What are the major 'dos' and 'donts' of writing a UCAS Personal Statement?

Writing a Personal Statement is never a simple task. You are (usually) limited to 4,000 characters in which you must convince the admissions tutor that you are worthy of a place at their institution or, at least, are worthy of progressing to the next stage of admissions. One of the first things I will say about composing your own Personal Statement is that it must be exactly that: your own. By this, I do not only mean that you must not copy or plagiarise anybody else's Personal Statement, I also mean that you must also not follow any particular guidelines/templates too closely, as this could remove the originality of your Statement. Many years ago when I was applying to university, we were given strict guidelines by our teachers about what to include and how to structure a 'good' personal statement; whilst this was somewhat useful, it soon felt like everyone in my year group had the exact same template for a Personal Statement and in my opinion, universities can see through this (especially when students from the same school are applying the same universities!). So, to summarise this point: definitely listen to all the advice you are given and take inspiration from the guidelines/templates that are available to you, but ultimately, do not be afraid to make your Personal Statement unique and, well...personal! After all, the main function of the Personal Statement is to provide admission tutors with a more detailed idea of you as a person and your commitment to your subject, beyond your academic achievements. For me, the most crucial piece of advice I would offer a student writing their Personal Statement is to be specific. This is what takes considerable time and thought, as to achieve this within the word limit is indeed difficult! It is never enough to merely claim you are 'passionate', 'interested' or 'intrigued' by a particular subject or topic; instead, you really must pinpoint exactly what you are interested in and how you came to be interested in that topic. Students often feel that their interest in their chosen subject is 'boring' compare to others' and so they attempt to invent a much more interesting version of why they want to study that subject at university by mentioning books they haven't actually read or quoting academics they actually know nothing about. In reality, being honest and genuine in your Personal Statement will always be more successful in my opinion, especially if you are required to attend an interview in which you could potentially be questioned about your personal statement. Having said that, it is of course important to be selective about what you mention and to try and keep the admissions tutor engaged by avoiding generalised statements and clichés. In my opinion, this student manages to engage the reader with sophisticated language whilst also being specific and honest about what attracted them to the subject: 'Classics encompasses the intrinsic links between literature, language and history, something which became evident during my visit to the historic city of Syracuse last summer. I found myself intrigued by the evolution of the classical world itself; how Ancient Greece influenced Roman civilisation from art and religion to philosophy and politics, and the major contribution this made towards the culture of modern civilisation in turn.'