Students will no longer have to write personal statements when applying for university, to even up the playing field.
(Picture: Christin Hume / Unsplash)The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) will no longer require students to write a personal statement when applying for university.
The change comes amid claims that the personal statements favour middle-class students who may have better access to “high-quality advice and guidance”, according to Ucas.
The 4,000-character essay will be scrapped and replaced with a series of questions about the higher education course they are applying for.
Ucas announced in February 2022 that it was considering changes to university applications.
At the time, Michelle Donelan, the universities minister, said “I have always felt that personal statements in their current form favour the most advantaged students.
“So I’m pleased that Ucas have confirmed that reform of the personal statement is in their plans so that personal statements work to the benefit of all students.”
Ucas consulted with 1,200 students, 170 teachers, and more than 100 universities and colleges before making the reforms, as reported by The Times.
According to Ucas, although 72 per cent of respondents surveyed felt positive about the personal statement, 79 per cent agreed that writing the statement is difficult to complete without support, and 83 per cent said they found the process of writing a personal statement stressful.
The structured questions aim to “bring focus and clarity for students, reducing the need for support”.
Students will be asked questions about their motivations for studying courses, what they have done to prepare, and any extenuating circumstances.
Kim Eccleston, head of strategy and reform at Ucas, said in a Higher Education Policy Institute blog post: “We believe this will create a more supportive framework, which in turn will help guide students through their responses by removing the guesswork, as well as capturing the information universities and colleges have told us they really need to know from applicants when it comes to offer-making.”
The changes to the admission process will be introduced no earlier than 2024 for students applying to begin university in 2025.
And in the future, Ucas said that it would consider moving away from written text to multimedia submissions.
