with a concrete scene

An effective way to catch the reader’s attention is to set up a scene that illustrates something about your character and interests. If you’re stuck, try thinking about:

• A personal experience that changed your perspective
• A story from your family’s history
• A memorable teacher or learning experience
• An unusual or unexpected encounter

To write an effective scene, try to go beyond straightforward description; start with an intriguing sentence that pulls the reader in, and give concrete details to create a convincing atmosphere.

Strategy 2: Open with your motivations

To emphasize your enthusiasm and commitment, you can start by explaining your interest in the subject you want to study or the career path you want to follow.

Just stating that it interests you isn’t enough: first, you need to figure out why you’re interested in this field:

• Is it a longstanding passion or a recent discovery?
• Does it come naturally or have you had to work hard at it?
• How does it fit into the rest of your life?
• What do you think it contributes to society?

Tips for the introduction

• Don’t start on a cliche: avoid phrases like “Ever since I was a child…” or “For as long as I can remember…”
• Do save the introduction for last. If you’re struggling to come up with a strong opening, leave it aside, and note down any interesting ideas that occur to you as you write the rest of the personal statement.

Once you’ve set up the main themes of your personal statement, you’ll delve into more detail about your experiences and motivations.

To structure the body of your personal statement, there are various strategies you can use.

Strategy 1: Describe your development over time

One of the simplest strategies is to give a chronological overview of key experiences that have led you to apply for graduate school.

• What first sparked your interest in the field?
• Which classes, assignments, classmates, internships, or other activities helped you develop your knowledge and skills?
• Where do you want to go next? How does this program fit into your future plans?

Don’t try to include absolutely everything you’ve done—pick out highlights that are relevant to your application. Aim to craft a compelling narrative that shows how you’ve changed and actively developed yourself.

My interest in psychology was first sparked early in my high school career. Though somewhat scientifically inclined, I found that what interested me most was not the equations we learned about in physics and chemistry, but the motivations and perceptions of my fellow students, and the subtle social dynamics that I observed inside and outside the classroom. I wanted to learn how our identities, beliefs, and behaviours are shaped through our interactions with others, so I decided to major in Social Psychology. My undergraduate studies deepened my understanding of, and fascination with, the interplay between an individual mind and its social context.During my studies, I acquired a solid foundation of knowledge about concepts like social influence and group dynamics, but I also took classes on various topics not strictly related to my major. I was particularly interested in how other fields intersect with psychology—the classes I took on media studies, biology, and literature all enhanced my understanding of psychological concepts by providing different lenses through which to look at the issues involved.

Strategy 2: Own your challenges and obstacles

If your path to graduate school hasn’t been easy or straightforward, you can turn this into a strength, and structure your personal statement as a story of overcoming obstacles.

• Is your social, cultural or economic background underrepresented in the field? Show how your experiences will contribute a unique perspective.
• Do you have gaps in your resume or lower-than-ideal grades? Explain the challenges you faced and how you dealt with them.

Don’t focus too heavily on negatives, but use them to highlight your positive qualities. Resilience, resourcefulness and perseverance make you a promising graduate school candidate.

Growing up working class, urban decay becomes depressingly familiar. The sight of a row of abandoned houses does not surprise me, but it continues to bother me. Since high school, I have been determined to pursue a career in urban planning. While people of my background experience the consequences of urban planning decisions first-hand, we are underrepresented in the field itself. Ironically, given my motivation, my economic background has made my studies challenging. I was fortunate enough to be awarded a scholarship for my undergraduate studies, but after graduation I took jobs in unrelated fields to help support my parents. In the three years since, I have not lost my ambition. Now I am keen to resume my studies, and I believe I can bring an invaluable perspective to the table: that of the people most impacted by the decisions of urban planners.

Strategy 3: Demonstrate your knowledge of the field

Especially if you’re applying for a PhD or another research-focused program, it’s a good idea to show your familiarity with the subject and the department. Your personal statement can focus on the area you want to specialize in and reflect on why it matters to you.

• Reflect on the topics or themes that you’ve focused on in your studies. What draws you to them?
• Discuss any academic achievements, influential teachers, or other highlights of your education.
• Talk about the questions you’d like to explore in your research and why you think they’re important.

The personal statement isn’t a research proposal , so don’t go overboard on detail—but it’s a great opportunity to show your enthusiasm for the field and your capacity for original thinking.

In applying for this research program, my intention is to build on the multidisciplinary approach I have taken in my studies so far, combining knowledge from disparate fields of study to better understand psychological concepts and issues. The Media Psychology program stands out to me as the perfect environment for this kind of research, given its researchers’ openness to collaboration across diverse fields. I am impressed by the department’s innovative interdisciplinary projects that focus on the shifting landscape of media and technology, and I hope that my own work can follow a similarly trailblazing approach. More specifically, I want to develop my understanding of the intersection of psychology and media studies, and explore how media psychology theories and methods might be applied to neurodivergent minds. I am interested not only in media psychology but also in psychological disorders, and how the two interact. This is something I touched on during my undergraduate studies and that I’m excited to delve into further.

Strategy 4: Discuss your professional ambitions

Especially if you’re applying for a more professionally-oriented program (such as an MBA), it’s a good idea to focus on concrete goals and how the program will help you achieve them.

• If your career is just getting started, show how your character is suited to the field, and explain how graduate school will help you develop your talents.
• If you have already worked in the profession, show what you’ve achieved so far, and explain how the program will allow you to take the next step.
• If you are planning a career change, explain what has driven this decision and how your existing experience will help you succeed.

Don’t just state the position you want to achieve. You should demonstrate that you’ve put plenty of thought into your career plans and show why you’re well-suited to this profession.

One thing that fascinated me about the field during my undergraduate studies was the sheer number of different elements whose interactions constitute a person’s experience of an urban environment. Any number of factors could transform the scene I described at the beginning: What if there were no bus route? Better community outreach in the neighborhood? Worse law enforcement? More or fewer jobs available in the area? Some of these factors are out of the hands of an urban planner, but without taking them all into consideration, the planner has an incomplete picture of their task. Through further study I hope to develop my understanding of how these disparate elements combine and interact to create the urban environment. I am interested in the social, psychological and political effects our surroundings have on our lives. My studies will allow me to work on projects directly affecting the kinds of working-class urban communities I know well. I believe I can bring my own experiences, as well as my education, to bear upon the problem of improving infrastructure and quality of life in these communities.

Tips for the main body

• Don’t rehash your resume by trying to summarize everything you’ve done so far; the personal statement isn’t about listing your academic or professional experience, but about reflecting, evaluating, and relating it to broader themes.
• Do make your statements into stories: Instead of saying you’re hard-working and self-motivated, write about your internship where you took the initiative to start a new project. Instead of saying you’ve always loved reading, reflect on a novel or poem that changed your perspective.

Your conclusion should bring the focus back to the program and what you hope to get out of it, whether that’s developing practical skills, exploring intellectual questions, or both.

Emphasize the fit with your specific interests, showing why this program would be the best way to achieve your aims.

Strategy 1: What do you want to know?

If you’re applying for a more academic or research-focused program, end on a note of curiosity: what do you hope to learn, and why do you think this is the best place to learn it?

If there are specific classes or faculty members that you’re excited to learn from, this is the place to express your enthusiasm.

Strategy 2: What do you want to do?

If you’re applying for a program that focuses more on professional training, your conclusion can look to your career aspirations: what role do you want to play in society, and why is this program the best choice to help you get there?

Tips for the conclusion

• Don’t summarize what you’ve already said. You have limited space in a personal statement, so use it wisely!
• Do think bigger than yourself: try to express how your individual aspirations relate to your local community, your academic field, or society more broadly. It’s not just about what you’ll get out of graduate school, but about what you’ll be able to give back.

You’ll be expected to do a lot of writing in graduate school, so make a good first impression: leave yourself plenty of time to revise and polish the text.

Your style doesn’t have to be as formal as other kinds of academic writing, but it should be clear, direct and coherent. Make sure that each paragraph flows smoothly from the last, using topic sentences and transitions to create clear connections between each part.

Don’t be afraid to rewrite and restructure as much as necessary. Since you have a lot of freedom in the structure of a personal statement, you can experiment and move information around to see what works best.

Finally, it’s essential to carefully proofread your personal statement and fix any language errors. Before you submit your application, consider investing in professional personal statement editing . For $150, you have the peace of mind that your personal statement is grammatically correct, strong in term of your arguments, and free of awkward mistakes.

A statement of purpose is usually more formal, focusing on your academic or professional goals. It shouldn’t include anything that isn’t directly relevant to the application.

A personal statement can often be more creative. It might tell a story that isn’t directly related to the application, but that shows something about your personality, values, and motivations.

However, both types of document have the same overall goal: to demonstrate your potential as a graduate student and s how why you’re a great match for the program.

The typical length of a personal statement for graduate school applications is between 500 and 1,000 words.

Different programs have different requirements, so always check if there’s a minimum or maximum length and stick to the guidelines. If there is no recommended word count, aim for no more than 1-2 pages.

If you’re applying to multiple graduate school programs, you should tailor your personal statement to each application.

Some applications provide a prompt or question. In this case, you might have to write a new personal statement from scratch: the most important task is to respond to what you have been asked.

If there’s no prompt or guidelines, you can re-use the same idea for your personal statement – but change the details wherever relevant, making sure to emphasize why you’re applying to this specific program.

If the application also includes other essays, such as a statement of purpose , you might have to revise your personal statement to avoid repeating the same information.

If you want to know more about college essays , academic writing , and AI tools , make sure to check out some of our other language articles with explanations, examples, and quizzes.

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Academic writing

• Writing process
• Avoiding repetition
• Literature review
• Conceptual framework
• Dissertation outline
• Thesis acknowledgements
• Burned or burnt
• Canceled or cancelled
• Dreamt or dreamed
• Gray or grey
• Theater vs theatre

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English Personal Statement Guide

Your Personal Statement will be the first, and sometimes only, chance you get to introduce yourself as an individual to admissions tutors at your chosen universities. In a single page (or thereabouts), you have to give a good first impression of yourself, outline your key motivations for studying English, and prove that you've got both the skills and the passion to succeed on a challenging degree course. It's by no means a simple task!

Although a Personal Statement should be just that - personal - there are certain techniques, methods, and tips that you can learn to help you make your content shine! This guide will take you through our experts top advice on what to include or not include, how to begin, and how to end a successful English personal statement, as well as addressing some of the most common questions we are asked about personal statement writing.

This guide is split into the following sections:

• Why are Personal Statements Important?
• What Should I Include in an English Personal Statement?  
• What Should I Avoid in an English Personal Statement?  

Advice on How to Start an English Personal Statement  

Advice on how to finish an english personal statement  .

What Should I Avoid in an English Personal Statement ?  

Avoid Overly-Emotive or Clichéd Language, Especially the Word 'Passion'

The Oxbridge admissions process is a way of measuring your potential ability to make interesting contributions to a university's intellectual community. It's not a competition to simply prove how strongly you feel about literature .

By filling your personal statement with insightful reflections on your wider reading , you will offer admissions tutors a stronger sense of your enthusiasm for the subject than by writing something like 'literature has always been my passion'.

