How do I write an Oxbridge personal statement?

When it comes to making an application to Oxford or Cambridge, the key is to be specific. You have to remember that you will be competing against the best students from all across the world, so your personal statement really needs to stand out. First of all, never use the word 'passionate'; Oxbridge tutors hate it because it is so overused. Feel free to replace it with 'I am interested by/drawn to/fascinated in' as long as you explain WHY you are interested and aren't just simply stating that you are. Secondly, BE HONEST. The Oxbridge application process isn't designed to trip you up, its there to see whether you will be a good fit for that course/tutor/college, and they can only know that if you are honest on your application. This means not pretending you've wanted to study a subject since you were in primary school if really you've only realised its what you want to do in the last few months, and also not saying you've read things you haven't. You don't have to read ALL of every book but only talk bout what you have read and make sure you know a book well enough to discuss it in an interview scenario. When citing books you've read, always link them back to you and your understanding. For example, instead of saying, ' have read 'Seven Brief Lessons on Physics' by Carlo Rovelli, as this tells them nothing about you, it would be better to say something like 'When reading seven brief lessons on Physics, I was fascinated by Rovelli's approach to X and it make me think differently about Y'. This shows you are good at applying what you learn and Oxbridge tutors love it. In terms of achieving specificity for a subject you've never studied like Law, Theology or Earth Sciences, the key is to do a bit of googling. Look at currently articles from PHD students on the Oxbridge faculty websites to see what specific areas they're studying; find one that looks interesting and research it, do a bit of reading on it, see if radio 4 have had a programme about it (as listening to a few radio 4 podcasts/ watching some abc documentaries will make your application look more interesting as it shows you have displayed your interest through a variety of media forms). This demonstrates a niche subject knowledge which is what differentiates Oxbridge candidates from candidates to other universities.