The Personal Statement is a short piece of writing which provides a chance for you to showcase who you are and wow the medical admissions tutors. It is an opportunity for you to explain why you want to study medicine and why they should consider you an excellent candidate.
To stand out from the pool of thousands of applicants, you need to make sure your Personal Statement is in tip-top shape prior to UCAS submissions!
What is a UCAS Personal Statement?
Your Personal Statement is part of your UCAS application. It is a written piece of text which allows you to showcase yourself to universities and support your application. It will enable you to write all the skills you have, any experiences which strengthen your application, and a chance to explain WHY you want to study medicine and why the universities should pick YOU over all other applicants.
How long is the UCAS Personal Statement?
Your Personal Statement can be up to 4,000 characters (roughly 600 words) or 47 lines of text (including spaces and blank lines).
What should I include in my Personal Statement?
It is completely up to you!
As a rough guide, we recommend including the following:
Motivation – why do you personally want to study medicine & become a doctor?
Exposure – what you have done to learn more about the profession, e.g. work experience & extra-curricular activities
Suitability – why you are a good candidate for medicine
How Should I Structure My Personal Statement?
Whilst there is no officially mandated structure, we recommend the following for your medical school personal statement:
Introduction – why you want to study medicine
Work experience and volunteering
Wider reading & studies
Skills & extra-curricular activities
Conclusion
Do all Medical Schools look at the Personal Statement?
No. That’s the short answer.
The Personal Statement will be submitted to all the universities to which you apply via UCAS, and they will all be able to see it. However, not all universities use it to decide which candidates receive an interview or offer. The vast majority of universities will say if they do or do not use the Personal Statement and how they use it. This can be found on the University websites.
Nonetheless, your Personal Statement remains a very important part of your application to ALL universities as they have the right to change their interview/offer criteria even after the UCAS deadline!
How do I Submit my Personal Statement?
Your Personal Statement is submitted as part of your UCAS online application. You do not need to send it to universities yourself.
When is the Personal Statement Deadline?
Saturday 15th October 2022 at 18:00 (UK time) is the UCAS deadline for September 2023 entry for medicine and everything MUST be submitted by this time.
We recommend having your Personal Statement ready well before this deadline, the earlier the better!
Who Can Help Me With My Personal Statement?
Sign up for our 2-hour Medicine Personal Statement Workshop to get started!
If you would like a more focused approach, we offer 1-1 tutoring on your Personal Statement
Getting feedback on your Personal Statement is very important! Have your friends and family read over it for you. And have your finished Personal Statement reviewed by one of our expert team – you can pick between a medical student review or a doctor review!
Any Further Questions?