Making the most of your application

Before you start writing your personal statement or essay, make sure you know what you want to say. Make a note of your skills, qualities, experiences and reasons for studying the course; use the template here to help you or the Strategy Adviser on your BridgeU dashboard. The UCAS website also has some helpful questions and guidance, which you can access here. 

This section of the application is a chance to speak about yourself as a learner and show off what you are capable of. For US applications, you need to answer one of the specific prompts, which can be found here. For other applications, this is a more broad overview of your development. For courses starting in 2026, UCAS are changing from one essay to three direct questions, which you can find out more about here. 

Whichever application you are completing, focus on your growth and skills, such as the IB ATL skills (Research, Thinking, Communication, Social and Self-Management). Give concrete examples of where you have used or developed them and relate them to the course you are applying for. 

Just like you, your application is unique! Therefore, it should be focused on you and stand out from others that have been submitted. You can explore examples of what does and doesn't work but your application should be yours so include your own personal experiences and style.

BridgeU has examples of annotated personal statements and essays that have been collated to help you in your application. Go to the Writing Builder section of your dashboard.

University Compare have examples of personal statements organised by subject, which you can find here.