Destination Education
00:43:47 · Barbara Lestak, Ruth Benny
[00:43:47] S1: Yeah, so exactly as you said, Ruth, there's not a huge amount to panic about here. So what they've done is they've helped, they've basically helped to simplify the personal statement. So the total character amount in the personal statement is still the same, including the spaces, etcetera. And the content is pretty much broadly the same, but with three guiding questions. And those three guiding questions are: Why do you want to study this course or this subject? How have your qualifications and your studies helped to prepare you for that? And what else have you done to prepare outside of education? And why are these experiences that you've done useful? That's it, those three questions. Now that should really help to guide and what they've done is they've said okay there's a minimum character for each of those questions of three fifty characters. And that is very clearly labeled for them in each box. But as you could have probably guessed, there's already, the questions I would say are weighted in importance. So you should be utilising more of those characters in some of the, you know, in questions two and three rather than in question one. Do you see what I say? So you don't have to balance out the characters, don't have to divide 4,000 by three sections, please don't do that. You definitely need to be talking about what have you done and you know, to show your passion for that subject and know, and talking sort of those. [00:45:21] S0: So the UCAS personal statement is changing slightly. Can you tell us about that?
00:45:25 · Barbara Lestak
[00:45:25] S1: Yeah, absolutely Ruth. So it's exactly as you said, it's only slightly so students absolutely don't need to panic. What they've done is they have helped them to simplify and to really kind of break down and focus in on the context of the personal statement. So what they have done is they've divided it into three questions. And those three questions are as follows: So why do you want to study this subject or course? How have your qualifications and studies helped you in preparing for that? And what else have you done to prepare outside of education? And why are those experiences useful? So every single one of those three questions has a minimum character count of three fifty characters. And that will be very clearly labelled in each of the question boxes with the character count. Now the personal statement as a whole, with answering all of those questions, will still have a total of 4,000 characters. It still has the same sort of structure and amount of writing that you can do as the old personal statements have done so. Every question is, I think slightly differently weighted so you should be spending less characters in question one and more characters in question two and probably even more characters in question three than you have done in one and two. Because those two questions in question two and three so how have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course and what have you done outside of education and why are they useful are the ones that are really going to guide those admissions tutors that are looking at your personal statement and understanding whether or not you are fit for this course. Is it something that you, you know, they imagine you studying this in their institution for three, four years off your academic life? Will you be a good addition to the student cohort? And is it genuinely something that you love? Can they see that? That's their first time that they meet you as a person. So it is really, really important that that sort of passion comes through.
00:47:26 · Ruth Benny, Barbara Lestak
[00:47:26] S0: Okay, I think we did lose a little bit of the sound. We might sort of fill in a bit of gaps. We'll certainly put some stuff in the show notes. Don't worry about it. But I think that the highlights are, yes, the personal statement is changing. It's not really a reform. It's a minor change. It sounds like they've almost made it easier. And I'm sure they're not doing it for our top scoring ambitious students who are applying for Oxbridge and G5. They're doing it for the masses really. Yeah, [00:47:53] S1: yeah, exactly that. And what they're trying to sort of etch out is, you you don't need to treat the personal statement like it's a CV. You're not listing your accomplishments. You know what, they don't expect you to go, and I did the Physics Olympiad and I did the American Physics Bowl and I did this and I got a John Locke. That's not what they want. What they want is, okay, great. Did the Physics Olympiad. What did you learn out of it? What was your experience like? You know, they don't want this and I met so and so, and I read this and I got the autograph from that and I got a letter from... No, no, no, no. And also the other thing that they, that a lot of students sort of fall into that final trap of is, well, I'm the head girl captain and I do this. Fantastic. But what has that got to do with the, you know, you tie it in and you can say, okay, I was the head girl and therefore I, I don't know, I took control of, you know, creating 10 new clubs and one of that club was something law and now I'm applying to law. So tie it in somehow.
00:47:53 · Barbara Lestak, Ruth Benny
[00:47:53] S1: yeah, exactly that. And what they're trying to sort of etch out is, you you don't need to treat the personal statement like it's a CV. You're not listing your accomplishments. You know what, they don't expect you to go, and I did the Physics Olympiad and I did the American Physics Bowl and I did this and I got a John Locke. That's not what they want. What they want is, okay, great. Did the Physics Olympiad. What did you learn out of it? What was your experience like? You know, they don't want this and I met so and so, and I read this and I got the autograph from that and I got a letter from... No, no, no, no. And also the other thing that they, that a lot of students sort of fall into that final trap of is, well, I'm the head girl captain and I do this. Fantastic. But what has that got to do with the, you know, you tie it in and you can say, okay, I was the head girl and therefore I, I don't know, I took control of, you know, creating 10 new clubs and one of that club was something law and now I'm applying to law. So tie it in somehow. [00:48:53] S0: Yeah, it is a really common misperception I think by a lot of students and their parents that accumulating accolades is the thing to do. And unfortunately, I see a lot of families that do that at the expense of other things that they could be enjoying. And just it's not about doing the thing, it's about what did they learn from that? And how is that going to better prepare them for the course that they're applying for, right?
00:48:53 · Ruth Benny, Barbara Lestak
[00:48:53] S0: Yeah, it is a really common misperception I think by a lot of students and their parents that accumulating accolades is the thing to do. And unfortunately, I see a lot of families that do that at the expense of other things that they could be enjoying. And just it's not about doing the thing, it's about what did they learn from that? And how is that going to better prepare them for the course that they're applying for, right? [00:49:22] S1: Exactly, it's exactly that. So you can amass those accolades and by all means, what we don't want students to think is, oh, okay, I shouldn't be doing any sport or I shouldn't join chess club and I shouldn't do any of the things that I love. No, no, please continue because it makes you a rounded person. But just try to tie that in into, there's obviously reasons why you're doing those things. How does that make you that person that is going to succeed and love that subject even more? So what have you learnt out of it? How has that developed maybe even soft skills that will help you in the course that you're going to apply to? Really, really critical. So just start thinking about that and by all means, don't stop in order to read more books and things. It's okay. Enjoy the things that you want to do, but tie it in.
00:49:22 · Barbara Lestak, Ruth Benny
[00:49:22] S1: Exactly, it's exactly that. So you can amass those accolades and by all means, what we don't want students to think is, oh, okay, I shouldn't be doing any sport or I shouldn't join chess club and I shouldn't do any of the things that I love. No, no, please continue because it makes you a rounded person. But just try to tie that in into, there's obviously reasons why you're doing those things. How does that make you that person that is going to succeed and love that subject even more? So what have you learnt out of it? How has that developed maybe even soft skills that will help you in the course that you're going to apply to? Really, really critical. So just start thinking about that and by all means, don't stop in order to read more books and things. It's okay. Enjoy the things that you want to do, but tie it in. [00:50:12] S0: Yeah, I've heard it said that, can't remember who said it, I'll credit the person if I remember, but they're looking for essentially this applies to schools as well, schools, universities, even public employers, what are they looking for They're in a looking for students who are interested in doing the thing and they are interesting. I think, you know, all of these accolades, of these experiences is helping them to make them a well rounded person, be more interesting as a candidate.