UCAS surveyed potential candidates about to start their personal statement and found that more than three-quarters preferred the new three-question format.
By Claire Gilbody Dickerson, Current Affairs Reporter
Thursday 18 July 2024 03:37, United Kingdom
Students applying to university through UCAS will have to answer three questions under new plans to help people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Under the current system, prospective students must complete a free-response essay for their personal statement, which can be up to 4,000 characters long.
But in an effort to find out whether the task helps those who are eligible for help, the test will be replaced by three mandatory questions from September 2025.
The questions are:
• Why do you want to study this course or subject?
• How did your qualifications and studies help you prepare for this course or subject?
• What else have you done to prepare yourself outside of education, and why are these experiences helpful?
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Students applying to university in 2026 will be the first to see the revised application form, which will allow the same amount of writing as the dissertation.
The move comes as UCAS data suggests the gap in university application rates between the most and least advantaged students has widened over the past year.
The data shows that the application rate from the most deprived backgrounds fell slightly to 25.4% in England, while the application rate from the most advantaged increased slightly to 60.7%.
UCAS surveyed potential candidates about to start their personal statement and found that more than three-quarters preferred the new three-question format.
A previous UCAS study found that 79% of students felt the process of writing a personal statement was difficult to complete without support.
Jo Saxton, UCAS Chief Executive, said: “The changes to the personal statement, together with our recent fee waiver for students on free school meals, are part of UCAS’ contribution to the sector-wide effort to ensure more people from disadvantaged backgrounds can benefit from the life-changing opportunity that higher education offers.”
