How should I best approach writing an Oxbridge personal statement?

Writing an Oxbridge personal statement is difficult, as there is immense pressure to present yourself and your knowledge of your subject as best and in as sophisticated a way as you can. However, contrary to belief, the best advice I received is to keep things simple. The people reading your personal statement will have to read up to hundreds of these, and so they will notice and appreciate it if you make it easy for them to read and understand - it will be easier for you too! But this does not require you to compromise the complexity and sophistication of your points or arguments; it is actually far more impressive to be able to present complex points in a simple manner, than to just bombard your reader with strings of confusing vocabulary that 'sound clever'.My best advice is to split your personal statement into three thematic 'sections'. The first sentence should try to be eye-catching, as this is what introduces you to your reader and explains why you want to study your chosen subject. Over-used buzzwords such as 'fascinating' and pretentious quotes are best avoided at this stage as it can be off-putting. Use this first paragraph to give concise, specific and perhaps more niche examples of what interests you about your subject (some people like to refer to things from their A-Level syllabus to start with). The second section should outline what you have done outside of the curriculum to explore your subject further. For example, I chose to read an introductory book about linguistics after discussing it briefly at school. I mentioned this and gave a brief summary, explaining that I believed the Cambridge Classics course would allow me to discover this new interest even further. It showed both curiosity about my subject outside the classroom and that I had researched the course. Two or three examples in this section is ideal. The final section should be more about you, your extra-curricular activities and anything else you want to mention. This is obviously the least important section and should therefore be left until the end, but by no means should it be neglected. Treat this section with as much care and diligence as the rest of your personal statement to demonstrate consistency and professionalism. If you make it short and scruffy, this will be the reader's final impression!