The most important aspect of our assessment of applications is your academic performance, including both achieved and predicted grades.

Personal statements are unlikely to be the single most important factor in deciding whether you receive an offer. However, personal statements may be used alongside other factors as an additional way of ensuring you are well prepared for your chosen course. We may use personal statements for the following reasons:

• For applicants returning to study, or with non-standard qualifications, to ensure depth and breadth of subject knowledge and interest.
• To select between similarly qualified applicants, either when you apply or after the results of your qualifications are released.
• For joint-honours courses, to ensure applicants demonstrate an interest in each of the subjects they are planning to study. For courses with three subjects we expect you to demonstrate an interest in at least two of the three subject areas.
• For courses with interviews (see below), applicants may be asked questions on topics discussed in their personal statement.

Admissions Tests

For some of our most competitive courses, we also use additional Admissions Tests as part of our admissions process – see further details here.

Interviews

Interviews are used as part of the application process for Theatre and Performance Studies (W440), English and Theatre Studies (QW34), and WBS Foundation Years (N4N4, N29A, and N20A). For Film Studies (W620) and Film and Literature (QW26, applicants are assessed by interview and an additional essay.

Portfolio

Applicants to our Media and Creative Industries (P301) course who meet academic requirements will be invited to submit a Portfolio of creative work.

Contextual Information

We also take into account contextual information about each applicant’s school and background – see our webpages here for further details about our Contextual Offers.

Why you want to study your chosen course

Most of your personal statement should focus on why you want to study your chosen course. You may wish to think about the following questions when writing your statement:

• What aspects of the course do you think you will enjoy? What is it that really interests you about this subject?
• Are there particular areas of the subject that really grab your attention and make you want to study it in more depth?
• What reading have you done around your chosen subject to show you have made an informed decision on what to study? Don't just list your wider reading; say what you thought about it, how it relates to other aspects of the subject, and how it has helped to develop your thinking.
• If you have applied for a joint or interdisciplinary degree, can you show your interest in the different subjects included, and have you made connections between the various areas of study?

Your wider interests and skills

Although we are interested in your work experience and extra-curricular activities, they should not be the main thing you focus on. When writing about your wider interests and skills, you may wish to think about the following questions:

• How does your work experience or extra-curricular activities add to your skills? Do they illustrate your interest in your chosen subject? Or do they show evidence of skills which would be particularly useful to that field of study?
• What are your strengths and skills? How would you use and build on them in following this course?

Remember to plan ahead and think about the structure of your statement. A well-structured, thoughtfully written statement can convey your suitability for and commitment to the course.

Take care with spelling and grammar, and make sure that your ideas are expressed clearly and intelligently.

• Be clear and concise, with a good structure of beginning, middle and end.
• Get someone to proofread your statement for spelling and grammar before submitting your application.
• Have a clear conclusion where you summarise your academic interest in your chosen course.

You should avoid the following when writing your personal statement:

• Copying from another personal statement – statements with a high degree of similarity to other personal statements are flagged to us by the UCAS similarity detection system, and are likely to result in an application being rejected.
• A purely AI-generated personal statement – see here for useful guidance from UCAS on using AI with your personal statement.
• Simply listing things (e.g. activities you have undertaken or books you have read). Instead, concentrate on a few topics in greater depth, focusing on how these have contributed to your decision to study your chosen course.
• Focussing too much on transferrable skills (e.g. communication, time management, team work etc.) If you do mention transferrable skills, then make sure you take time to explain why these are important for your course of study and how you have acquired them.

You can only submit one personal statement with your UCAS application. For most subjects, we do not usually ask or allow applicants to submit an additional personal statement.

If you are applying for different but related courses, consider a topic-based approach. Choose a topic or case study that can be considered from the angle of each of the academic subjects you are applying for.

Your academic progress and attainment may sometimes be affected by circumstances beyond your control. As space in your personal statement is limited, we suggest you either ask your teacher to include this information in their reference, or alternatively you can complete an Extenuating Circumstances form.