The years of sixth formers and their families agonising over personal statements for their university application forms will soon be a thing of the past, after the UK’s university admissions service announced they are to be dropped.
Instead of a statement limited to 4,000 characters (including spaces), those applying for undergraduate places in 2026 through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) will be asked to answer why they want to study the course or subject, how their studies or qualifications helped them to prepare for the course and what experiences they have had outside of education that will be helpful.
The personal statement has been a staple of the admissions process for more than three decades since Ucas was formed in 1993, although its roots go further back to the application forms used by Ucas’s predecessors.
Experts have said the old format gave an unfair advantage to middle-class students and are hopeful the new questions will improve the chances of applicants from backgrounds who lack a family history of higher education or help from tutors.
Lee Elliot Major, a professor of social mobility at Exeter University, said: “The love letter from a university applicant to their chosen university subject has increasingly become a barometer of middle-class privilege as so many personal statements are now co-created and polished by advisers, teachers and parents.
“This welcome reform strikes the right balance between a more structured approach to deter fabrication, while not limiting the opportunity for applicants to personalise their statement. I believe it is a significant step in making the university admissions system a little bit fairer for all applicants.”
Ucas made the announcement as its updated figures showed a drop in undergraduate applications by sixth formers in England and Wales for the second year in a row.
Just 42.7% of 18-year-olds in England applied for a place by June this year, compared with 44.9% in 2022, as universities continue to be concerned about lower student numbers harming their financial position.
In Wales, applications fell from 38.1% in 2022 to 33.8% this year, the lowest percentage in 15 years.
Amanda Wilkinson, the director of Universities Wales, said: “We now have the lowest proportion of 18-year-olds applying for university in the UK, with the gap between Wales and the UK wider than at any point in modern history. This drop has long-term implications for Wales. The industries that will drive our economic growth in the decades to come rely heavily on graduates.”