Don't Write an Autobiography

Some students begin their statements by noting that they have wanted to study English at Oxford since the age of nine. This is both a cliché of the genre and an inadvisable gambit.

The length of time during which you've harboured an ambition to study English isn't a useful measure of your potential suitability as a student at Oxbridge . Admissions tutors want to know that you are currently developing your understanding of the subject by reading widely and reflecting on what you have read.

We recommend that you refer exclusively to texts that you have read and achievements that you have accomplished during your time in sixth-form.

Prove that You're an Independent Thinker Rather Than Leaning on Others

If you've read a lot of literary criticism, it can be tempting to reiterate the views of critics in your statement, especially if you find yourself agreeing with them. This isn't a particularly creditable approach .

It's much more interesting – for you and the staff reading your statement – if you can mount a well reasoned challenge to the view of a particular literary critic . You are not obliged to do this, of course, but it can serve as proof that you can think independently.

Precision is Always Preferable to Pomposity

  Writing a successful statement is not an exercise in showing off the breadth of your vocabulary. It's much more helpful to explain your literary interests using precisely chosen language than it is to try to demonstrate your erudition by including sophisticated vocabulary for its own sake.

Never Be Dishonest

Some students get caught out when called for interview because their personal statements contain exaggerations or elements of untruthfulness. Write only about texts which you have actually read and experiences that you have had yourself.

Register to access our complimentary e-book "So You Want To Go To Oxbridge? Tell me about a banana…"

Your statement should begin with a very brief explanation of why you are excited by the prospect of studying English at university.

Resist the temptation to try and write something dazzlingly original, witty or epigrammatic. It's much better to keep your opening honest and succinct , thus allowing you time to explore the details of your interest in the subject in the main body of the statement.

Avoid the temptation to begin with a quotation : this is simply hiding behind someone else's words and gives the admissions tutors little idea of what excites you as an individual.

Above all, don't worry too much about how you phrase the opening sentence. As long as it is clear, and puts across your truthful feelings about your application, the main body of the statement can be relied upon for the finer details.

Personal statements are only 4000 characters long , so you need to make very efficient use of that space to demonstrate the scope of your intellect. You therefore don't have room to write a formal conclusion of the sort that you might include in a job application.

Provided that your statement is full of evidence of your ability to think subtly about a variety of texts and ideas, all the conclusion needs to do is offer a brief concluding sentence . Think about reiterating the main theme of your motivation or interests, and leaving the reader with the idea you most want them to remember once they have finished reading.

If you are going to include details of non-academic extra-curricular achievements in your statement – as valued by some universities, but not by Oxford or Cambridge – we recommend using the final couple of sentences of your statement for this purpose.

• What are some Tips for Writing a Strong English Personal Statement?
• How Long Should my English Personal Statement Be?
• What Kind of Extracurricular Activities Should I Include in my English Personal Statement?
• How Can I Tailor my English Personal Statement to the Oxford/Cambridge Course?

* Throughout your time in the sixth-form, keep a notebook of potential ideas to discuss in your statement. These can include your opinions on specific texts, your reactions to the views of critics, interesting points of connection between texts, and so on. Choosing what to put in your statement becomes much easier if you have a written record of your best ideas from the previous twelve months.

* Don't spread yourself too thinly; pick between four and six sub-topics that interest you and explore these in detail. There just isn't room within a personal statement to list all the books that you have read or all the ideas that you have about them. You need to select the ideas that fascinate you the most and explain what interests you about them. Draw up a list of these before you begin writing. Don't worry if you have to omit interesting ideas or impressive achievements: you can ask your teachers to refer to these in the references which they supply for you.

* Plan the structure of your statement to avoid exceeding the word-count. Some applicants begin by writing drafts which are much too long. They then face the challenge of trying to edit this document in order to meet the word-count, a time-consuming and often onerous task. Writing a brief plan of the five or six areas that your statement will cover eliminates the risk of this. It is much easier to develop a draft that is slightly too short than to abbreviate one that is far too long.

* Don't shy away from writing about lesser-known authors or topics if they excite you. It's always refreshing for admissions tutors to read the statements of applicants whose programme of wider reading has led them towards lesser-known texts or authors. Don't assume that you have to write about the most famous canonical texts. If you have interesting thoughts on the work of, for example, Denise Riley or Julian of Norwich, feel free to develop these in your statement.

You have 4000 characters or 47 lines to use in your personal statement. We recommend utilising as much of this space as possible to convey a thorough sense of your academic interests. If your first draft falls significantly short of this upper limit, it's likely that you need to include some extra details or develop your existing points.

Refer only to those extracurricular activities that have helped developed your understanding of English. For example, if you directed a school production of Othello and it inspired you to have specific thoughts on how Shakespeare's presentation of tragic heroes changed across his literary career, feel free to explain how these thoughts developed. If you have attended a lecture from an academic which caused you to re-consider the usefulness of the idea of literary canons, this might also merit inclusion.

Before you begin writing, it's useful to listen to some interviews with academics who teach English at Oxbridge. This will give you an idea of the way that they present their arguments, as well as some of the ideas and critical vocabulary that you will be using during your degree. Doing this often eases applicants' nerves: you will find that Oxbridge tutors usually present sophisticated ideas in clear, accessible language.     

Unlike some English degrees, the courses at both Oxford and Cambridge oblige students to analyse a broad range of literary genres dating back to the earliest recorded texts in the language. It is therefore useful – although not essential – if your statement can demonstrate that you are interested in studying the literature of previous eras (beyond the obligatory Shakespeare text on the A-Level syllabus).

However, resist any sense of obligation to write about the research interests of the tutors at your chosen college. Tutors are looking to offer places to independent thinkers with a variety of literary tastes and critical opinions which differ from their own. In any case, your personal statement will be sent to all the universities to which you are applying, so you should not be specific about any one course or lecturer, since it risks turning the other universities off.

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Successful Personal Statement For English At Cambridge

Last Updated: 5th April 2022

Author: Rob Needleman

Table of Contents

Welcome to our popular Personal Statement series where we present a successful Personal Statement, and our Oxbridge Tutors provide their feedback on it. 

Today, we are looking through an English applicant’s Personal Statement that helped secure a place at Cambridge University. The English Course at Cambridge balances a strong grounding in literary works. Let’s see how the candidate addresses this in their Personal Statement. 

Here’s a breakdown of the Personal Statement (the applicant came very close to the 4,000 character limit):

SUCCESSFUL?

The universities this candidate applied to were the following:

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English Personal Statement

Growing up in a house where books have replaced wallpaper, acquiring a love of literature was inevitable. I love the way in which writers explore, question, and critique aspects of human nature through the presentation of their worlds and characters. My favourite pieces of writing are ones such as Levi’s ‘Order on the Cheap’, Gogol’s ‘The Overcoat’ or Hartley’s ‘The Go Between’, where a particular human tendency is both beautifully presented and meticulously analysed. In his short story, Levi explores curiosity by invoking that of his audience: readers become distracted by the narrator’s descriptions of his experiments and overlook their morally problematic side. Hartley employs an opposite technique, allowing the reader to be often sharply aware of the innocence and naivety of the protagonist. Gogol manipulates the reader even more, invoking a painful sense of pathos around the main character whilst at the same time daring us to find Akaky’s concerns a little ridiculous.

I have to admit, however, that I am drawn to Levi’s short story not only because of its literary merits, but also because I sympathise with its main character: a man driven by his fascination with the process of creation. My favourite parts of my Chemistry A level were the ‘practicals’; I derived great excitement from the process of taking a simple substance, subjecting it to particular conditions, and thereby creating a completely different, and often much more complex, chemical. In ‘The Monkey’s Wrench’ Levi seems to emulate the same process in his development of the character of Tino. Starting from a simple first picture Tino is slowly developed, snippet by snippet, as the stories progress, until a fully evolved character finally emerges.

I find it fascinating how unexpected links can suddenly emerge between works: reading around a set text, Murakami’s ‘Blind Willow Sleeping Woman’, I read his ‘Kafka on the Shore’, which led me to read some of Kafka’s short stories, including ‘The Penal Colony’ and ‘A Country Doctor’. Whilst the works of the two writers are in many ways extremely different, I noticed some stylistic similarities. Both present protagonists whose apparently unexceptional lives are suddenly interrupted by a series of unexplained fantastical events. These events are often a metaphor for a wider-reaching process in the life of the narrator.

But without a doubt, poetry has always been my favourite form of literature: I like listening to poems or reading them aloud, appreciating their rhythm and sound, before going back and analysing them. Some of my favourite poems are those in which the sound is almost as important as the words themselves, for example, Lawrence’s ‘Ship of Death’ or Frost’s ‘After Apple Picking’. In this vein, I have a YouTube channel on which I post my readings of various poems, and have also earned at least several pence through poetry busking in the streets of Waterloo.

Eagleton’s ‘Literary Theory: an Introduction’ gave me another way in which to approach texts. As well as my visceral response and the various meanings extracted through analysis, the texts might exemplify the literary or political beliefs of a particular period. Further, members of different literary movements might approach them in very different ways – I enjoyed trying to put on the ‘mask’ of one movement or another and read a poem through it. Similarly, whilst studying ‘Othello’ I was interested by the hugely varying approaches of different critics, from Bradley who focused chiefly on character but seemed to forget the literary context, to Empson who concentrated almost solely on the changing meaning of the word ‘honest’ throughout time. Perhaps most significantly, Eagleton and the other critics reinforced the idea that engaging with a text is itself a creative process.

However, Eagleton’s book is just ‘an Introduction’: what draws me most to the study of English literature is not only that I love it, but that I want so much to learn more about it.

For more inspiration, take a look through our other successful Personal Statement a nalysis articles:

Successful Personal Statement For Law At Cambridge

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Good Points Of The Personal Statement

The candidate clearly demonstrates a keen and actioned interest in their chosen subject through the presentation of their reading and subsequent thoughts. They can articulate their present interests in their subject, as well as the sources of these interests, and their potential directions for further development. They indicate their ability to think laterally and creatively through their cohesive discussions of seemingly disparate texts, and are self-aware of their strengths and weaknesses as a reader. Their statement is fuelled by their evident personal enthusiasm for their subject, which makes it an engaging and urgent read.

Bad Points Of The Personal Statement

The candidate has acquired a relatively personal tone, which veers into the casual or confessional at times; their point might have been made more clearly or precisely had they adopted more strictly academic modes of communicating. Their consideration of various works is quite itemised, insofar as their statement reads like a series of ‘nuggets’ of information, rather than a clearly-focused piece with argument and direction. The candidate does reference another subject they study for A-Level, but beyond that, they have not included much information beyond their academic reading and interests. While this could certainly be justified as an approach, it does leave the statement suggesting that the writer is not particularly engaged in questions or activities beyond specific areas of literature.

UniAdmissions Overall Score:

The statement is at times quite chaotic in style, due to its familiar tone and slightly haphazard structure. However, it more than compensates for this since its familiarity is clearly a result of the candidate’s sheer enthusiasm for the subject. In addition, the range of material that they consider is very impressive — it includes both primary texts (of various forms) and secondary reading. The candidate has, moreover, articulated their own ideas on these works, and even if their exact communication of these are not particularly precise, the level of thought and consideration is still strong.

