Russell Group Personal Statements
Oxbridge Personal Statements
Writing a personal statement that will earn you a place at a Russell Group university is no different in theory — but rather different in practice. These conditions are complicated tenfold when it comes to Oxbridge personal statements, medical personal statements, dentistry personal statements, and veterinary personal statements. Owing to the reputable nature of the institutions on the Russell Group roster, many believe, perhaps correctly, that a higher standard of admission criteria is required, in order to be considered for a place on an Undergraduate or Postgraduate course within the group. This is especially relevant when you consider the likes of Oxford and Cambridge — both eminently prestigious universities, with a global reputation for excellence. Whilst the Russell Group as a collective impose no specific requirements for entry onto Undergraduate and Postgraduate courses, the high standard and expectation for academic excellence within these institutions indicates that an especially impressive personal statement is required to win you a spot.
UCAS guidelines state that a UCAS personal statement for Undergraduate and Postgraduate applications must come in below 4,000 characters (with spaces), and should convey everything about you that cannot be demonstrated by exam results, or academic achievements. You might include your motivations for choosing a particular course or university; work or volunteer experience relevant to your application; your hopes and dreams for a career, or further study, relative to your application; and information about your extracurricular interests, background, and non-academic experiences.
An Oxbridge Personal statement comes with an extra set of trappings; the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge are among the Russell Group, and are two educational institutions whose reputation precedes them. Famed worldwide for the highest standards of academic achievement, and an incredibly selective admissions process, Oxbridge-standard personal statements are hard to write, but all the more important for it. An Oxbridge student must be as excellent as the universities they are aiming to represent, and the personal statement as excellent as the student.
Contents
What are Russell Group Universities?
Why Choose a Russell Group University?
Oxbridge Personal Statements
A full list of Russell Group Universities
Medical, Dentistry & Veterinary Personal Statements
Why is a Personal Statement Important?
What Makes a Good Personal Statement?
Personal Statement Service & Your Personal Statement
Why Personal Statement Service?
What are Russell Group Universities
The Russell Group is a self-appointed collection of twenty-four UK universities, with a shared focus on excellence in research, and academic achievement. Some of the best and most famous universities in the UK are members of the Russell Group, making for an extremely competitive application process, and ofttimes significantly higher standards for entry.
Officially founded in 1994 by representatives from eighteen research-led universities —Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Imperial College London, Queen Mary, Leeds, Liverpool, London School of Economics, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford, Sheffield, Southampton, University College London and Warwick — the Russell Group was established with the aim of ensuring the maintenance of standards of education, results and research across the board, without unnecessary outside influence from governmental bodies, or local education authorities.
Often spotted near the top of UK university league tables, Russell Group universities self-govern, leading the way for research across a wide variety of subject areas, and are immensely attractive prospects for students coming from abroad to study in the UK. Impressive funding, and generally high rates of student satisfaction make Russell Group universities a tempting prospect for all students.
Why Choose a Russell Group University?
For those who are proud to demonstrate academic excellence, a place at a Russell Group university truly is the best option. Students graduating from Russell Group universities boast the best employability stats in the UK; a recent study found that 4/5 graduates from Russell Group universities were employed within weeks of graduating, compared to 2/3 of students from universities outside of the Group.
Oxbridge Personal Statements
Famed for student satisfaction ratings generally higher than the national average, Russell Group universities offer a plentiful slice of ‘student life’ — another vital part of the university experience. Presenting a wide range of settings, from the bustling streets of London and self-confessed student city, Bristol, to historic Durham, and the quintessential backdrops of Oxford and Cambridge, the Russell Group has something different to offer at every turn.
For Postgraduate students, and PhD candidates, attending a Russell Group university offers the chance to partake in world-leading research, no matter your field of expertise. Where other universities aim to meet the standard, the Russell Group sets it; research observed or undertaken by research students at any of the Russell Group universities will be of the highest quality, and the utmost future importance.
