Building the UCAS Personal Statement on Indigo

Writing the UCAS Personal Statement can be a challenging task and is one that requires several weeks’ worth of drafting, redrafting and editing. In addition to grades and references, the personal statement will be taken into account by university admissions tutors when deciding whether to offer a place to the potential student.

Courses at universities will often be oversubscribed, with an average of 4.8 applicants per place. For top institutions and popular courses, this statistic will certainly by higher. The personal statement is, therefore, an important method of making an impression on the university admissions tutor and influencing them to offer you a place.

In order to assist our Year 12s during the writing process, we ask that they use Indigo, an online higher education and careers platform that the school subscribes to and, for which each student has their own unique login. Indigo has a personal statement builder function which:

• Offers advice, tips and example personal statements from How to Write a Winning Personal Statement by Ian Stannard
• Breaks down the personal statement into more manageable parts
• Modernises the submission and teacher review process to allow feedback to be given directly and online

Please see the video explainer on how to use the personal statement builder. For further information on what to include in the personal statement, students should refer to the guidance sent home by the Head of Sixth Form.