This Personal Statement for English is a great example of enthusiasm and passion. The candidate’s interest is clearly shown which is vital to Admissions Tutors.

Remember, at Cambridge, these Admissions Tutors are often the people who will be teaching you for the next few years so you need to appeal directly to them.

Go to our Free Personal Statement Resources page for even more successful personal statements and expert guides.

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Personal statements for postgraduate applications

Your Masters personal statement is an essential part of your postgraduate application as it's this document that will convince admissions tutors that you're worthy of a place on a course. Discover how to write a Masters personal statement and take a look at some examples for inspiration

What is a personal statement?

A Masters personal statement is a piece of writing that you submit as part of your  postgraduate application . It's your first real chance to sell yourself to the university and to demonstrate to admissions tutors that you're right for the course.

It's likely that you've already written a  personal statement for your Bachelors degree , so this should give you some idea of what to expect. However, don't be tempted to use your undergraduate personal statement as a template. You will have progressed academically since then and admissions tutors will want to see evidence of this.

Your postgraduate personal statement should be unique and tailored to the course that you're applying to. Use the opportunity to show off your academic interests and abilities, and to demonstrate that the programme will benefit from your attendance as much as you'll benefit from studying it.

'Personal statements have a two-way function in the application process,' explains Steve Carruthers, head of postgraduate admissions and student visa compliance at the University of East Anglia (UEA). 'They are critical to demonstrating the student is right for the course, showing their experience, knowledge, background and personality, as well as their interest in the subject. They also enable the admissions team to ensure the selected course is the best fit for the student's aspirations and goals, or to make alternate recommendations to ensure all options have been equally considered.'

How long should a postgraduate personal statement be?

A Masters personal statement should be around 500 words. This equates to one side of A4. However, some universities require more, often two sides. Some institutions also set a character limit instead of a specific word count, so it's important that you check the application guidelines before starting to write your statement.

As they're relatively short, don't waste words on autobiographical information. This isn't necessary in postgraduate personal statements. Instead, focus on why you want to study a particular programme and your potential to successfully complete the course.

What should I include in a Masters personal statement?

'The statement is a snapshot of who you are  and why you've chosen your course, so include everything that helps an academic or admissions team see that clearly,' advises Steve.

You should tailor your personal statement to fit the course you're applying for, so what to include will largely depend on the course requirements. However, in general you should write about:

• Your reasons for applying for a particular programme and why you deserve a place above other candidates - 'demonstrate your interest and passion for the course and subject. This tells admissions staff you're more likely to fully engage in your studies,' says Steve. Discuss your academic interests, career goals and the university and department's reputation, and write about which aspects of the course you find most appealing, for example particular modules or work experience opportunities. Show that you're ready for the demands of postgraduate life by demonstrating your knowledge and experience.
• Your preparation  - address how undergraduate study has prepared you for a postgraduate course, mentioning your independent work (e.g. dissertation) and topics that most interested you.
• Evidence of your skillset  - 'show your writing skills, intellect and ability to succeed academically, as well as the effect and impact you may have on the cohort as a leader, influencer, or enthusiastic team member,' adds Steve. Highlight relevant skills and knowledge that will enable you to make an impact on the department, summarising your abilities in core areas including IT, numeracy, organisation, communication, time management and critical thinking. You can also cover any grades, awards, work placements, extra readings or conferences that you've attended and how these have contributed to your readiness for Masters study.
• Your goals  - 'Your long-term plans and aspirations are also important to cover, as they both help ensure you've selected the best course to achieve these, but also give the academic team an understanding of how they might best support you through your studies,' says Steve.

Address any  weaknesses, such as lower-than-expected module performance in your undergraduate degree or gaps in your education history. The university will want to know about these, so explain them with a positive spin. Cover how these gaps and weaknesses have been addressed and what will be different in your  postgraduate studies.

How should I structure my personal statement?

Your personal statement should follow a logical, methodical structure, where each paragraph follows on from the one before. Make sure paragraphs are short, succinct, clear and to the point. Remember, you only have 500 words so use them wisely.

Capture the reader's attention with an enthusiastic introduction covering why you want to study a particular Masters. Then, engage the reader in your middle paragraphs by summing up your academic and employment background, evidencing your knowledge and skills and demonstrating why the course is right for you.

Your conclusion should be concise, summarising why you're the ideal candidate. Overall, aim for five or six paragraphs. You can use headings to break up the text if you prefer.

The majority of postgraduate applications are submitted online directly to the university. If this is the case, present your personal statement in a standard font such as Arial, Calibri or Times New Roman, text size 11 or 12. If your course application is submitted through UKPASS (UCAS's postgraduate application service) font style won't matter, as personal statements are automatically formatted.

How can I write a good postgraduate personal statement?

• Give yourself plenty of time and don't rush . Your personal statement can make or break your application so it needs to be right. Tutors can tell if you're bluffing, and showing yourself up as uninformed could be costly. Before you start, read the rules and guidelines provided, check the selection criteria and research the course and institution.
• Use AI tools responsibly - 'Remember, this is a 'personal' statement, so make sure it's all about you,' stresses Steve. 'Using AI such as ChatGTP or Google Bard to generate a statement may be easier, but generalised statements that miss out you, your personality and experiences will never be as effective. Personal stories and experiences really bring your statement to life, and this is one of those times it's ok to talk boldly about all you've achieved, and your qualities.'
•  Adopt a positive, enthusiastic and professional tone and write in clear, short sentences . Avoid elaborate or overly complicated phrases. Unless otherwise stated, all postgraduate personal statements should be written in English and your spelling, grammar and punctuation must be spot on, as the personal statement acts as a test of your written communication skills..
• Don't use the same supporting statement for every course . Admissions tutors can spot copy-and-paste jobs. Generic applications demonstrate that you have little understanding of the course. In order to stand out from the crowd, Masters personal statements must be unique and specific to the course and institution.
• Draft and redraft your statement until you're happy . Then ask a friend, family member or careers adviser to read it. Proofreading is incredibly important to avoid mistakes. Memorise what you've written before any interviews.

What do I need to avoid?

• follow online examples too closely, use them as a guide only
• use your undergraduate UCAS application as a template
• be negative
• lie or exaggerate
• use clichés, gimmicks, humour, over-used words such as 'passion' or Americanisms
• include inspirational quotes
• make pleading/begging statements
• needlessly flatter the organisation
• include irrelevant course modules, personal facts or extra-curricular activities
• use overly long sentences
• repeat information found elsewhere in your application
• leave writing your personal statement to the last minute.

How should I start my Masters personal statement?

Steve believes there is no right way to start a personal statement so try not to waste too much time coming up with a catchy opening. The more you try, the more contrived you'll sound and the more likely you are to fall into the trap of using clichés. 'A good rule of thumb is to make it interesting, personal (avoiding bland generalisms) and enthusiastic for your choice of study.’

'Your opening lines could include how your current interests (we're less interested in you as a six year old) have led you to apply for this course, and how you see it helping you achieve both your full potential and future aspirations,' says Steve.

Avoid using overused phrases, such as:

• For as long as I can remember…
• From a young age…
• I am applying for this course because…
• Throughout my life I have always enjoyed…
• I have always been interested in…
• I have always been passionate about…
• I have always wanted to pursue a career in…
• Reflecting on my educational experiences…

Admissions tutors read hundreds of applications per course so the opening paragraph of your personal statement needs to get straight to the point and make a real impact. Avoid overkill statements, gimmicks and popular quotes.

If you're really struggling, come back and tackle the opening once you have written the rest.

How should I end my personal statement?

Conclusions should be short, sharp and memorable, and leave no doubt in an admissions tutor's mind that you deserve a place on a course.

The perfect ending should pull all of your key points together without waffling or repeating yourself.

Like the rest of your Masters personal statement, keep the ending simple. Be succinct and make it clear why you'll be an asset to the university and end on a positive note, with a statement about why the institution would be lucky to have you as a student.

What are admissions tutors looking for?

'Passion for the subject, and an understanding of the key challenges and problems it's currently facing, as well as the research being undertaken to solve these or to move the field forwards, really endears you to the academics who you'll be interacting with,' explains Steve.

'Strong writing skills are a gift, so be clear and concise about what you want to say, and always get a second pair of eyes to check spelling and grammar as well as readability.'

Make sure you also provide:

• an explanation of how the course links your past and future
• an insight into your academic and non-academic abilities, and how they'll fit with the course
• evidence of your skills, commitment and enthusiasm
• knowledge of the institution's area of expertise
• reasons why you want to study at the institution.

Personal statement examples

The style and content of your postgraduate personal statement depends on several variables, such as the type of qualification that you're applying for - such as a  Masters degree , a conversion course or  teacher training . Here are some postgraduate personal statement templates to help you get started:

Business management personal statement

Postgraduate courses in business management are popular among graduates. To make your application stand out your personal statement needs to cover your motivations for choosing a specific course at a particular university, your career goals and how the Masters will help you achieve them. Be sure to mention relevant transferrable skills and work experience. Read up on management courses .

Computer science personal statement

If you'd like to complete a Masters but studied an unrelated subject at undergraduate level you'll need to explain why you'd like to change disciplines. In the case of computer science your personal statement will need to show that you possess the technical, mathematical and analytical skills necessary, as well as demonstrate your knowledge of the subject area. Gain an insight into the information technology sector .

Law personal statement

You'll apply for an LLM the same way you would for any other Masters, directly to the university. Whether you're undertaking a general LLM or a more specific programme, such as an LLM in human rights or international business law, you'll need to convey why you want to study the law in more depth and how this could potentially aid your career. Discover more about LLM degrees .

Nursing personal statement

If you didn't study the subject at undergraduate level but you'd like to apply for a postgraduate course in nursing your personal statement needs to convey your reasons for choosing this career path, as well as demonstrate a specific set of skills, knowledge of the working environment and relevant  experience. Find out more about working as an adult or children's nurse .

Psychology personal statement

Applications for conversion courses such as these are fairly straightforward and made directly to individual institutions. You need to explain why you want to change subjects and how your current subject will help you. Explain what experience you have that will help with your conversion subject, and what you hope to do in the future. Learn more about  psychology conversion courses .

Social work personal statement

If your Bachelors degree was in an unrelated subject but you now have ambitions to work as a social worker you'll need a Masters in social work (MSW) to qualify. Social work Masters have a substantial work placement element so you'll need to cover what you hope to achieve during this time as well as demonstrate other relevant experience. Find out more about social work courses .

PGCE primary personal statement

As well as detailing why you want to work with this particular age group, a PGCE primary personal statement should highlight the ways in which your educational background has inspired you to teach. You'll need to cover relevant skills you have gained and any related work experience, as well as demonstrate your knowledge of the primary national curriculum. Read up on PGCEs .

PGCE secondary personal statement

You'll need to cover why you want to teach at secondary level while also acknowledging the pressures and challenges of working with older pupils. As you'll be teaching a specific subject, you'll need to evidence your knowledge in this area and demonstrate how your first degree was relevant. It's also essential to highlight any related work or voluntary experience. Learn more about teaching personal statements .

