Starting soon, applicants for UK Universities will no longer submit a single, free-form personal statement to UCAS. Instead, they will respond to three predefined “scaffolding questions.” These questions are designed to help candidates clearly address key points in their applications:
- Why do you want to study this course or subject?
- How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject?
- What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?
On the surface, this change seems like a move toward providing clarity and guidance for applicants, especially for those who may struggle with crafting a personal narrative. However, while the new structure might help ensure all students cover these essential areas, there’s a significant downside: it limits the flexibility candidates once had to craft a compelling story that integrates their experiences holistically.
A Change Designed to Guide Applicants
One of the driving forces behind this reform is the need to standardise and simplify the application process. Many applicants, especially those unfamiliar with personal statements, have historically struggled to know what to include. Some miss out on key elements—like explaining why they want to study a particular course or what specific experiences qualify them.
By laying out these questions, UCAS is essentially giving students a roadmap for what to say, ensuring that important points aren’t omitted. This structure will likely be helpful for those who feel overwhelmed by the challenge of writing a personal statement or for students who come from educational systems that don’t traditionally emphasise narrative writing.
Additionally, admissions officers will find it easier to compare responses when everyone is addressing the same questions. This increased standardisation may lead to fairer evaluations of applicants’ motivations and qualifications.
The Loss of Narrative Power
However, there’s a trade-off in this shift toward structured responses: it comes at the cost of narrative flexibility. Previously, applicants had the freedom to craft a personal statement that wove together their passion for a subject, academic achievements, and extracurricular experiences into a cohesive story. This allowed candidates to build a unique, compelling narrative that not only explained why they were interested in a course but also showcased their strengths and character. Mitigating circumstances could also be mentioned to explain why experiences may be lacking.
The segmented nature of the new format makes it much harder to create that seamless narrative. Each response will now stand on its own, disconnected from the others. This compartmentalisation may reduce the opportunity for students to tie different aspects of their journey together in a meaningful way.
For example, a student could previously narrate how their interest in environmental science grew from a childhood curiosity about nature into a structured academic pursuit, bolstered by their participation in environmental clubs and internships. Under the new system, they’ll have to break this journey into three distinct parts, which may strip the personal statement of some of its emotional power and cohesiveness.
Amplifying the Advantage of Credentials
Another consequence of this change is that it may inadvertently amplify the advantage of students with strong academic credentials or extracurricular experiences. Under the old system, students with fewer formal achievements or opportunities could still craft a compelling narrative that highlighted their passion, curiosity, and potential. A well-written personal statement could help an applicant with less conventional qualifications stand out by demonstrating intellectual curiosity, work ethic, or personal growth.
With the new format, students with strong academic backgrounds and extracurricular experiences may have an easier time answering the three questions directly and comprehensively. Meanwhile, students who don’t have those specific experiences may struggle to fill in the gaps, as the questions explicitly focus on academic preparation and extracurricular involvement.
The removal of the personal narrative leaves less room for students to showcase their intangible qualities, such as resilience, curiosity, or self-motivation—traits that can be just as important as academic achievements in predicting future success.
What’s Missing: Showcasing Strengths in Learning
One area that the new format doesn’t address explicitly is an applicant’s broader intellectual ability, curiosity, or work ethic. Previously, these traits could be woven into the narrative, allowing students to demonstrate their readiness for university-level study through examples of self-directed learning, problem-solving, or intellectual engagement.
Now, applicants will need to subtly incorporate these strengths into their answers to the second and third questions. When discussing how their qualifications have prepared them, students can hint at their intellectual growth or adaptability. Similarly, when describing extracurricular experiences, they can highlight how those activities reflect qualities like curiosity or perseverance. However, the explicit space to highlight these attributes is notably absent, and it will take skilful writing to ensure these strengths don’t get lost in the more structured format.
Structural Change, Significant Implications
While the UCAS reform aims to simplify the personal statement process and guide students in addressing the key elements of their application, it comes at a cost. Ultimately, applicants will need to adapt to this new format, finding ways to weave their strengths into the segmented responses. The loss of narrative flexibility means that students may find it harder to tell a compelling, cohesive story that showcases both their achievements and personal qualities. Additionally, the focus on specific academic and extracurricular experiences could exacerbate the advantage of well-credentialed students, making it harder for those with unconventional backgrounds to stand out. The change may make the process easier for some, but it also risks stripping away one of the most personal and powerful aspects of the application process: the ability to tell a unique story.
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