UK Personal Statements 2026 Entry: How to Write the New Structured Version
From the 2026 entry cycle, UCAS replaces the free-form personal statement with a structured format built around three questions, plus a separate space for extenuating circumstances. The emphasis remains academic, but the new layout changes how you plan, draft, and edit. If you are still refining course choices, begin with Orientation. For drafting and line-by-line editing, use Writing Services; once your shortlist is set, Application Support ensures alignment across the entire application.
You will now answer three prompts within a single character limit. Treat each section as a short, self-contained argument while keeping a consistent theme across all three.
Section 1: Why do you want to study this course or subject?
Begin with a precise statement of interest, i.e. the question, theme, or problem that drives you.. This could be a paper you engaged with, a lab task you replicated, a dataset you explored, or a lecture that changed how you approached a problem. Explain what you learned in terms of concepts or methods, not emotion, and close with a forward-looking line that links your curiosity to degree-level study. The goal is to move from “I’m passionate” to “Here is evidence that I think and work like a future student of this subject.”
Section 2: How have your qualifications and studies prepared you?
This section demonstrates readiness. Focus on assessed work where you used methods you will encounter at university, such as problem sets, close textual analysis, extended essays, investigations, lab reports, programming tasks. Name the task, name the method, and state the outcome or insight in one or two crisp sentences. Two strong, specific examples are more persuasive than a catalogue of activities. Bridge directly from what you have done to what the degree demands, mentioning seminars, independent reading, proofs and modelling, labs and empirical work. The message should be that you are both motivated and academically prepared.
Section 3: What else have you done outside formal education, and why is it useful?
Add relevant value without drifting into biography. Select one or two activities that genuinely support study in the subject. These could include an analytical task at work, a competition, a research initiative, a coding project, language learning, structured volunteering, or leadership with measurable outcomes. Describe what you actually did (tools, process, decisions) and what changed as a result, then state why it is relevant to degree-level learning. Activities like sport or music can appear if you extract a specific academic or skills-based takeaway.
Extenuating circumstances
Use the dedicated area to provide concise, factual context that affected performance or opportunity. Do not spend your academic character count repeating it; protect that space for evidence of motivation and readiness.
Common mistakes to avoid
Turning Section 3 into a generic extracurricular list → Select one or two activities and make relevance explicit.
Reusing the same example across sections → Advance your case with fresh evidence each time.
Catering to individual universities in a UCAS submission → Write to the subject’s ways of working, not in reference to a single university’s particulars.
Slipping from academic to emotive tone → Keep claims specific and method-oriented.
Final thoughts
The structured statement rewards clarity, evidence, and alignment. Lead with a precise academic motivation, show readiness through assessed work and methods, and add concise, relevant experience that strengthens your case to study the subject now.