Find out more

• Search postgraduate courses .
• Find out what else you must consider when  applying for a Masters degree .
• Completed your application? Discover what  postgraduate interview questions  you may be asked.

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How to Write an English Personal Statement Worthy of Oxbridge!

Are you dreaming of pursuing English at Oxford, Cambridge or a top Russell Group University? This comprehensive guide equips you with top tips for crafting an English personal statement that truly stands out. Learn how to showcase your diverse literary interests, structure your personal statement or tailor your statement for Oxbridge. To bring these concepts to life, we provide an example Oxbridge English personal statement for your reference.

When applying to university, your personal statement is your best opportunity to showcase what motivates you to study the subject you are applying for and why you are suited to study it.  You can do this by providing evidence of your interest: how have you gone beyond the curriculum to satisfy questions which reach past the subject at A Level?  

Interviewers for English at university will be looking for students who have an insatiable curiosity for learning and developed interests in various areas of the subject. They will also be looking for candidates who have the analytical skills and academic rigour required for success at university. And, of course, you’ll be expected to demonstrate evidence of substantial reading; a successful English personal statement will provide a starting point for an interview discussion, so gesture towards a range of different texts which you are prepared to discuss at length. Don’t shy away from making a provocative statement, as long as you are prepared to support any claim you make: independent, fresh responses to texts will generate a positive response.

Tips for your English Literature Personal Statement

The key tips to bear in mind when writing a personal statement are: be truthful, be ambitious and don’t undersell yourself.  This is an opportunity to show off what you’re good at! Don’t hold back from writing about times when you have excelled (for example, winning an English essay competition) but don’t distort what you’ve done either. 

Don’t mention books which you haven’t read all the way through . If you feel like your breadth of reading might be lacking, it’s a good idea to do some extension reading in the months leading up to applying for university, so that when it comes to writing your personal statement, you’ll have a wide variety of texts to choose from.

Showcase your literary diversity : Make your personal statement stand out by referencing a range of text forms, from classic novels to contemporary poetry, thought-provoking essays, iconic plays, and compelling prose. This demonstrates your passion for English literature across different mediums and eras.

Embrace the breadth of English literature: Convey your enthusiasm for the subject by including references to works from various eras. Showcase your appreciation for not only contemporary literature but also texts from older periods, like the Medieval age, the Renaissance, and beyond (whilst staying true to your interests). This illustrates your readiness to explore and engage with the rich tapestry of English literature throughout history. This is particularly important when applying for a course like Oxford English Language Literature as the course modules are chronological, spanning Old English (e.g. Beowulf) through to contemporary texts. An admissions tutor is likely to be impressed if you therefore have some appreciation for a range of literary eras.

Craft a narrative with a few (e.g. 3) focused areas of interest: Instead of providing a superficial overview of various topics that interest you, choose say three specific areas of English literature that genuinely intrigue you. These could be thematic, like postcolonial literature, feminist literature, or gothic literature. For each area, go in-depth by referencing a key book or text you've read, a relevant piece of literary criticism (this isn’t required, but can be good to include!), and your thoughtful analysis of the text or critic's perspective. Then, connect these three areas to create a compelling narrative thread that showcases your passion, analytical skills, and the trajectory of your literary exploration. This approach not only demonstrates your commitment but also provides a captivating structure for your personal statement (See the English personal statement posted below as an example of this!)

How to Structure Your English Personal Statement

The word count for personal statements is quite limited, so it’s important to use every sentence effectively. Don’t repeat yourself and don’t include information which isn’t relevant to your application. When applying for English, there are certain areas which should be addressed in your personal statement, so here is a guideline of how one might structure the personal statement to ensure that all of these areas are mentioned.

Introductory paragraph:

What is your motivation to study English?  Be specific: what do you want to explore at university? What is distinctive about studying literature that makes it worthwhile? Ensure you talk about what motivates your study of the subject now, not a catalyst from your childhood as, even if it may be true, the interviewer will find it clichéd and less relevant.

Main body of the personal statement:

Devote at least a paragraph to talking about specific areas of interest within the subject.  What excites you most? For example, do you have a particular fascination with performance studies or postcolonial theory? Indicate that you have opinions and preoccupations within the discipline.

Mention a range of texts which have interested you: ensure that you’ve mentioned at least one play, prose text and piece of poetry (ideally).  It’s also a good idea to show that you’ve engaged with secondary texts, for example a work of literary criticism or a book covering the historical background of a period of literature you’ve studied.

Show that you have an active interest in the subject: Have you sought out performances of plays, special lectures or essay competitions? These will all reveal that you’ve gone out of your way to immerse yourself in your subject already, and this is a very appealing trait in a prospective university candidate.

Showcase your skills: Don’t just name-drop texts but say something incisive and persuasive about them. This could involve discussing what links together works by authors of the same period or what defines the work of a single author.  Demonstrate your ability to analyse texts effectively, because this is the most important skill which you will use studying English at university level.

Concluding your personal statement:

The personal statement isn’t long enough to talk at length about extracurricular hobbies and activities, so don’t let these take up too much space (a few lines maximum). However, it is a good idea to mention what you do outside your subject to present yourself as a well-rounded candidate. Therefore:

You could mention one or two of your other A Level subjects, perhaps describing how they have enhanced your study of English. This will be particularly convincing if you have studied History or a foreign language at A Level.

Mention any extracurricular activities which make you stand out. Do you play a musical instrument, and if so, to what level? If you’re involved in sport, do you play in a team?  Don’t write at length about this: try to contain this information within one sentence.

Mention any prizes or roles of responsibility which you have had at school, including any clubs that you might organise, such as the school newspaper or student council.

Conclude your personal statement by returning to your aptitude for studying the subject . Which core skills do you possess which will equip you to excel at degree level? It’s important to strike a balance between enthusiasm for the subject and evidence of skills.

Applying to Oxford or Cambridge (Oxbridge)? Here's What You Should Also Do

Difference Between Oxford English Language and Literature BA & Cambridge English BA

The University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge, collectively referred to as Oxbridge, are globally renowned for their exceptional academic courses. In the domain of English studies, both universities offer distinct programmes: Oxford's English Language and Literature and Cambridge's English course. In this section, we will precisely explore the key differences between these programmes, highlighting their unique approaches and focus, to ensure you cater your Oxbridge English personal statement to your Number 1 choice of university.

Writing an Oxford English Language and Literature Personal Statement

Oxford's English Language and Literature course is renowned for its extensive scope, offering a comprehensive exploration of English writing from its origins in Anglo-Saxon England to contemporary works. It provides the unique opportunity to examine literature in English on a global scale, encompassing texts from various parts of the world and originally penned in different languages. The course allows students to tailor their studies to match their interests through core papers, dissertation topics, and special options. Some past options include delving into Literature and revolution, Postcolonial literature, Writing lives, Old Norse, Tragedy, and Film criticism, fostering a dynamic and diverse learning experience.

At the University of Oxford, the course titled "English Language and Literature" is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of both the language and literary aspects of the English discipline . It is therefore important that you ideally reference both aspects in your Oxford English personal statement. Even if the other courses you are applying for do not have the Language element, anything you include will still be relevant to the study of Literature (you can entwine the two).

1. Integration of Language and Literature:

Oxford's course integrates the study of the English language with a deep exploration of literary works. Students examine the language's structure, history, and linguistic components while also engaging with a wide array of literary genres and periods.

2. Language Analysis and Literary Critique:

The curriculum at Oxford hones students skills in language analysis, gives them exposure to linguistic theories, and literary critique. Students learn to analyse the nuances of language and its application in literature, fostering critical thinking and analytical skills.

3. Historical and Cultural Context:

Oxford places significant importance on studying literature within its historical and cultural contexts. Students gain insights into the societal influences that shaped literary works, providing a holistic understanding of the subject.

Writing a Cambridge English Personal Statement

Cambridge's English degree course offers a well-rounded curriculum that combines a strong foundation in English literary works with an opportunity to explore various art forms, including music and film in relation to literature . Furthermore, it delves into literature's connections with intellectual traditions such as philosophy, art history, and politics . In Year 1 (Part IA), students undertake compulsory papers in Practical Criticism and Critical Practice, along with an assessment of Shakespeare through a portfolio of essays. Year 2 (Part IB) introduces compulsory and optional papers spanning different literary periods from Early Medieval Literature to the 20th century. In Year 3 (Part II), students engage with compulsory papers in Practical Criticism and Critical Practice II, explore Tragedy across ages, and undertake a dissertation. Additionally, they can choose from a wide array of optional papers that evolve yearly, covering diverse topics such as Chaucer, American Literature, Visual Culture, and more.

Here’s how to tailor your personal statement to align with these features:

Interdisciplinary Approach : Cambridge's English course places a strong emphasis on interdisciplinary connections. In your personal statement, you could showcase your readiness to explore literature's intersections with other fields such as philosophy, art history, and politics. Mention any relevant experiences or readings that demonstrate your interest in these areas and how they relate to literature.

Exploration of Other Art Forms : Cambridge offers the opportunity to delve into other art forms, including music and film, in relation to literature. Highlight your passion for these art forms and their connections to literature. You could discuss a specific instance where you've analysed how music or film enhances the understanding of a literary work, for example, or how these art forms can provide fresh perspectives on literature.

Critical Thinking and Intellectual Traditions : Cambridge's English course encourages critical thinking and engagement with intellectual traditions. In your personal statement, you could emphasise your analytical abilities by discussing a piece of literature or a critical theory that challenged your thinking. Show how your engagement with intellectual traditions has shaped your approach to literature.

Broad Range of Literature : Mention your fascination with the diverse range of literary works in the Cambridge curriculum, spanning different eras and cultures. Highlight any books or authors that have particularly resonated with you, and explain how they have influenced your literary interests.

How is the Personal Statement Used in Oxbridge English Interviews?

Your personal statement offers admissions tutors a glimpse into your academic journey, showcasing your passion for English Literature or English Language. It acts as a crucial tool for them to assess your commitment to the subject and your ability to articulate your thoughts coherently and persuasively.

Through your personal statement, you have the opportunity to exhibit your enthusiasm for the subject. Your engagement with literary works, language theories, and academic experiences should shine through, portraying a genuine and dedicated interest in the field. Highlighting specific books, theories, or authors you admire and discussing how they have influenced your academic pursuits adds depth to your statement.

Admissions tutors use your personal statement to evaluate how well your academic goals align with the structure and ethos of the course you're applying for. Articulate why you believe the particular course at the university is the right fit for you. Demonstrating an understanding of the curriculum and emphasising how it will help you achieve your academic and career aspirations is key.

During the interview, the personal statement often serves as a starting point for discussion . The interviewers may delve into topics you've mentioned in your statement, seeking deeper insights into your thought processes and motivations. Therefore, it is essential to be well-prepared to expand on the ideas presented in your personal statement, providing a more comprehensive understanding of your perspective.

Looking for ideas for English personal statement content?