Oxbridge Personal Statements
A full list of Russell Group Universities
A full list of the current members of the Russell Group can be found below:
Enrolling in, and graduating from, a Russell Group University is a brilliant way of demonstrating on a CV or resume that you are academically inclined, and likely suggests you have a work ethic to match your academic successes. What comes first, however, is gaining an offer from one of the universities on the above list in the first place. UCAS applications, no matter what stage of education you find yourself in, have always been a multi-faceted process; this is perhaps more pronounced now than ever before, with the removal of exams in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Read on to discover our tips for writing the best possible UCAS personal statement for your application to a Russell Group university, be that at Undergraduate, or Postgraduate level.
Medical, Dentistry & Veterinary Personal Statements
Applications for courses in medicine, dentistry, law and veterinary science are competitive at the best of times; apply that to an equally competitive group of universities, and you quickly end up in a position where nothing short of true excellence is required in order to stand out from the crowd.
The onus is clear — doctors, dentists, lawyers and vets hold lives, and livelihoods, in their hands, and only the most exceptional hands will do. Students applying for courses in medicine, dentistry, law and veterinary science will need to prove they are suitable candidates for said degree, and only a fraction of this suitability can be proven with exam results. A personal statement for any of the aforementioned courses will need to encompass a great deal about your motivations, your passions, and whatever it is about you that draws you to such a vocational subject and future career. Limited by UCAS’s 4,000 character count, students often find the statement writing process a daunting one, particularly when it comes to condensing an inordinate amount of passion into such a small, articulate, medium.
One thing is for certain: attaining a degree in medicine, dentistry, law or veterinary science from a Russell Group university will significantly influence the success of [your] future career.
Why is a Personal Statement Important?
A personal statement is an excellent way to convey everything there is to know about you that can’t be summed up by a few lines and letters on an academic statement. Universities want to know more about who they are admitting than simply the academic achievements provided; a student’s time at university is a life changing, life shaping experience, which ultimately boils down to far more than the cap and gown you receive upon graduation, and a diploma to display on your wall. Universities provide innumerable opportunities for growth, fun, and extracurricular activities, from sports, and subject-related societies, to special interest clubs, socials, and student-led activities. Letting your prospective university know all there is to know about you truly is the key to success, and one of the reasons why a personal statement is of the utmost importance to any university applicant. Let’s face it — our academic achievements are seldom the most interesting thing we have to say for ourselves!
The importance of a well-written personal statement has been thrown into sharp relief, too, given the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Where exams have been cancelled, and predicted grades provided in place of exam results, for many students, their personal statements have been the saving grace when it comes to attaining university offers, and paving the way towards their academic futures. No one can say for certain when life will return to ‘normal’, post-COVID, or indeed if it ever will, as we remember it. What is absolutely certain is that life must go on, and students’ academic dreams be achieved, beginning with the crucial process of applying for the university of their choice. It is extremely important that students invest time in crafting unique, detailed personal statements, in order to ensure successful applications to higher education.
What Makes a Good Personal Statement?
Far from a simple question, with a great variety of answers! One way to break it down would be as such:
Coherence
As we’ve already been over, ensuring your personal statement is coherent, well-written, and all-encompassing when it comes to your academic and non-academic experiences, is of the utmost importance. Coherence is, undoubtedly, key; all universities, and Russell Group universities in particular, will be studying your personal statement in detail before any offers are made, and this means the simple things, like spelling and grammar, must be absolutely flawless. You want to give a thorough account of yourself without rambling, and make sure your message, and the person it represents, truly shines through.
Uniqueness
A good personal statement must be entirely non-plagiarised, and as unique as the student it represents. Not a single one of us has the same motivations, experiences and dreams as another, and this should be made clear through the way you write. Bringing in details regarding your personal interests, and past experiences, as well as your reasons for wanting to study a certain subject, or at a certain university, are a great way to ensure unique flair within your UCAS personal statement. Whilst still a professional document, aimed at ensuring your admission into the university of your choice, don’t be afraid to show your personality when it comes to writing a personal statement. The things that make you ‘you’ are often far from black and white.
