Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer| 29/06/15 Helping students make effective applications: How to support students to complete a strong personal statement Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer Kingston University

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 What do you want to find out/ What questions do you have?

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 Around 500,000 statements are written per year That’s about 425 million words Or about 1.9 billion characters

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 The Personal Statement  UCAS: Course tutors read personal statements to compare different applicants – so this is where you should describe your ambitions, skills and experience that will make you suitable for the course  Durham: It is primarily an academic statement and you must target it very directly towards the subject in which you are interested, though a University will also want to know something about your more general interests.  Birmingham: The admissions tutor needs to be persuaded that you have a genuine interest in your chosen subject and that you have the motivation to succeed.  Goldsmiths: It's your opportunity to stand out from the other thousands of applicants that we receive applications from.

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 Books

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 Personal Statement in context  UCAS Application:  Completed Qualifications  Pending Qualifications  Employment History (paid and voluntary)  Reference  Personal Statement  May also be…  Interviews/auditions e.g. dance  Portfolio e.g. fashion  Admissions tests e.g. nursing

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015  Personal statement may become more important in certain situations:  Applying to more competitive universities Oxbridge- 5.4 applicants per place* Russell Group- 7 applicants per place  Applying to more competitive courses (stats 2013/14 cycle) Medicine- 11 applicants per place Dentistry- 9.7 applicants per place Nursing/Veterinary Medicine- 9.2 applicants per place Which University website, “Course Search”, % applicants receiving offers Personal Statement in context 7.7 applicants per place 7.3 applicants per place 5.4 applicants per place Astronomy- Teacher training- Law-

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015  Personal statement may become more important in certain situations:  More complicated background to explain e.g. break in education  Poorer than expected grades  Taking a dramatic change in subject area  Courses where written skills are extremely important Personal Statement in context

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 Who is reading it?

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 What barriers do learners face in completing a strong statement?

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 Specific challenges for college learners And those from ‘Widening Participation’ backgrounds No access to advice from family/friends? Less advice from teaching/tutor staff? Lower confidence in writing about themselves? Less ‘academic’ writing skills? Less clear in articulating their future goals? Break from education Lack of access to ICT? Fewer relevant experiences to draw upon? Unsure if want to go to uni….so start application later?

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 Research on Personal Statements Dr Stephen Jones Researcher in Education and Linguistics University of Manchester  “Is the personal statement a fair way to assess university applicants?” (2012)  “Ensure that you stand out from the crowd: a corpus-based analysis of personal statements according to applicants school type” (2013)

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 Research Findings 1. Writing quality

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 Research Findings 2. Work related activity

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 Research Findings 2. Work related activity  Mentoring and work shadowing vs. part time work (often service industry)  Easier to make relevant connections and points with the ‘higher prestige’ experiences  Not necessarily a barrier in itself, often experiences such as part time work not ‘sold’ in the best light  Importance of having a high-quality work experience programme for college students as one way to improve university applications and HE progression.

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 Research Findings 3. Extra Curricular activity  Those from more privileged backgrounds had wider travel experiences and more ‘cultured’ extracurricular activity  Those from less privileged backgrounds were more likely to include examples that were not relevant in an educational statement  Importance of the personal statement as an academic statement e.g. “to read”  Importance of clear goals and ambitions

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 Research Findings 4. Closing the statement  Examples from comprehensive school and SFC applicants:  I am confident that my hunger and drive will help me fulfil my ambition  I look forward to you reading my application  I can guarantee I’ll be an excellent sociology student  I want to succeed in business and I mean business …..appeals to “where my heart belongs” rather than demonstrating the necessary experiences, interest and skills.

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/ Suggestions to improve the quality of personal statements

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 Suggestions 1. Be unique

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 What is the top personal statement opening line?  For as long as I can remember I have been interested in…  For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated with…  Academically, I have always been very determined and…  Nursing is a profession I have always looked upon with…  I am currently studying a BTEC National Diploma in….  Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only…  From an early age I have always been interested in…  From a young age I have always been interested in…. Suggestions 1. Be unique

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 Suggestions 2. Be specific

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 Suggestions 3. Work experience  Is it an essential/desirable requirement?  Do it early  The quality of the experience matters….  ….as does the way it is described and ‘sold’  BE SPECIFIC!

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 Suggestions 4. How to get started!

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 Suggestions 5. Improving writing quality  Give students an example structure to follow  Provide lots of good examples to model excellent writing  Involve tutors and teaching staff  Dedicate enough time  Get them to read it out loud/ to a partner  Important not to ‘swallow the dictionary’!

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 Suggestions 6. Check spelling, punctuation and grammar……a lot!

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 Suggestions 7. Remind students it is an academic piece of writing

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 Suggestions 8. Use the strengths of your learners  More life experience  More project work and working to deadlines  More practical, hands-on experience?  Have clearly demonstrated commitment to their subject  May have made sacrifices to come back into education or to study whilst balancing other commitments  Overcoming adversity  First in family to go onto higher education?  Others….?

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 Suggestions 9. Talk about relevant skills and give examples

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 Suggestions 10. Ideas of what to include… Taster lectures/seminars Awards e.g. Duke of Edinburgh Trips and visits e.g. museum/theatre Work shadowing Sports clubs Work experience Part time work Volunteering Projects e.g. Nuffield, In2Science Awards/certificates Positions of responsibility Summer schools Conferences Industry insight Reading ProjectsInternships/ placements EPQ Hobbies

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 What outreach/widening participation teams offer…

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 What outreach/widening participation teams offer…

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement| Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer | 29/06/2015 Questions?