We have built out an entire co-curricular platform, Minds Underground, for university applicants to use as evidence for their wider subject exploration. A few ideas:

Our English Literature Summer School allows students to broaden their horizons in literature, to consider authors and theorists from across the globe. classes are hosted by our Oxbridge-educated tutors, from a Fellow at all Soul’s College, Oxford, to published authors and Master’s and PhD researchers specialising in English Lang & Lit

Research Projects: E.g. ““Ways of Seeing": Exploring Word, Image and Ideology with a Cambridge Master's English Researcher and Multidisciplinary Artist” (Typically 1 month, 5 project tutorial sessions)

Exemplar Personal Statement for Oxford Language and Literature

Below is a sample English Language and Literature personal statement from U2 Tuition co-founder Camille, that was accepted for Oriel College, Oxford:

The importance of literature in society first became apparent to me when reading Milton’s polemical tract Areopagitica. I was intrigued by the way he used language’s potential not only to liberate, ‘give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely’, but also to manipulate. It is fascinating that this idea of a ‘Janus’ faced’ side to words could have been promoted over 300 years ago. Today, in our progressively plural world and with language’s increasing flexibility, I can see that Milton’s ideas have developed still further. In a culture where we are constantly bombarded with messages, it is all the more important to discern meaning. Here, Saussure’s theories in semiotics have particular resonance. I believe an in-depth study of literature will teach me to deconstruct and question these uses of language. It was for this reason I undertook work as a research assistant on an Oxford University project, Examining the OED. Tracing how language changed over time demonstrated its fluidity and the nuances of the way words are actually used. Considering how literary writers have shaped and influenced the lexicon also showed me how literature constantly interacts with everyday life. This capacity for narrative to be an active force both in the shaping of the lexicon and also upon the reader, became evident to me during my Gap Year travels on the professional tennis tour. During this period of intense training and competition I drew inspiration, both as a tennis player and aspiring novelist, from travel writing such as Robert McFarlane’s Mountains of the Mind and Old Ways and McDougall’s Born to Run. Upon my return I came across Robin Lydenberg’s essay Freud’s Uncanny Narratives. His discussion of the uncanny effect of Freud’s constant shift into autobiographical narrative and complex relation to Italy in The Uncanny, was particularly relevant to a study of a personal and travel narrative. I realised part of the attraction of these texts was their dealings with both the familiar and the foreign. I am also curious about the more typical territory of the uncanny in Gothic fiction, where terror is derived from something, at once strange and intrinsic, in the supernatural. I found the skeleton that reproaches Frederic for his lust in Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto horrific in the truest Gothic sense - an instrument of man’s own secret fears, denials and desires. In a less overt manner (and as a possible reaction to Lewis’s The Monk) Radcliffe interweaves supernatural ‘mysteries’ and human psychology in her rational explanations. I love how she shows the mind itself to almost be a supernatural entity. When reading Radcliffe’s work I was struck by her portrayal of her heroines as paradigms of innocence who cannot function in the active adult world. I recognised this as a recurring theme in Victorian texts like Gaskell’s Ruth, Rossetti’s Goblin Market and Wilde’s A Woman of No Importance. I thought it illuminating that despite Wilde’s feminist tendencies he sends Mrs. Arbuthnot into exile whilst Lord Illingworth is assimilated back into society. The conflict between the way writers depict the private ethics of their female protagonists and the realities of public life is also found in earlier works. In Shakespeare’s The Rape of Lucrece, Lucrece is only given some form of rhetorical political power by committing suicide. Likewise, in Titus Andronicus, Lavinia’s sacrifice and perhaps even her rape are necessary to reestablish purity in Rome, and in Medea, Medea only gains power over Jason by killing her own children. Her revenge is limited. The development of language, the influence of literature in everyday life and the way in which writers treat gender and the supernatural are just some of the literary ideas that intrigue me. I would relish the opportunity to deepen my understanding of these concepts and explore other periods and styles at University level.

Use this personal statement for inspiration and ideas, and to see how to structure an exemplar English personal statement for Oxford or Cambridge. We wish you all the best on your onward journey and encourage you to look at our Personal Statement page for more information, and the ways in which U2 can help.

Looking for an English Personal Statement Writing Tutor or Support For Your Wider Oxbridge English Application?

English Personal Statement Tutoring

U2 Tuition’s Oxbridge-educated tutors have a close insight into what admissions tutors like to see in an English personal statement, and can help students to convey their skills, motivations, and long term goals, in order to stand out from other applicants. The statement should be the candidates own work, but our mentors will provide direction and guide you through the process of content building and writing. We offer offline drafting as well as tuition sessions.

Oxbridge English Tutoring

We have a large team of Oxbridge-educated English mentors including 1st Class, Master’s and PhD level graduates, who support students through each stage of the application process, including personal statement, ELAT and interview preparation.

The Process:

1) We suggest an Oxbridge English graduate as a mentor and send their full CV for review. Our mentors are deeply familiar with the admissions process to study English at the University of Oxford, Cambridge, as well as top UK Universities such as UCL, and are well-placed to guide you through personal statement curation, the entrance exam and interview process. We may suggest a range of application tutors to choose from with slightly differing rates depending on qualifications and level of experience.

2) We typically suggest beginning with a 1.5 hour diagnostic session , where the mentor will informally assess the student’s current performance level for application, including test and interview. Following this, we issue a report with feedback, and structure a plan to best prepare.

3) U2’s approach for regular English application sessions: The main focus of tutorial sessions will be to explore material that can be discussed in the personal statement and at interview - this may sometimes stretch from A-Level standard to First Year Undergraduate. Mentors ensure each student refines their literary interests, and is exposed to a range of literary eras, approaches and new concepts, guiding students in their reading and wider subject exploration. Together, we build a case for the student, solidifying the stance and direction they will take during interview and honing skills for the ELAT if applicable.

Frequency of sessions can be decided between student and mentor. Students can take either ad hoc sessions, or we structure a full programme for preparation, which may include further co-curricular opportunities such as our research projects , English Literature summer school and Oxbridge mock interview days. Honing the skills necessary to succeed for Oxbridge ideally requires long-term preparation and mentoring presents a wonderful opportunity to learn from some of the very best Oxbridge has produced.

Sessions from £75/h + VAT.

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• English Literature Personal Statement Examples

As an aspiring future English Literature student, writing a compelling personal statement is a crucial step in your UCAS application process . 

To help you in this process, we are presenting three exceptional English Literature personal statement examples from successful applicants who have graciously agreed to share their work with you. 

These English Literature personal statements are available to use for free as inspiration and guidance to help you craft your unique application. 

So, whether you are applying to undergraduate or postgraduate studies in English Literature, we hope that these personal statement examples will help you.

English Literature Personal Statement Example

As an avid reader and student of English Literature, I have developed a strong interest in exploring the depths of literary analysis and critical theory. My studies at A level have provided me with a firm foundation in independent research and critical thinking, which I believe are essential skills for success in the field of English Literature.

During my studies, I have delved into Shakespeare’s works, particularly “Romeo and Juliet” and “The Merchant of Venice”, using Leach Scragg’s “Discovering Shakespeare’s Meaning” to gain a more thorough understanding of the plays. Additionally, Anthony Holden’s biography of Shakespeare has helped me to appreciate the context and historical significance of his work. I have also recently begun exploring critical theory through “Literary Theory: An Anthology”, edited by Rivkin and Ryan, which has piqued my interest in further exploring the theoretical underpinnings of literature.

While my studies thus far have focused largely on modern literature, I have developed a newfound interest in the Victorian novel as a precursor to modernism. I have been particularly intrigued by the didactic, omniscient narrator and how Victorian authors grappled with issues of contemporary social change. Reading Dickens’s “Great Expectations” and Eliot’s “Middlemarch” has allowed me to explore these themes in greater depth. I am also fascinated by the expression of religious faith and doubt in Victorian post-romantic poetry, such as Arnold’s “Dover Beach” and Clough’s “The Latest Decalogue”.

In addition to my studies, I have broadened my knowledge of literature through art and French classes. In my art class, I am currently writing a critical and analytical study on the Stuckism movement, while last year I completed a project based on Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales”. My French studies have allowed me to explore foreign literature, including Pagnol’s “Jean de Florette” and “Manon des Sources”, and have given me the valuable skill of revising my thinking before speaking or writing.

My A level in Media Production and Communication has furthered my interest in linguistics, and reading Phillip Howard’s “The State of the Language” has opened my eyes to the richness and complexity of the English language. I have had the opportunity to write and edit for campus publications, and am excited about the possibility of being involved in future publications.

My love of theatre has allowed me to experience literature in a different medium. I have seen productions by the RSC and our local TOADs theatre company, and have even had a role in a university student play. Witnessing the power of live performance has inspired me to think more deeply about how literature can be brought to life.

My experiences as an English Literature student have fueled my passion for literary analysis, critical theory, and linguistic exploration. I look forward to continuing my studies and pursuing a career in the field of English Literature.

English Literature Personal Statement Example for UCAS

As a student of history and French, I have always been fascinated by the power of language and how it shapes our understanding of the world. My studies have given me a deep appreciation for the nuances of language and how different linguistic structures can convey complex ideas and emotions. This enthusiasm has led me to explore the English language and literature in greater depth, and to seek out opportunities to engage with the works of some of the most influential writers of the past century.

One of the most inspiring experiences I have had in this regard was my invitation to attend the Global Young Leaders Conference in Seattle. This event brought together young people from around the world to explore the challenges and opportunities facing our global community. Through a series of lectures, workshops, and interactive sessions, we were able to engage with a wide range of topics, from environmental sustainability and social justice to entrepreneurship and leadership. For me, the most memorable aspect of the conference was the opportunity to discuss the role of literature in shaping our understanding of these issues. Through these conversations, I came to appreciate the power of literature not only as a tool for self-expression and personal growth but also as a means of fostering empathy and understanding across cultures and communities.

Two writers who have had a particularly profound impact on my thinking in this regard are George Orwell and Mark Twain. Orwell’s life and work, in particular, have greatly interested me. His experiences in the Spanish Civil War and his reflections on the nature of power and authority in modern society have helped to shape my own political and social beliefs. Likewise, Twain’s irreverent wit and his keen observations of human behaviour have challenged me to think critically about the world around me. Through these writers, I have come to appreciate how literature can help us to navigate the complexities of our own lives and the world at large.

My academic background also reflects my passion for English literature. I have A-levels in English literature, history, and biology, which have given me a broad range of skills and knowledge that I believe will be useful in pursuing further studies in this field. In particular, my studies in biology have given me an appreciation for how scientific thinking can inform our understanding of literature, from how we interpret and analyze language to the psychological and neurological processes that underpin our reading experiences.

As I look to the future, I am excited by the prospect of further exploring the intersections between language, literature, and society. I believe that studying English literature will not only deepen my understanding of the world around me but also equip me with the skills and insights needed to make meaningful contributions to my community and beyond. I am eager to engage with the works of writers both past and present, to explore how language and literature can help us to grapple with the most pressing issues of our time, and to contribute to the ongoing conversation about the role of the humanities in shaping our collective future.

Personal Statement For English Literature

I always had a passion for literature, and pursuing an English Literature degree seemed like a natural choice for me. From a young age, I have been fascinated by the way words can be woven together to create complex narratives and powerful emotions. Through my studies in A-level English Literature and Media, I have developed my analytical thinking and gained a deeper understanding of classic works of literature as well as diverse media forums.

