How to write a master's personal statement

Personal statements have two main functions. Firstly, they help you to focus your thoughts about which course you want to study, and why. Secondly, they help us understand why you'll make a great student on the course you're applying for. This is particularly important if you don’t quite meet the standard entry requirements for the programme – it's your opportunity to sell yourself.

Before you start to write, we recommend that you fully read the details of your chosen master's by looking at our course pages. Get a good idea of what you'll be studying, the specific entry requirements, and where the course could take you after graduation – make sure it aligns well with your current studies and your future goals.

Your personal statement doesn't need to be long – around one side of A4. It should include:

• why you want to study your chosen programme at Loughborough University
• the skills and experience you'd be bringing to the programme – this could be relevant work or volunteering experience, as well as your academic history
• your hobbies or interests, if they are relevant to the course you're applying for
• what you want to do after your studies – plans for your career or any further study
• an explanation of any gaps in your studies or career to date

Our Admissions team read hundreds of personal statements every day, so make sure yours is memorable for all the right reasons. Keep your tone of voice positive and enthusiastic, so you clearly demonstrate your passion for the subject you want to study, and try to include a bold, attention-grabbing opening sentence that makes the person assessing your application want to read on.

There's no such thing as a 'perfect' personal statement, but there are certainly things you should try to avoid when writing and submitting yours. Some of the main ones are:

• using a formulaic template with generic information that could apply to any university. While a template could be a good way to get your personal statement started, don't stick to it too rigidly – make it your own, and make sure it's tailored to the specific university and programme you're applying for. Mention both the course and the university by name to help you keep your writing focused.
• leaving tracked changes on. There's nothing wrong with going through several rounds of editing when putting your personal statement together, or asking someone else to look over what you've written and suggest changes. But when you're done, make sure the final document you submit looks tidy and professional.
• copying and pasting extracts from a webpage, particularly if they're from the university’s own website. Plagiarism is something that all universities take very seriously, so using someone else's words in your personal statement is not the way to make a good impression.
• using AI to generate your personal statement. It might seem tempting to use tools like ChatGPT when putting your statement together, but we can always tell when you have. Remember, a personal statement is meant to be just that – personal. And no computer is going to know you as well as you know yourself.
• submitting a personal statement meant for a different course or university. If you've got multiple applications on the go, you might be surprised at how easy it is to accidentally upload the wrong document – label your files clearly.
• submitting a personal statement that's too short and doesn't provide enough information. This is your chance to make yourself shine, so don't leave out anything about you, your studies or your experience that's relevant to your chosen programme.

If you are currently studying, or have previously studied for a master’s degree in the UK, we'll need you to also include some additional information in your personal statement. This is to enable us to sponsor you for a further student visa.

You'll need to include:

• the skills and knowledge you'll gain from the course you're applying for, that you haven't already gained from your previous postgraduate studies
• how you believe the master's degree you're applying for now will help you progress from your previous studies
• how you feel that both your previous master's degree and the one you're applying for at Loughborough will contribute to your career plans