Ballakermeen Sixth Form Writing your personal statement

Healthcare courses Occupational Therapy Physiotherapy Nursing Midwifery Dietetics Funded by the NHS, check that they have ‘non NHS funded places’

Work experience Healthcare, including Medicine and Dentistry Journalism Teaching Law Social Work

What is your personal statement for? To show your interest in the course For admissions tutors to find out more about you and whether you are an attractive intellectual proposition For you to have the opportunity to sell yourself, both in terms of your existing skills and your potential for the future For admissions to have an excuse to reject you!

Interviews Face to face interviews are rare Your Personal Statement is the only thing that makes you an individual It could mean the difference between and offer and a rejection Admissions tutors want to see someone who is self-aware, reflective and an appropriate candidate for their course.

Basic Personal Statement Information 47 lines, 4000 characters It can be written in word and pasted in Underlining, italicising and the use of bold print will not transfer Each time you amend it in APPLY, click on save

Style Do not use bullet points Write in prose and avoid a list format Use the personal pronoun, but do not begin every sentence with ‘I……’ Capital letters – be consistent in your use

How to start The course, your motivation for applying for it and what makes you a suitable applicant should take up a third to half of the space available. You must remember that you are competing for a place and that the reader is a subject expert who expects that his/her enthusiasm and passion for the subject are mirrored in your writing Talk about ‘the journey’

Subheadings Aspirations School Community Service Work Experience Hobbies and Interests School Prizes and Achievements Sport (or Sporting Achievements)

Admissions Tutors are looking for a ‘well rounded’ student….. Part time job? Work experience? NOT Year 11! Sports teams? Hobbies? Musical instrument? Duke of Edinburgh? Head Boy/Girl or committee member? Voluntary work? Drama/music productions out of school? Be selective about what you choose to include………

Dos Mention the subject, and show your enthusiasm and passion for it Give the reader a reason to make you an offer because of the positive tone of your writing Show knowledge of the course content Give supporting evidence when you make a statement, showing how YOU benefited from the experience you are mentioning

Don’ts Teach your granny to suck eggs Make spelling mistakes. This will make your statement memorable for the wrong reasons Use pat phrases such as ‘I have always’ Use humour, it may backfire Say ‘I hope to…’ for something you really should have done already

Don’ts The reader will be interested in your reading for pleasure. Do not mention a set text in an effort to pass it off as something you have read. Be too arrogant, but a certain level of quiet confidence may be appealing Waste time mentioning something that is listed elsewhere on the form ‘At A2 I am studying……’ Fail to appeal to admissions tutors for different courses if you are applying for a variety of different areas.

Redrafting Please do not waste our time by making two minor changes and expecting us to read it again If you edit in word, check that the amended version makes sense Edit by taking out spaces, punctuation or by making contractions. RE-WRITE the sections that need to be edited.

And finally……. ‘My mother and I frequently attend dog shows, where we have won many prizes’ ‘I own my own horse and exorcise him regularly’ Did they get a place?????