One of the things that set me apart from other students is my ability to communicate effectively through my writing skills. I have always been drawn to the written word and have a talent for expressing my thoughts and ideas clearly and concisely. Whether it’s through essays, creative writing, or journalism, I am confident in my ability to use language to convey my message.

Throughout my academic journey, I have also been involved in various extra-curricular activities. One of my proudest achievements was organizing an entire show for 19th Century History Month, which required me to draw on my creativity and organizational skills. This experience taught me the value of teamwork, communication, and dedication, which are all essential skills that I will carry with me throughout my future endeavours.

In addition to my extra-curricular activities, I was also selected as head girl in my primary school, where I was responsible for maintaining discipline and providing leadership to my peers. This experience allowed me to develop my interpersonal skills and learn the importance of empathy and understanding when working with others.

I had the opportunity to intern with a secondary school newspaper for two years, where I honed my journalism skills and gained valuable experience in the field. I learned the importance of accurate research, effective communication, and engaging storytelling, which are all essential skills that will serve me well in my future career.

My passion for English Literature, combined with my skills in communication, organization, and leadership, make me a strong candidate for a degree in English Literature. I am excited about the opportunity to continue my academic journey and explore the endless possibilities that the world of literature has to offer.

Recommended for further reading:

• How to Write a Personal Statement for a Master’s
• How to Write a Personal Statement for a PhD
• UCAS Personal Statement: A Writing Guide And Tips For Success
• Tips for Writing a Personal Statement for the University
• How to Write a Personal Statement That Stands Out
• UCAS Application: Process and Deadlines Explained in Details
• Personal Statement Examples UK

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Writing Personal Statements for Graduate School

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Personal Statements

Preparing a well-written and effective personal statement (sometimes referred to as statements of purpose or personal essays) that clearly articulates your preparation, goals, and motivation for pursuing that specific graduate degree is critically important. You will need to spend a considerable amount of time and effort in crafting these statements. The focus, structure, and length of personal statements vary from program to program. Some will have prompts or questions you need to answer, while others will leave the topic open-ended. The length varies widely as well. Read instructions carefully and make sure to adhere to all parameters laid out in the application guidelines.

Clear writing is the result of clear thinking. The first and most important task is to decide on a message. Consider carefully which two or three points you wish to impress upon the reader, remembering that your audience is composed of academics who are experts in their fields. Your statement should show that you are able to think logically and express your thoughts in a clear and concise manner. Remember that the reader already has a record of your activities and your transcript; avoid simply restating your resume and transcript. Writing your statement will take time; start early and give yourself more than enough time for revisions. If no prompts are given, you can use the questions below to begin brainstorming content to include in your statement.

• What experiences and academic preparation do you have that are relevant to the degree you’re seeking?
• Why are you choosing to pursue a graduate degree at this time?
• Why do you want to pursue this particular degree and how will this degree and the specific program fit into your career plans and your long-term goals?
• What specific topics are you aiming to explore and what does the current literature say about those topics?

After you’ve written a first draft, start the work of editing, refining, simplifying, and polishing. Provide specific examples that will help illustrate your points and convey your interests, intentions, and motivations. Is any section, sentence, or word superfluous, ambiguous, apologetic, or awkward? Are your verbs strong and active? Have you removed most of the qualifiers? Are you sure that each activity or interest you mention supports one of your main ideas? Spelling and grammatical errors are inexcusable. Don’t rely on spell-check to catch all errors; read your statement aloud and have it reviewed by multiple people whose opinion you trust. If possible, have your statement reviewed by a writing tutor. For individual assistance with writing your personal statement, consult with the writing tutor in your residential college  or the Writing Center within the Yale Center for Teaching and Learning .

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English language & literature personal statement example (oxford university).

What is more powerful than ardent love or the overwhelming intensity of human emotion? What is more powerful than a nuclear force, a fatal weapon, an instrument designed to destruct and destroy? Language and literature are the strongest forms of weaponry to exist. The alignment of each letter, the meticulous assortment of the vowels and consonants to produce a word, the hard phonetic quality of the 'ger' sound in the word anger and the soft lulling 'l' in love induce an emotional human response. My daily exposure to words, whether it be in the media or on a page in a novel; each word and the omnipotence it carries, is what informs my everyday decisions, influences the way I feel and affects me as a human.

My enthrallment with a writer’s ability to shape a reader's mind through a thought-provoking work of literature was notable during my studies of the ‘Ariel’ anthology by Sylvia Plath - a collection of poetry with a broad expression of themes such as female liberation and gender. Studying how Plath urged people to consider their own society through the profuse allusion to patriarchalism embedded in her writing style, encouraged me to research other works that challenged people's conceptions of society. I was able to explore this further in my Extended Project Qualification, an opportunity presented to me to plunge into the radical world of Angela Carter by exploring the question: "In what way does Angela Carter’s ‘The Bloody Chamber’ present Victorian societal issues?". This subversive tale proved to be an excellent example of pushing the boundaries of 20th century literature and is recognised for its avant-garde style. My involvement with this project has enabled me to venture beyond the curriculum, continuing the development of my interest for gender inequality in literature and exposing me to an extensive variety of feminist theory.

I further broadened my interest in Victorian gender issues and the Gothic presented in Carter's 'The Bloody Chamber' by reading Bram Stoker's ‘Dracula’, which effectively captures contrasting portrayals of women and supports the New Woman movement in the Victorian Fin de Siècle through its emulation of unconventional female representations as in Carter's ‘The Bloody Chamber.’ I then used my initiative to seek new interpretations of the novel by reading an article from The British Library "Daughters of Decadence" by Greg Buzwell, which interprets the novelist Stoker as having an aversion to the sexualised rebellion embodied in 'The New Woman', represented by his character Lucy Westernra, whom he presents in a sexually decadent light and kills off as punishment for her "sexual licentiousness"; while the adverse characterisation of Mina Murray is depicted as admirable and more traditional. I believe this view aligns well with the double standards of Victorian society which is a civilisation where a woman's sexual freedom is reprimanded while a male’s is overlooked. Critical works have not only stretched me to consider a multitude of new interpretations, but have also provoked me to find my own which is to be developed on degree course.

Through my appointment as a Head Student, my creative writing and public speaking skills have prospered greatly with the new responsibilities the role entails, which should enhance my ability to deliver presentations and lectures with ease and confidence on a course level. I have shown enthusiasm for writing through my entry to an Oxford University Modern Languages French film writing competition for which I was awarded a special commendation. My passion for the arts and my experience of being a performer, dedicating 7 hours of my week to dance lessons in ballet, jazz, tap, musical theatre and modern, featuring in two TV commercials and being a young performer in the Reading Christmas pantomime, is certain to enhance my ability to blossom in the study of literature; I believe that writing and the art of performance are a perfect enhancement of each other as they encompass the practices of creative expression and storytelling which mould the foundations to an ardent and successful writer. I have had the experience of being a Drama scholar and an English, Humanities and Languages scholar which in themselves are reflections of my academic excelling and intellectual curiosity in both fields of study.

My ideal career as a journalist encompasses analytical and communication skills which I believe this course will equip me with, but also requires passion and fulsome interest for writing which I have an abundance of and wish to build upon and take to a much higher and advanced level through the completion of an English Language and Literature degree.

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English personal statements

On this page you'll find a collection of real personal statements written by students applying to study English and related courses at university.

These personal statements are written by real students - don't expect them all to be perfect! But by reading through a few of these samples, you'll be able to get some ideas and inspiration for your own personal statement. 

English personal statement examples

More help with your personal statement.

You can find personal statement examples for other courses by using this subject list, or by returning to our personal statements by subject page.

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• How To Write Your Postgraduate Personal Statement

Choosing a university

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What's on this page?

What is a personal statement, preparing to write your personal statement, opening your personal statement, work experience and future plans, ending your personal statement.

Your postgraduate personal statement is your chance to get noticed for your expertise and experience you’ve gathered. It’s an important part of the application process as it allows you to talk about yourself and your passions and prove the value you can bring to your chosen university.

In this article, we’re going to talk you through how to write a postgraduate personal statement that stands out and gives you the best chance of being offered a place on the master’s programme you’re applying for. 

Shona Barrie – Director of Admissions, University of Stirling

You’ll have already written a personal statement for your undergraduate study, so you’ll know the importance of preparation. There are two things to think about when you’re planning:

• The practical and factual information you need to get across.
• Then, the more emotional, human parts of you that make you different to everyone else. 

Before you start writing, take some time to think about the key things you’d want your chosen university to know about you, and get them down on paper.

Questions to focus your mind

• Why have you chosen this master’s programme?
• Why are you passionate about this subject matter? 
• How has your undergraduate study influenced your decision to apply?
• Have you got any work experience that might help you?
• What life experiences have you had that you could talk about?
• What achievements can you talk about to support your application?
• Why do you want to study at this particular university?
• What plans and ambitions do you have for your future career?

Three top tips

Be specific.

Remember that a postgraduate personal statement needs you to talk specifically about the university you’ve chosen.

Demonstrate experience

Universities will be looking for postgraduate students who are able to demonstrate expertise in a particular subject – so include that.

Show what you've learnt

Tell the university about your university life as an undergraduate and include any clubs or societies you were involved in.

Admissions tutors will be reading a lot of personal statements so it’s important to grab their attention right from the start. 

You can find a full guide on How to start a personal statement: The attention grabber but here are the main things for you to think about. 

• Don’t overthink the opening . Just start by showing your enthusiasm for the subject, showcasing your knowledge and understanding, and sharing your ambitions of what you want to achieve.
• Avoid cliches . Remember, this opening part is simply about introducing yourself, so let the admissions tutor reading your personal statement get to know you. 
• Keep it relevant and simple . You’re limited on how much you can include so avoid long-winded explanations. Why use 50 words when ten can make your point?

Talking about the course

Now you’re ready to start talking about the course and subject you’re applying for.

There are four main areas you’ll need to cover in this section of your personal statement. 

• Why are you applying for this master’s?  Think about your undergraduate study and how this master’s will develop your expertise further. Do you have career aspirations this course will help you achieve?
• Why does the subject interest you? This is your chance to show your passion and really demonstrate who you are. If you have work or volunteering experiences related to the subject, include them here.
• Why do you think you’ll be an asset to the university?  Your personal and practical skills combined together create a unique picture of who you are and why you’ll be a successful postgraduate student, so include both. 
• How does your previous undergraduate study relate to the course? Showcase your enthusiasm for your current study and take the opportunity to demonstrate your skills and knowledge now, and how you want to build on that. 

Next, you’ll need to write about your personal skills and achievements.

Universities like to know the abilities you have that’ll help you on the course, or generally with life at university. Don’t forget to include evidence to back up why you’re so passionate about the programme you’ve chosen.

Your personal skills and achievements

Be bold and talk about the achievements you’re proud of., include positions of responsibility you hold, or have held, both in and out of school., what are the things that make you interesting, special, or unique .

Your work experience and future plans are important to include in your personal statement. You should share details of jobs, placements, work experience, or voluntary work, particularly if it's relevant to your course. 

