University of Ulster

Centre for Continuing and Flexible Education

This workbook is available for download at:

Quick Guideto your Personal Statement
What’s in this Guide?

This practical workbook will take you through 6 steps in creating an effective personal statement in a guided and structured format.

Action Plan for Creating your Personal Statement

Proposed Date / Chapters / Completed
  1. Define your personal Statement Style

  1. Research your Course Choice

  1. Capture your Qualities and Skills

  1. Create First Draft

  1. Proof read and amend

  1. Second Draft and Final Proof Read

Tips

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Quick Guideto your Personal Statement
Chapter 1: Define your personal statement style
  1. What do you think makes a good personal statement?
  1. What do you think makes a poor personal statement?
  1. What’s going to make your Personal Statement stand out?

Prompt: Think of Presentation, Content and show Enthusiasm.

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Quick Guideto your Personal Statement
Chapter 2: Research your Course Choice
  1. What’s the Course you choose to study?
  1. List the qualifications you need?
  1. List the student qualities that the college/s are lookingfor?
  1. What excites you about the subject of the course? How will the course benefit your ambitions when complete?

(Show interest, passion, enthusiasm and commitment)

  1. What excites you about the individual aspects/topics within the course?
  1. Outline ALL the qualifications you have already achieved, that meet the criteria.

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Quick Guideto your Personal Statement
Chapter 3: Capture your Qualities and Skills
  1. Your Qualities and Skills

PROMPT:Are you imaginative, practical, ambitious, reliable, etc.?
Tip:Be honest! Are you too modest?Why not ask family and friends…

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Quick Guideto your Personal Statement
Chapter 3: Capture your Qualities and Skills
  1. Course Qualities and Skills

What is you chosen Course of study?
Review your skills and qualities in 3A. Is there any matches? Circle the qualities and skills in 3A that you already obtain, which meet the course qualities. As the strongest applications are those that link their skills to that of the course of study.
  1. Achievements

Note down your Achievements to date…
For each Achievement,note how your qualities and skills (3A) can be demonstrated in each of your Achievements.
  1. Interests

Note down your Interests to date…
For each Interest, note how your qualities and skills (3A) can be demonstrated in each of your Interests.
  1. Work Experience

Note down your Work Experience to date…
For each Work Experience, note how your qualities and skills (3A) can be demonstrated in each of your Work Experiences.
  1. Hobbies

Note down your Hobbies to date…
For each Hobby, note how your qualities and skills (3A) can be demonstrated in each of your Hobbies.

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Quick Guideto your Personal Statement
Chapter 4: First Draft
This stage of the workbook brings together the key ideas fromChapter 2, Research your Course and Chapter 3, Capture your Qualities and Skills.
Using the headings below as guides, expand each section by referring back to the previous sections and expanding by providing more specific detail for the relevant sections below.
  1. Opening Statement (See Chapter 2D & 2E)
Use this information to open with what enthusesyou about the course and what excites you about individual topics within the course.
  1. Qualifications (See Chapter 2F)
List extra qualifications not previously listed.
  1. Qualities and Skills
Use theexamples that demonstrate your strongest traits and personality.
  1. Achievements (3C)
  1. Interests (3D)
  1. Work experience (3E)
  1. Hobbies (3F)
  1. Closing Statement

Time now to copy and paste all the sections from the last activity into one document.
You may wish to re-visit the skills and qualities that the University and the course are looking for.
When collating the information together, think about the order of the paragraphs, you need to ensure the most relevant information is at the beginning.

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Quick Guideto your Personal Statement
Chapter 5: Proof read and Amend
  1. Proof read yourself
  • Correcting any spelling and grammar.
  • Do a word count (refer to UCAS guidelines).

  1. Get others to Proof read
It’s important to enlist the help of family/friends/teachers that would be willing to proof read your personal statement and provide you with things that you may have missed out and to give you helpful advice.
Who will be your critical Friend?
List those that would be a critical friend. Provide each critical friend with a copy of your draft statement and a comment sheet.

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Quick Guideto your Personal Statement
Feedback Sheet
Critical Friend Name:
Feedback/Comments
Feedback/Comments
Critical Friend Name:
Feedback/Comments
Feedback/Comments
Critical Friend Name:
Feedback/Comments
Feedback/Comments
Personal Statement Quick Guide
Chapter 6:Second Draft and Final Proof Read
This stage allows you to
  1. Integrate the feedback from your critical friends into your Second draft.
  1. Do a final edit and final read of your personal statement.
  1. Once completed, select one of your critical friends again and ask them to do a final check for you.
  1. Complete any final edits.
  1. Submit online.

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Personal Statement Quick Guide
Tips
Some helpful tips
  • Create in Word - Paste online at the end
  • Save, Save, Save, Backup!!
  • Don’t plagiarise /copy another personal statement
Recommended Reading
  • Your Personal Statement. Available from: < >.
[2 September 2014].

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