Ten things you should know about the new UCAS Personal Statement for 2026
The other day I asked ChatGPT what it could tell me about the new UCAS Personal Statements for 2026. “Of course” it said before going on to explain that the new Personal Statement would consist of six specific questions. When I suggested that it was wrong, and there would be only three questions, it admitted “You're right!” before listing the wrong three questions.
ChatGPT, you see, gets its information from the wild west of the internet, and clearly on this particular subject, the internet doesn’t have a clue what it’s talking about.
So instead of trusting AI to sort the truth from the myths, here are ten actual, real, true things that you should know about the new UCAS Personal Statements for 2026.
1. The new Personal Statement will consist of three sections, rather than one open box.
Each section will have a question to help students know what to write.
These questions will be:
Question 1: Why do you want to study this course or subject?
Question 2: How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject?
Question 3: What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?
2. The overall limit for all three questions combined will still be 4,000 characters.
Unlike the new UCAS reference (where the 4,000 characters include the section headings), UCAS have been clear that students will be able to use the full 4,000 characters across the three questions.
3. For each section, students should write at least 350 characters.
Beyond this they can split the character count across the sections however they want.
A good rule of thumb is that for academic courses, students will probably want to write most about their academic studies and related super-curricular activities, and so section 2 will probably be the longest.
For vocational courses, on the other hand, they’ll probably lean more on work experience and extra-curriculars, so section 3 might be longer.
4. There is no reason to believe that admissions tutors will use the Personal Statement any differently to how they did before.
Some will use it at the start to decide who to make offers to, some will use it to decide who gets an interview, and some will use it during the interview itself.
Some will use it once all other interviews and tests have been done, while others will only read them to make decisions on near-miss students when A-level results come out.
Some won’t look at it at all.
Sadly most universities are not very transparent about this, and it will be very difficult to know for sure how your Personal Statement will be used.
(If you are reading this, and currently work at a university in student recruitment or admissions, perhaps you could have a think about how your university could make this all a bit clearer).
When and how will your statement be used? (video and handout)
5. While the new structure makes it easier for students to know what to write, I still suggest doing some kind of a brainstorm exercise before starting to write.
I do think it will be virtually impossible for any student to simply start writing out full answers to the three questions without finding themselves going in circles and repeating themselves across the three sections.
So have a look at my 8 questions; they remain a great first step in working out what can go in the statement.
Preparing your content (video and handout)
6. Once they have a long list of things to talk about, students can then work out which question each example fits best into, and work out the structure for each section.
It will be very obvious where some examples go, but for other things students may find it tricky to decide which section is most appropriate.
In particular, activities known as super-curricular activities (which are things you do outside the classroom that relate to your studies), could legitimately find their way into any of the three sections. Meanwhile, work experience could find itself in section 1, as one of the things that has motivated the student’s decision, or in section 3, as something a student has done by way of preparation.
One great piece of advice on the UCAS website is this:
“Students shouldn't agonise over which section to include information in; the important thing is that it's included as the statement will be reviewed as a whole.”
7. The most challenging aspect of writing the statement remains how to write reflectively.
Students need to ensure they use real examples, reflect on them, and make clear how they are relevant.
There are a number of models that students can use to help them with this, from the A (Activity), B (Benefit), C (Course) model, through to the “What? So what? Now what?” model, or the “Learning by Doing” example that I have previously recommended.
The power of reflective writing (video and handout)
8. If you are a teacher or adviser, you don’t have to start from scratch preparing teaching and support materials.
UCAS have made a start for you.
They have PowerPoint slides, lesson plans and activity handouts you can use, and they have downloadable resources and tips specifically for you to share with teachers, parents and the students themselves.
I’m not sure that I would personally use all of the resources exactly as provided, but they are a great place to start!
UCAS: Personal Statements 2026 - classroom resources
9. What about all of those “Top Personal Statement tips” that universities have been producing for the last 25 years?
You will be delighted to know that they are all still 100% valid.
Here are mine:
Personal Statement Top Tips (video and handout)
10. Finally… Please don’t take advice from AI on the new structure.
ChatGPT and others can be terrifically useful for all sorts of things, but in this case there are simply not enough good resources available for AI to look at in order to form a sensible view on what makes a good statement.
My experience shows that ChatGPT was clearly getting confused over what were proposed changes, what were actual changes, and what was just rumour and speculation.
It got a lot wrong, and really can’t be trusted.
Instead, use sources written by experts, such as UCAS, Durham University and University of Essex (see below).
Plus, of course, I’ll be updating my own materials in plenty of time for students starting to write their statements later in spring.
