what should I include in my personal statement

You should include about why you want to do the course you are interested in, for me it was medicine. For a medicine personal statement for example, the university is looking for people who are deeply passionate about medicine and are knowledgeable about the positives and negatives of medicine. They want you to be thoroughly informed of what is expected of you in your medical career and you need to try and put this across in your personal statement. You should include any work experience you have done and this does not have to be in a medical setting. and most importantly you must REFLECT on it. This absolutely crucial for a good personal statement.Include extra curricular activities like sports etc and demonstrate how you relax in between studying. Mention why you want to go into medicine and show your motivation as to why you chose medicine specifically rather than the other medical careers. Show that you are keen to learn by mentioning any wider reading you have done including articles or clinical studies or medical books. The competition for medicine is very high so you have to stand out from the crowd and thus demonstrate that you are a rounded individual. Although many of these points may sound unimportant compared to big picture of grades and so on, it is these little differences which add up and can massively improve your chances of getting into the medical school of your choice.