Personal Statement

Writing a Personal Statement as part of your application for a college course.

You have chosen a College Course as part of your Senior Phase timetable. Courses like this take place out of School, usually in a College setting or with a local Training Provider.

The selection process for a place on one of these courses involves writing a short personal statement to back up your request for a place.

What is a Personal Statement?

It helps you apply for a course you want to study.
It helps to get you thinking about the course you have chosen and how your current strengths and skills make you a great candidate for being successful on this course.
It needs to convince lecturers that you have the right skills to do the course, and that you're really enthusiastic about it.

This guide will help you:

Recognise the key areas to include in a personal statement
Recognise the difference between your strengths and skills
Provide some examples to consider

Step 1 - Preparing your statement

Your aim is to convince the college that:

You can do the course and that you really want to study the course!
You have the qualities and skills necessary for the course!
You have interests that are suitable to this course!

So…..Think about the following:

Have you looked at the information about the college courses?
Do you know what the course is about?
Have you spoken to your pastoral care teacher about this course?
Have you made sure that you have the relevant entry requirements for the course?

Matching your current strengths & skills to the course

What is the difference between a strength and a skill?

A strength is something you're naturally good at, like organising or being at ease talking to people.
A skill is something you gain with learning and experience, like knowing how to work a till or give a presentation in class.

Some Key Tips

College staff & Lecturers are looking for students who have some of these qualities and strengths.

Motivation
Confidence
Enthusiasm
Personality
Dependability
Relevant experience
Ability to work as part of a team
Determination
Organised
Practical skills
Methodical
Timekeeping
Use own Initiative

Choose all that apply to you, and think why?

Do you have interests that are beneficial to this course!

Certain Courses will look for specific qualities & strengths.

Now think about the course you have applied for and what strengths might be useful?

• Child Care – Caring, Empathy, Organised, Confident, Personality

• Mechanics – Practical, Problem solving, Methodical,

• Sport – Naturally fit, Play as part of a team, Motivated, Determined

• Beauty & Make Up – Initiative, Creative, practical, confident

• Hairdressing – Creative, Practical, Detailed, Personality

• Hospitality – Hard working, practical, creative, can follow instructions

• Cabin Crew, Travel & Tourism – Personality, Communication, Organised

• Construction – Practical, Attention to Detail, Aware of Safety

• Engineering – Practical, Problem Solving, Organised, Good with figures/numbers

• Cyper Security/Games Design – Creative, Innovative, Problem Solving, Good with Hands

• Photography – Natural flair for being Creative, Initiative, Motivated

• Science and Forensics– Methodical, Problem Solving, Perfectionist

• Psychology – Self Motivated, Enthusiastic, Hard Working

• Accounting – Analytical, Thinking Skills, Self Motivated

• History – Research Skills, Confident, Communication

Step Two – Writing a Personal Statement

Now, think about the course you have applied for and answer these questions:

How might the course help with your future career choice?

This is a chance to say why you are interested in the course, and what you hope to do in the future. (E.g. – Become a chef on a cruise ship, or own your Beautician business, or become a Nursery school teacher, a football coach, work in an office, go to university and study further)

How might your interests and leisure activities help you with your chosen course?

How does your interest relate to the course? (e.g. - Do you fix bikes, or watch top gear and you have applied for Mechanics?
Do you baby sit and you have applied for Child Care?
Are you good at practical skills in school or at home and have applied for Construction?
Do you cook in the house or bake cakes and have applied for the NPA Cookery or Bakery Course?
Do you help out in a youth club and you are interested in Sport?
Do you play games online and are interested in Software?
Are you good at doing other people’s make-up, are you interested in Makeup Artistry?

Do you have any previous experience that you can mention in your statement?

• Part time job

• Work experience

• Volunteer

• Help others

• Part of a club, a team or a group

• Attended a course at college before

• Attended a taster course before

Examples

Some examples of skills and qualities that might help you with the course:

• Patience when looking after younger sibling,

• Persistence when if working on a task I get it wrong I try until I get it right,

• Working in a team on a project or game,

• Confident when speaking to others or when asked to present

• Enjoy helping other when you helped at an event in school.

• Organised a football game or tournament with friends

• Made something from scratch, following instruction/recipe (cakes, Lego, woodwork etc)

• Help look after an elderly relative

• Volunteer within school or out of schools/Fundraising

• Organised and neat, take pride in having a neat and tidy bedroom and school work

• Won an award in school or out of school

And Finally,

Structure your statement clearly. (approx 150-200 words, recommend 2 good paragraphs)
Don’t just list all your activities and experience. Explain why they are relevant to the course you’re applying to by mentioning the skills they involve.
Remember to order your points logically. For example, you could have a paragraph on your work experience, a paragraph on your activities in school, a paragraph on your activities outside school etc.