Ucas personal statement ‘contributes to access inequalities’

The Ucas personal statement imposes an “unnecessary burden” on disadvantaged students and is “contributing to inequalities in higher education access” in the UK, according to a report that calls for it to be replaced by short-response questions.

The Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) report, published on 24 November, based on analysis of 164 personal statement drafts from 83 applicants from under-represented backgrounds plus interviews and surveys of applicants, says the personal statement in its current format is “incompatible with Universities UK (UUK) and GuildHE’s principles of fair admissions”.

Change to the status quo, seen as favouring private school pupils, was backed by former universities minister Michelle Donelan earlier this year, when she said Ucas had “confirmed that reform of the personal statement is in their plans”.

“It is argued that the personal statement should be reformed because its long-form free-response nature creates many of the challenges applicants face, imposing an unnecessary burden and contributing to inequalities in higher education access,” says the Hepi report, by Tom Fryer, a PhD student at the University of Manchester’s Manchester Institute of Education; Steve Westlake, a PhD student and careers support officer at the University of Bristol; and Steven Jones, professor of higher education at Manchester, author of previous research finding that the personal statement disadvantages state school pupils.

The draft statements analysed in the report were submitted to Write on Point, a project founded by Mr Fryer that provides online Ucas personal statement support to applicants from under-represented backgrounds.

The analysis found that 83 per cent of drafts “did not present an appropriate evidence-based opinion or evaluation of a topic related to [applicants’] subject area”.

And the interviews and surveys found that writing the statement, of up to 4,000 characters, imposed a heavy burden for applicants who were juggling writing that statement with exams and mock exams.

“Applicants tell of the large toll of the personal statement, with some spending 30 to 40 hours on it, which requires sacrifices in both their studies and their wider lives,” says the report.

“If you’re not receiving a lot of help from your school or from outside of school, it is something big to tackle because it really is the biggest part of your application,” says one interviewee.

“Many of the challenges applicants face relate to the long-form free-response nature of the Ucas personal statement,” says the report. “The challenges around crafting an appropriate opening paragraph and developing an effective flow/structure arise because the statement is a long-form essay.”

The UUK and GuildHE fair admissions code of practice includes guidance that admissions processes should “use reliable, valid and explainable assessment methods” and “minimise barriers for applicants and address inequalities”.

In judging the personal statement in its current form “incompatible” with the code, the Hepi report argues that shorter-form questions, covering areas such as what applicants have learned from a topic related to their course or in wider life experience, would best match the code.

Professor Jones said: “Fee-paying schools and colleges have long known that the Ucas personal statement, in its current form, is a chance for their pupils to advantage themselves further in the university application game. Lots of extracurricular activities can be made available, and lots of help writing the statement can be offered.

“Ucas has remained wedded to a ‘free response’ personal statement, even as evidence of its limits has grown. In other nations, a more fair-minded and context-sensitive approach to selection has long been taken. 

“The reforms that we’re recommending will belatedly begin to level the admissions playing field.”

Clare Marchant, Ucas’ chief executive, said: “We have been working on options regarding reforming the personal statement since publication of our student-centred programme of reform in May 2021. This has involved consulting widely with 1,200 students, over 170 teachers and advisers, and over 100 universities and colleges on our programme of reform as well as engaging with governments, regulators and the charity sector across the UK.

“We have already simplified the academic reference and will be replacing the existing approach to personal statements in the next application cycle with a more structured model to help guide students through their responses. A report outlining proposals will be published in the coming months, and we will welcome and strongly encourage feedback to help us further shape these reforms.”

john.morgan@timeshighereducation.com