Personal Statements Explained

🎙️ New Podcast Alert! Stay tuned for expert tips on writing your personal statement. Marcus and Siam discuss what not to do, super-curricular activities, the MyCambridge application form, and much more!

00:00 Introductions

1:00 What are personal statements?

3:00 Cambridge and Oxford have an earlier date for personal statement submission

4:30 What kind of things should you include in your personal statement?

07:00 Should students avoid writing about cliched interests over niche interests?

11:00 What things should students not do in a personal statement?

14:00 How do we use the personal statement during assessment?

15:30 Will your personal statement come up during an interview?

19:00 Including topics that are not covered in your syllabus

20:25 What are super-curricular activities? And how are they different to extra-curricular activities?

27:30 Being found out during your interview

30:30 Should the personal statement be structured in a specific way?

33:00 Should the personal statement be academic based?

34:40 Should personal statements be written in a particular style?

37:10 What’s the My Cambridge Application?

46:30 Do Personal Statements get too much attention compared to the rest of the admissions process?

48:00 Prioritising exam preparation over personal statement prep

51:30 Personal Statements are changing from 2025/2026 application year and onwards