How to write a personal statement
How to approach writing your personal statement for graduate applications.
If you’re applying for a grad course that requires a personal statement (sometimes also called a ‘statement of purpose’), it can be difficult to know where to start and what to include. Read on for tips from some of our masters’ students about their process and what they found helpful.
1. Before you start
The academic work is the most important reason why we’re here, but that also translates into work experiences, internships, volunteering. I think a big part of the personal statement is crafting that narrative of academic self that fits alongside your professional experiences, to give that greater picture of who you are as an academic. Lauren (MSc Modern Middle Eastern Studies)
Start by thinking about the skills, knowledge and interests you’ve acquired over time and how the course at Oxford will take them forward.
Your statement is the story you want to tell about yourself and your academic work to the department you are applying to.
Most of your application and its supporting documents communicate plain facts about your academic career so far. Your personal statement is your best opportunity to put these facts into context and show assessors how you’ve progressed and excelled.
Make sure you highlight evidence of your achievements (a high grade in a relevant area, an award or scholarship, a research internship).
Presenting yourself
When I was writing my personal statement, I went onto my course website. I looked at what they emphasised and what kind of students they were looking for, and I wrote about my experiences based on that. Kayla (MSc in Clinical Embryology)
Make it easy for an assessor to see how you meet the entry requirements for the course (you can find these on each course page ).
Don’t make any assumptions about what Oxford is looking for!
Get to know your department
You want to study this particular subject and you want to study at Oxford (you’re applying here, so we know that!) but why is Oxford the right place for you to study this subject? What interests or qualities of the academic department and its staff make it attractive to you?
Use your academic department’s website for an overview of their research, academic staff and course information (you'll find a link to the department's own website on each course page ).
I said, ‘why do I actually want to be here? What is it about being at Oxford that’s going to get me to what I want to do? Sarah (Bachelor of Civil Law)
Talk it out
Talking to others about your statement can be a great way to gather your ideas and decide how you’d like to approach it. Sarah even managed to get benefit out of this approach by herself:
“I spent a lot of time talking out loud. My written process was actually very vocal, so I did a lot of talking about myself in my room.”
2. The writing process
Know your format.
Make sure you’ve read all the guidance on the How to Apply section of your course page , so you know what’s needed in terms of the word count of the final statement, what it should cover and what it will be assessed for. This should help you to visualise roughly what you want to end up with at the end of the process.
Make a start
When it comes to writing your personal statement, just getting started can be the hardest part.
One good way to get around writer’s block is to just put it all down on the page, like Mayur.
First - write down anything and everything. In the first round, I was just dumping everything - whatever I’ve done, anything close to computer science, that was on my personal statement. Mayur (MSc Computer Science)
You’ll be editing later anyway so don’t let the blank page intimidate you - try writing a little under each of the following headings to get started:
- areas of the course at Oxford that are the most interesting to you
- which areas you’ve already studied or had some experience in
- what you hope to use your Oxford course experience for afterwards.
3. Finishing up
Get some feedback.
Once you’ve got a draft of about the right length, ask for feedback on what you’ve written. It might take several drafts to get it right.
This could involve getting in touch with some of your undergraduate professors to ask them to read your draft and find any areas which needed strengthening.
You could also show it to people who know you well, like family or friends.
Because they’re the first people to say, ‘Who is that person?’ You want the people around you to recognise that it really sounds like you. It can be scary telling family and friends you’re applying for Oxford, because it makes it real, but be brave enough to share it and get feedback on it. Sarah (Bachelor of Law)
Be yourself
Finally - be genuine and be yourself. Make sure your personal statement represents you, not your idea about what Oxford might be looking for.
We have thousands of students arriving every year from a huge range of subjects, backgrounds, institutions and countries (you can hear from a few more of them in our My Oxford interviews).
Get moving on your application today
To find out more about supporting documents and everything else you need to apply, read your course page and visit our Application Guide .
- Application Guide: Statement of purpose
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How to start a personal statement
The process of writing your personal statement can be simple if you know how to start. this is our guide on where to begin..
Make a plan
Prepare how you’re going to write your personal statement before you begin any of the actual writing. Note down how you want to structure it and what you want to say in each paragraph. By summarising what you’re going to write in a plan, you can assess whether your personal statement will flow and if you have all the things you need to include.
- What to include in a personal statement
Have a structure
Part of planning your personal statement is deciding how to lay it out. Keep in mind that you’re telling admissions tutors the story of you. All stories have a structure – there’s a beginning, a middle and an end. You can use a similar method to convey your motivation for choosing the subject you’re applying for.
There’s more than one way to structure a personal statement, but you should at least have a:
- Clear introduction
- Strong body of five–six paragraphs that link your experience and achievements to why you've chosen the subject
- Conclusion to summarise it all
A structured statement also shows admissions tutors that you can communicate effectively.
Begin with you
Tackling the introduction first? This is your chance to talk about you, your background, and your excitement for the course. It should then flow naturally into the middle paragraphs, where you can expand on why you’re interested in the subject you’ve chosen.
Tina, Lead Admissions Tutor for Adult Nursing at the University of Brighton , shared with us what she looks for in the first few paragraphs of a student's personal statement:
They should start their application with the reason why they are applying and if they have any personal insight into a role such as being cared for when they were younger, attending hospital to visit a relative or any other experience as part of a course, volunteering, or work. Tina, Lead Admissions Tutor for Adult Nursing at University of Brighton
Be to the point from the beginning
Your introduction shouldn’t be long-winded, so two or three sentences are usually enough. You only have 4,000 characters and about 47 lines to play with for the entire statement.
Don’t be afraid to go straight into talking about what excites you most about your subject and the motivation behind choosing to apply. Use language that’s punchy, concise, and relevant too. This will help you to show your ambition and enthusiasm to admissions tutors.
Avoid cliché opening sentences
Clichés are clichés because they’re overused. Put yourself in the shoes of an admissions tutor – they’ll be reading lots of personal statements, so the ones that stand out will be those that aren’t like the others.
Make a note of any clichéd sentences you can think of or have seen online, and check you don’t include them when writing your personal statement. Some examples to avoid include:
- ‘I have always wanted to study...’
- ‘I feel I’ve always had a passion for...’
- ‘From a young age...’
- ‘Since I can remember...’
Don’t feel pressured to write the intro first
The introduction seems like the obvious place to start. But you may find it easier to leave the introduction until the end. Start at whichever point suits you best, provided you have a plan and structure in place.
Fortunately, the intro is only a few sentences. Given the most important content will come in the middle paragraphs, where you explain your choice of subject, it may make sense to start there.
Just start writing! Don’t feel that you necessarily need to write your personal statement in the order in which it will be read. This is only for the author to know. Dr Ceri Davies, Economics Director of Admissions and Recruitment at University of Birmingham
- Tips for writing your personal statement
Just get words down
The most important part of writing is to get words on paper. If you’re struggling to plan, try writing down the first words that come to your head about why you want to study the subject. If you do have a plan and structure, but don’t know where to begin, try taking the same approach. You can remove or edit any bits that you don’t like later.
Once you start writing you should hopefully enter a state of flow. You’ll piece sentences together and gradually craft an impressive personal statement.
Start by writing down all the reasons why you want to study the subject you are applying for and then, when all your enthusiasm is flowing, you can decide the order you want to put it in. Katherine Pagett, Student Recruitment Manager at University of Birmingham
- How to make your personal statement stand out
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