• Try to link any experience to skills or qualities that’ll make you successful on your course.
• If you know what you’d like to do after as a career, explain how you plan to use the knowledge and experience you’ll gain.

It’s always good to connect the beginning of your statement to the end and a great way to reinforce what you said at the start. You want to see the ending as your chance to end in a way that’ll make the university remember you. 

This final part of your personal statement should emphasise the great points you’ve already made and answer the question of why you should be offered a place on the course. 

Read our full guide on How to finish your statement the right way .

Aakriti Labra – MSc Occupational and Organisational Psychology, University of Surrey

Now you’ve written your postgraduate personal statement, you’ll need to do a couple of final things before you submit it. 

• Have you proofread your personal statement? Don’t just rely on spellcheckers. We’d recommend reading it out loud as that’s a great way to spot any errors as well as checking it sounds like you. 
• Have you asked for feedback? Ask friends, family or your undergraduate university tutors to have a read through your personal statement and take their feedback on board.
• Check out our personal statement dos and don'ts Have a look at the common pitfalls against your final draft to make sure you haven't made any obvious errors!

Postgraduate

More advice.

Use the UCAS’ personal statement tool alongside this guide to help you structure your ideas.

Do you want to understand the differences between an undergraduate and postgraduate personal statement? Take a look at our guide here.

Why study a postgraduate course? Find out here.  

What funding is there for postgraduate courses?  

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Student finance for postgraduate loans, five reasons to sign up to the ucas newsletter, how to find a job.

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By Nik Taylor (Editor, The Uni Guide) | 18 August 2023 | 22 min read

How to write an excellent personal statement in 10 steps

Stand out from the crowd: here's how to write a good personal statement that will get you noticed

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Email & print.

Your personal statement forms a core part of your university application, and the sooner you get going, the better you can make it. You may think that your personal statement won’t matter as much to unis as your grades and experience but a great personal statement could make all the difference between you and a candidate with the same grades. Sure, your application might not reach that deal breaker stage. But is it something you want to leave to chance?  Here we’ll take you through the process of planning, writing and checking a good personal statement, so you end up with something you can submit with confidence. And to make sure the advice we're giving you is sound, we’ve spoken to admissions staff at loads of UK universities to get their view. Look out for video interviews and advice on applying for specific subjects throughout this piece or watch our personal statement playlist on YouTube .

• Are you looking for personal statement examples? Check our library of hundreds of real personal statements, on The Student Room

Personal statement deadlines

You'll need to make sure you've got your personal statement written well in advance of your application deadline. Below are the main university application deadline dates for 2024 entry.

2024 entry deadlines

16 October 2023: Deadline for applications to Oxford and Cambridge universities, along with most medicine, dentistry, and veterinary courses.   31 January 2024: Deadline for applications to the majority of undergraduate courses. After this date, universities will start allocating places on these courses –   but you can still apply after the 31 January deadline , as this article explains . 30 June 2024:  Students who apply after this date will be entered into Clearing .

• Read more: Ucas deadlines and key application dates

What is a personal statement?

A personal statement is a central part of your Ucas application, where you explain why you’ve chosen a particular course and why you’ll be good at it. It's your chance to stand out against other candidates and hopefully get that all-important offer. You only write one personal statement which is then read by each university you apply to, so if you are applying for more than one subject (or it's a combined course) it's crucial that you include common themes or reference the overall skills needed for all subjects. Personal statements are especially important if you’re trying to get on a very competitive course, where you need to do anything you can to stand out to admissions tutors. Courteney Sheppard, senior customer experience manager at Ucas, advises that your personal statement is "the only part of the application that you have direct control over. Do lots of research to demonstrate your passion, curiosity and drive to pursue your chosen subject." There’s a limit on how much you can write: your personal statement can be up to 4,000 characters (including spaces) or 47 lines of 95 characters (including spaces); whichever is shorter. This may appear generous (read: long) but once you've got going you may find yourself having to edit heavily.

• Read more: teacher secrets for writing a great personal statement

1. Plan what you want to cover

The first thing you need to do is make a plan. Writing a personal statement off the top of your head is difficult. Start by making some notes, answering the following questions:

• What do you want to study?
• Why do you want to study it?
• What is there about you that shows you’re suited to studying this subject at university? Think about your personality, as well as your experiences.
• What are your other interests and skills?

These few points are going to form the spine of your personal statement, so write them in a way that makes sense to you. You might want to make a simple bulleted list or you might want to get all arty and use a mindmap. Whatever you choose, your aim is the same. You want to get it clear in your own head why a university should offer you a place on its course. Getting those details down isn't always easy, and some people find it helpful to make notes over time. You might try carrying a notebook with you or set up a memo on your phone. Whenever you think of something useful for your personal statement, jot it down. Inspiration sometimes comes more easily when you’re thinking about something else entirely. It might help to take a look at The Student Room for some sample personal statements by university and sample personal statements by subjects , to give you an idea of the kind of thing you want to include. 

• Read more: personal statement FAQs

2. Show off your experience

Some things are worth adding to your personal statement, some things are not. Firmly in the second camp are your qualifications. You don’t need to mention these as there’s a whole other section of your personal statement where you get to detail them very precisely. Don’t waste a single character going on about how great your GCSE grades are – it’s not what the admissions tutor wants to read. What they do want to see is: what have you done? OK, so you’ve got some good grades, but so do a lot of other applicants. What have you done that’s different, that shows you off as someone who really loves the subject you’re applying for? Spend some time thinking about all the experience you have in that subject. If you’re lucky, this might be direct work experience. That’s going to be particularly appropriate if you’re applying for one of the more vocational subjects such as medicine or journalism . But uni staff realise getting plum work experience placements is easier for some people than others, so cast your net wider when you’re thinking about what you’ve done. How about after-school clubs? Debating societies? Are you running a blog or vlog? What key skills and experience have you picked up elsewhere (eg from hobbies) that could be tied in with your course choice? Remember, you’re looking for experience that shows why you want to study your chosen subject. You’re not just writing an essay about what you're doing in your A-level syllabus. Use this checklist as a guide for what to include:

• Your interest in the course. Why do you want to spend three years studying this subject at university?
• What have you done outside school or college that demonstrates this interest? Think about things like fairs/exhibitions, public lectures or voluntary work that is relevant to your subject.
• Relevant work experience (essential for the likes of medicine, not required for non-vocational courses such as English )
• Skills and qualities required for that career if appropriate (medicine, nursing and law as obvious examples)
• Interest in your current studies – what particular topics have made an impression on you?
• Any other interests/hobbies/experiences you wish to mention that are relevant either to the subject or 'going to uni'. Don't just list your hobbies, you need to be very selective and state clearly what difference doing these things has made to you.
• Plans for a gap year if you’re deferring entry.

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

3. Be bold about your achievements

Don't be bashful about your achievements; that’s not going to help you get into uni. It's time to unleash your inner Muhammed Ali and get all “I am the greatest” with your writing. Do keep it focused and accurate. Do keep your language professional. But don’t hide your qualities beneath a layer of false modesty. Your personal statement is a sell – you are selling yourself as a brilliant student and you need to show the reader why that is true. This doesn’t come naturally to everyone, and if you’re finding it difficult to write about how great you are it’s time to enlist some help. Round up a friend or two, a family member, a teacher, whoever and get them to write down your qualities. Getting someone else’s view here can help you get some perspective. Don’t be shy. You are selling your skills, your experience and your enthusiasm – make sure they all leap off the screen with the way you have described them.

• Read more: the ten biggest mistakes when writing your personal statement  

4. How to start your personal statement

Type your personal statement in a cloud-based word processing program, such as Google Docs or Microsoft Word and don’t copy and paste it into Ucas Hub until it’s finished.  One of the benefits of doing it this way is that you can run spell check easily. (Please note, though, that Word adds "curly" quotation marks and other characters (like é or ü) that won't show up on your Ucas form, so do proofread it on Ucas Hub before submitting it to ensure it is how you typed it.)  Another big benefit is that you'll always have a backup of what you've written. If you're being super careful, you could always save your statement in another place as well. Bear in mind that extra spaces (eg adding spaces to the beginnings of paragraphs as indentation) are removed on Ucas. In your first sentence, cut to the chase. Why do you want to do the course? Don’t waste any time rambling on about the daydreams you had when you were five. Just be clear and concise – describe in one line why this course is so important to you. Then, in the rest of your intro, go into more detail in demonstrating your enthusiasm for the course and explaining how you decided this is what you want to do for the next three or more years. However you choose to start your statement, just avoid the following hoary old chestnuts. These have been some of the most used lines in personal statements over the years – they are beyond cliche, so don’t even think about it.

• From a young age I have (always) been [interested in/fascinated by]…
• For as long as I can remember, I have…
• I am applying for this course because… 
• I have always been interested in… 
• Throughout my life I have always enjoyed… 
• Reflecting on my educational experiences… 
• [Subject] is a very challenging and demanding [career/profession/course]… 
• Academically, I have always been… 
• I have always wanted to pursue a career in… 
• I have always been passionate about…   

5. Focus your writing on why you've chosen that subject

So you’ve got your intro done – time to nail the rest of it. Bear in mind that you’ve got to be a little bit careful when following a personal statement template. It’s easy to fall into the trap of copying someone else’s style, and in the process lose all of your own voice and personality from your writing. But there is a rough order that you can follow, which should help keep you in your flow. After your opening paragraph or two, get into any work experience (if you’ve got it). Talk about extracurriculars: anything you've done which is relevant to the subject can go here – hobbies, interests, volunteering. Touch on your career aspirations – where do you want this course to take you? Next, show your enthusiasm for your current studies. Cite some specific examples of current work that you enjoyed. Show off your relevant skills and qualities by explaining how you’ve used these in the past. Make sure you’re giving real-world examples here, not just vague assertions like “I’m really organised and motivated”. Try to use examples that are relevant.   Follow this up with something about you as a person. Talk about non-academic stuff that you like to do, but link it in some way with the course, or with how it shows your maturity for dealing with uni life. Round it all off by bringing your main points together, including a final emphasis of your commitment to studying this particular course.

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

6. How long should a personal statement be?

You've got to work to a very specific limit when writing your personal statement. In theory you could use up to 4,000 characters – but you’re probably more likely to be limited by the line count. That's because it's a good idea to put line breaks in between your paragraphs (to make it more readable) and you only get a maximum of 47 lines. With this in mind, 3,500 characters is a more realistic limit. But when you’re getting started you should ignore these limits completely. At first, you just want to get down everything that you feel is important. You'll probably end up with something that is far too long, but that's fine. This is where you get to do some polishing and pruning. Keep the focus of your piece on the course you’re applying for, why you want to do it and why you’re perfectly suited to it. Look through what you’ve written so far – have you got the balance right? Chop out anything that goes on a bit, as you want each point to be snappy and succinct.

• Read more: universities reveal all about personal statements  

7. Keep it simple

8. Smart ways to end your personal statement

Writing a closing line that you’re happy with can feel as tricky as coming up with your opener. What you’re looking for here is a sign-off that is bold and memorable. The final couple of sentences in your statement give you the opportunity to emphasise all the good stuff you’ve already covered. Use this space to leave the reader in no doubt as to what an excellent addition you would be to their university. Pull together all your key points and – most importantly – address the central question that your personal statement should answer: why should you get a place on the course?

