The hours spent by students writing personal statements for UK university applications may be in vain, according to figures, showing that many are barely read by admissions officers.
The ritual of applying for a place at university has for decades included a personal statement as part of the admissions process, with the applicant – and often their parents, teachers and even paid consultants – helping to craft an essay limited to 4,000 characters, approximately 600 words.
But the huge increase in applications means that admissions officers rather than academics now do much of the decision-making, and are left with little time to read statements.
A survey of admissions staff by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) found the average time spent reading a personal statement was two minutes, with two out of five statements read for just a minute or less. Officers at Russell Group universities devoted only 90 seconds per statement on average.
One admissions officer reported: “We look at them all but the majority we don’t read in their entirety – we give them a skim.” The majority of those surveyed said decisions were primarily made on the basis of exam grades.
