UCAS announces to introduce three new questions in personal statement from September 2025

The University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) organisation processes all applications for admissions to undergraduate courses in UK colleges and universities. From September 2025, the UCAS will add new questions to the personal statement.

Study in UK: UCAS is currently taking many initiatives to encourage students from disadvantaged backgrounds to take admissions for higher education. Last month, the application fee was waived for free school meals for students. Now, it announced to introduce three new questions to the personal statement from September 2025 onwards.

The new questions will ensure that students of diverse backgrounds can understand the main information colleges and universities want from them to make admissions decisions.

As per the research conducted by UCAS, 89% of respondents agreed that the purpose of the personal statement is extremely clear but around 79% also complained that the process of writing it is not easy and it is difficult to write it without any support. UCAS also conducted a survey on potential applicants and found that most of the students prefer a three-question format as it is "somewhat easy" or "extremely easy" to understand.

Dr Jo Saxton, Chief Executive at UCAS, said, “My aim at UCAS is to make sure that the doors of opportunity stay open for as many students as possible so that they can benefit from a university education, and find the right course that they will succeed in. Today’s figures show that whilst positive progress has been made, there is still much to do. The changes to the personal statement, along with our recent fee waiver for students in receipt of free school meals, are all part of UCAS’ contribution to the sector-wide effort to ensure more people from disadvantaged backgrounds can benefit from the life-changing opportunity of higher education.”

The three questions added to UCAS personal statement

Following are the three questions added from September 2025:

1. Why do you want to study this course or subject?
2. How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject?
3. What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences helpful?

The new format is applicable for students applying for 2026 admissions and it will be introduced in September 2025.

Abhishek Saha, aged 21, from Oxford, said: “It is, of course, a daunting task for every student to summarise your life experiences in 4,000 characters, especially when there is often not much guidance. However, the introduction of guided questions will undoubtedly support students, giving them more clarity and direction in what to write.”

“I believe it will relieve many students of the stress and anxiety previous years have had when planning their personal statement, and that applying to university will become much more accessible for those with less support,” said Millie Gallimore, aged 18, from Manchester.

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