• Read more: universities explain how to end your personal statement with a bang  

9. Make sure your personal statement has no mistakes

Now you’ve got a personal statement you’re happy with, you need to make sure there are no mistakes. Check it, check it a second time, then check it again. Once you’ve done that, get someone else to check it, too. You will be doing yourself a massive disservice if you send through a personal statement with spelling and/or grammatical errors. You’ve got months to put this together so there really is no excuse for sending through something that looks like a rush job. Ask your teachers to look at it, and be prepared to accept their feedback without getting defensive. They will have seen many personal statements before; use what they tell you to make yours even better. You’ve also got another chance here to look through the content of your personal statement, so you can make sure the balance is right. Make sure your focus is very clearly on the subject you are applying for and why you want to study it. Don’t post your personal statement on the internet or social media where anyone can see it. You will get picked up by the Ucas plagiarism checker. Similarly, don't copy any that you find online. Instead, now is a good time to make your parents feel useful. Read your personal statement out to them and get them to give you feedback. Or try printing it out and mixing it up with a few others (you can find sample personal statements on The Student Room). Get them to read them all and then try to pick yours out. If they can't, perhaps there's not enough of your personality in there.  

10. Don't think about your personal statement for a whole week

If you followed the advice at the very start of this guide, you’ve started your personal statement early. Good job! There are months before you need to submit it. Use one of these weeks to forget about your personal statement completely. Get on with other things – anything you like. Just don’t go near your statement. Give it a whole week and then open up the document again and read through it with fresh eyes. You’ll gain a whole new perspective on what you’ve written and will be well placed to make more changes, if needed.

• Read more: how to write your personal statement when you have nothing interesting to say  

10 steps to your ideal personal statement

In summary, here are the ten steps you should follow to create the perfect personal statement.  

Personal statement dos and don'ts

• Remember that your personal statement is your personal statement, not an article written about your intended field of study. It should tell the reader about you, not about the subject.
• Only put in things that you’re prepared to talk about at the interviews.
• Give convincing reasons for why you want to study the course – more than just "enjoying the subject" (this should be a given).
• For very competitive courses, find out as much as you can about the nature of the course and try to make your personal statement relevant to this.
• Be reflective. If you make a point like 'I like reading', 'I travelled abroad', say what you got from it.
• Go through the whole thing checking your grammar and your spelling. Do this at least twice. It doesn’t matter if you’re not applying to an essay-based course – a personal statement riddled with spelling mistakes is just going to irritate the reader, which is the last thing you want to do. If this is something you find difficult then have someone look over it for you.
• Leave blank lines between your paragraphs. It’s easier for the reader to get through your personal statement when it’s broken into easily digestible chunks. Remember that they’re going to be reading a lot of these! Make yours easy to get through.
• Get someone else's opinion on your statement. Read it out to family or friends. Share it with your teacher. Look for feedback wherever you can find it, then act upon it.
• Don’t write it like a letter. Kicking off with a greeting such as "Dear Sir/Madam" not only looks weird, it also wastes precious space.
• Don’t make jokes. This is simply not the time – save them for your first night in the union.
• Don’t criticise your current school or college or try to blame teachers for any disappointing grades you might have got.
• Be afraid of details – if you want your PS to be personal to you that means explaining exactly which bits of work or topics or activities you've taken part in/enjoyed. It's much more compelling to read about one or two detailed examples than a paragraph that brushes over five or six.
• Just list what you're doing now. You should pull out the experiences that are relevant to the courses which you're applying to.
• Mention skills and activities without giving examples of when they have been demonstrated by you or what you learnt from them. Anyone can write "I have great leadership skills" in a PS, actually using a sentence to explain when you demonstrated good leadership skills is much rarer and more valuable.
• Refer to experiences that took place before your GCSEs (or equivalent).
• Give explanations about medical or mental health problems. These should be explained in your reference, not your PS.
• Apply for too many different courses, making it difficult to write a convincing personal statement which supports the application.
• Write a statement specific to just one institution, unless you're only applying to that one choice.
• Copy and paste the statement from somewhere else! This means do not plagiarise. All statements are automatically checked for plagiarism by Ucas. Those that are highlighted by the computer system are checked manually by Ucas staff. If you’re found to have plagiarised parts of your statement, the universities you apply to will be informed and it could jeopardise your applications.
• Use ChatGPT or another AI program to write your personal statement for you. Or, if you do, make sure you thoroughly edit and personalise the text so it's truly yours. Otherwise you're very much at risk of the plagiarism point above.

You may want to look at these...

How to write your university application.

Tips for writing your university application, including deadlines and personal statements

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

How long does it take for universities to reply to your application?

It might feel like it's taking forever for your uni offers to come through. Find out what's going on, and when you should hear back

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Writing your personal statement

A personal statement is your chance to tell us what motivates you and why you’re suitable for your chosen programme.

Please note

you cannot amend your personal statement once you have submitted your application

Where to put a personal statement

You can type your personal statement in the online application form (3,000-character limit, including spaces) or upload it as a separate document. If you upload your personal statement, you can go over 3,000 characters but it cannot be longer than two sides of A4 paper (size 12 font and single spaced).

You should consider the following questions when writing your personal statement

• Why do you want to undertake the programme or research?
• What are your academic interests?
• Why do you wish to study at UCL?
• What educational experience do you have?
• Do you have any relevant work experience?
• Have you completed any extracurricular or voluntary activities relevant to the programme?
• What are your career aspirations?

Some programmes ask for programme-specific information in your personal statement. Check your programme in the Graduate Prospectus for details.

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How to write a personal statement for Masters courses

A good personal statement can mean the difference between getting an offer and being rejected. Your personal statement should show us that you are the right person for the course.

Alternatively, you can see our advice for writing a UCAS personal statement .

Learn how to:

• plan your personal statement
• structure your personal statement
• use engaging and convincing content  and language .

Planning your personal statement 

A personal statement is a piece of writing that you submit as part of your application. It is a statement of academic interests and should not contain any autobiographical information about your personal life.

Instead, it should show us that you are the right person for Sussex by telling us why you want to study your course , and any extra information about your achievements to date. 

See our Masters courses for more information

When you have finished planning your personal statement, you can use our  postgraduate application system  to start your application. 

You need to:

• carefully read the information required of you 
• research the course you are applying for, so that you can explain why you want to study it. If you are applying for more than one course, do not use the same statement for all applications.

The following questions may help you plan your personal statement:  

• Why do you want to study a Masters and how will it benefit you?
• How does the course fit your skill set?
• How do you stand out from the crowd - e.g. work experience?
• What are you aspiring to be/do in your future career?
• How can your work contribute to the department/University/society?

If you're applying for a subject that is in a different field to your undergraduate degree, tell us why you have decided to change your direction of study. 

Think about: 

• how you will bring fresh insight to your course as a result of your undergraduate degree
• the reasons for deciding to change your field of study
• how changing your direction of study will help you with your future career.   

Use a tight structure in your personal statement and make sure each paragraph logically follows on from the one before. 

Your personal statement must:  

• have an eye-catching and interesting introduction, and an engaging middle part and conclusion
• have an introduction that acts as a framework for the rest of your statement, with the main part of your statement detailing your interests, experience and knowledge
• be between 250 and 500 words 
• have short sentences of no more than 25-30 words
• use headings (if you wish) to break up the content - for example, 'Why this university?' 'Why this subject?' 'Ability', 'Personal experience' and 'Career aspirations'

'My passion for Psychology stems from my interest in how dementia affects the personality of patients living with the condition. That's why I spent my gap year working with the Alzheimer's Society, supporting patients and families by visiting them at home and holding surgeries to give them and carers someone to talk to.'

'It was not until my grandmother was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and ischaemic dementia that the link between brain functioning and cognition became a passion. The enormity of the precision at which the brain functions to produce our cognitive abilities, socially acceptable behaviours and intricate physiological processes astounded me. I found myself questioning the cognitive functions and human behaviours I had previously just accepted, desperate to understand how the unseen and seemingly small entities within the brain could impact our daily behaviour.'

• the conclusion should sum up your main points, reflect on your main accomplishments and clearly show your desire to study.

Your personal statement is where you show us your commitment, dedication and motivation for studying the course. It is your chance to show us the course is for you.

Your personal statement should:  

• give strong reasons as to why you want to study the course at Sussex. This could be for your future career or because of the University's reputation
• mention relevant study - including projects, dissertations, essays - or work experience 
• provide evidence of your key skills including, research, critical thinking, communication, organisation, planning and time-management and show how you can contribute to the department
• show what makes you stand out as a candidate
• explain who your main influences have been and why
• draw on your other experiences: for example are you a member of a society, have you written any papers or won any awards, scholarships or prizes?
• highlight your career aspirations and show how the course will help you achieve them.  

See an example personal statement [PDF 31.95KB]  

Your tone should be positive and enthusiastic. It should show your willingness to learn and persuade us you have what it takes to suceed on one of our courses. 

You should:  

• use fresh and exciting language to make your application stand out, and use engaging opening paragraphs
• use accurate grammar, punctuation and spelling 
• use clear language in short sentences and avoid extravagant claims

Example: 

Don't:  'I was inspired by the University's world-renowned researchers and world-leading facilities.'

Do:  'I was inspired to study Animal Biology because of the groundbreaking work into the behaviour of bees that is being led by Sussex Professor Francis Ratnieks. I follow the work of the University of Sussex Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects and would be proud to study in such a renowned department and contribute to its highly ranked research.'

•  proofread your statement and ask a friend or relative to read it. 

You might also be interested in:

• our Masters courses
• postgraduate application system guide
• student support
• how to apply for a Masters course

• Schools & departments

Personal statement

You will need to submit a personal statement of around 500 words, outlining your academic history and relevant experience.

Your personal statement is an important part of your application: it will help selectors to decide whether you are a good match for the programme you have applied for and, just as importantly, whether the programme is right for you.

Areas to cover

Your personal statement gives you the opportunity to outline your academic history and relevant experience in order to demonstrate that you are a suitable candidate for the programme you have applied for. 

You should also use your personal statement to outline your motivation for your chosen area of study. Try to answer questions such as:

• Why are you interested in studying at Edinburgh?
• Why have you chosen this particular programme?
• If you are studying for career development, what are your career plans and how will your studies support these?

If you have any other relevant experience, for example paid or voluntary work experience or additional qualifications not stated elsewhere, then please include this information in your personal statement, or you can add it to the “Relevant knowledge/training skills” field in the application form.

If you are applying for more than one programme you should write a tailored personal statement for each of your applications. This enables you to refer to the specific programme you are applying for and to highlight how your academic background and skills make you suitable for this particular programme.

Remember that your personal statement is an opportunity to tell us about yourself. The information you give us must be true. Copying information from elsewhere or asking someone else to write your statement, including the use of AI apps such as Chat GPT, could be considered fraud.

Length and writing style

Your personal statement should be no more than 3,500 characters (approximately 500 words) in length and should be written in formal English, using appropriate grammar and punctuation.

It is a good idea to ask a friend to proofread your statement for you before you submit your application.