Balance
Whilst conveying a combination of your academic achievements, and your extracurricular interests is an important aspect of any personal statement, achieving balance in your writing is also key. A good personal statement will not rely too heavily on any one topic in particular, but will rather give equal weight to academia, work experience, hobbies, motivations, and wider reading / knowledge of your subject of choice. Relying too heavily on one or more of the aforementioned is an easy way to disadvantage yourself, in terms of showing your university of choice that you stand out from the crowd of other applicants. Requesting a third-party edit, or proofread, is a great method of ensuring no one part of your personal statement takes centre stage over the others.
Confidence
The simple truth is, in order for the university of your choice to be confident that you will be an excellent new addition to their student body, you have to be confident of that fact yourself. No one knows your history the way you do, and no one else knows as well as you do how that history has shaped your ambitions, your passions, and your motivations for the future. Demonstrating confidence in your personal statement is easier than it sounds; think on everything that inspires you to apply for your chosen course, and if you don’t truly believe in what you’re saying, don’t write it down.
Personal Statement Service & Your Personal Statement
Personal Statement Service is one of the most established personal statement services in the UK. When it comes to crafting detailed, unique, and entirely personal, personal statements on behalf of prospective university students look no further. Our writers are all honours graduates from the UK’s top universities — yes, the Russell Group! — and are keen to share their personal knowledge, and expertise, when it comes to helping you pen your letter of introduction to your chosen university. We are experts in all application types from undergraduate to Oxbridge personal statements including post graduate degrees.
Our process is a simple one: you choose the service required, from a proofread or edit of an existing personal statement, to our Elite ‘Oxbridge’ service, penning an entirely unique statement on your behalf. Fill in a questionnaire detailing your motivations, academic and non academic history, and our writers do the rest, turning your words into a stellar personal statement that is entirely fit for purpose — no matter what that purpose is.
Why Personal Statement Service?
There are any number of reasons why an individual might choose to commission a third party to write their personal statement, prior to a higher education application. Russell Group universities, and UK universities in general, have always been an attractive prospect for overseas students with designs on studying in the UK; for those whose first language is not English, it may be that they feel a native English speaker may be able to write a more effective personal statement than they, themselves. For those who struggle with English comprehension, struggle to express themselves fluently on paper, or find the personal statement writing process stressful enough to ask for outside help, Personal Statement Service has a solution, with enviable results.
When it comes to specialist applications, or applications where the highest possible standard, and level of detail are required, you might also turn to Personal Statement Service for assistance with personal statements for PhD applications; applications for courses in medicine, law, dentistry, or veterinary science; or applications to Oxbridge. Our writers are specialists when it comes to the ‘ins and outs’ of personal statements of the highest order, and have years of experience crafting personal statements specifically for Postgraduate, STEM, and Oxbridge applications.
While the impacts of COVID-19 remain uncertain, there is nonetheless value in focusing on circumstances that continue to be under our control. Personal Statement Service’s expert writers have the experience and expertise required to guide you through the writing of personal statements. We believe a high level of academic proficiency is key to the successful composition of standout, bespoke and UCAS-compliant statements. Our tiered service ranges from the editing and proofreading of an existing personal statement to fully writing a personal statement based on answers from the applicant questionnaire. Our ‘Elite’ Oxbridge service provides the highest standard of personal statement assistance to help the applicant gain the necessary competitive edge required for the acceptance at some of the UK’s most revered academic institutions.
Our service removes all the stress and anxiety of writing a personal statement while ensuring student remain fully in control of what they want to say and how they wish to be portrayed. We endeavour to ease some of the pressure of the university application process and assist students in paving their way towards a successful and secure future.
Keen to find out more about how Personal Statement Service can help with your application to a Russell Group university, at Undergraduate, or Postgraduate level, from within or outside the UK? Please don’t hesitate to get in touch!