The change in the UCAS personal statement for September 2026 entry appears to have been welcomed by industry commentators who suggest it will make life “easier” for both author and reader. The stated ambition “to ensure more people from disadvantaged backgrounds can benefit from the life-changing opportunity of higher education” is laudable but one might ask if this approach is best or sustainable. We could just be opening a new battleground in the struggle for supremacy between AI coders for applicants and those in universities trying to spot the hand of ChatGPT.
Having read personal statements in the past, I can only begin to imagine the repetition of thought and words across hundreds of applicants as they answer to “why do you want to study this course”. For applicants the anxiety of how edgy, pushy, obsequious, or data-driven to be in responding to the question remains the same and it will still be considered by a human with their personal interpretation of the best answer. More efficient but even worse if the response is considered by a bot looking for key words. Perhaps it is time to radically rethink the process.
Perhaps selecting universities, to put all applicants meeting their requirements (including contextual elements and any other considerations) into a random draw to remove any risk of bias. For universities struggling to meet enrollment numbers it is difficult to see how bad a personal statement would have to be to get refused if the applicant meets the qualifications criteria for entry. Either way, the student gets more clarity on what they need to do and an equal chance of success.
Or maybe universities should be accepting that students are paying for the privilege to study and have a right to apply for whatever course they want if they have the qualifications. Nobody asks somebody coming in to buy a Range Rover Evoque for £50,000 why they want it, whether they’ve driven one before or what their driving history is. They might ask to see a driving licence before it’s driven off the lot but that’s about it.
I hear the howls about a degree course being nothing like any other purchase but students seem to be increasingly clear that they are considering degrees as an investment they are making towards a better job, career and life. UCAS research indicates that “value matters to students” and that “initially, applicants are interested in career prospects after their degree”. While students still value wellbeing, enjoyment and happiness it would seem there has been a fundamental swing towards outcomes.
…I Would Like To Apply
With all that in mind there is an opportunity to test drive the new format in the imaginary persona of an applicant who would like to go to university but has been reading very widely about the sector. They are anxious to explain their interest but also to demonstrate their research, their personality and some of their concerns. There is even an attempt at humour.
1. Why do you want to study this course or subject?
Because I believe in your publicity that having a degree will get me a good career and well paid job. That is really what I want. I trust you. As you will see from my application to your institution I am avoiding the Russell Group and STEM subjects. I realise this means that being from a poorer, socio-economic background and a neglected region I can expect to be part of the statistics showing that “a degree often fails to deliver the promise of increased earnings.”
Although I’ve chosen to believe that the graduate premium exists, I am a bit worried that there is “a more uncertain future” and ignoring the Government Graduate Labour Market Statistics indicating that over the past 20 years real median graduate salaries have declined faster than those of non-graduates. I am hoping that reports that it’s even worse outside London1 are all Balls1 and that the indications more and more companies are dropping the requirement for a degree to get a job are overblown.
I want to come to university to help the sector by improving statistics on one of the groups it struggles to attract and I’ve chosen to study psychology because I am keen to improve gender balance in the class.2
2. How have your qualifications and studies prepared you for this course or subject?
I am predicted to achieve the grades that you publish and in the right subjects. My teachers may just be being kind, overworked or avoiding confrontation with my parents but that’s not my fault. I’m told you’re so desperate I shouldn’t worry about missing by a bit. Only joking (!) but we have all read the studies that 25% of grades are probably wrong and that half the students get in with lower grades anyway.
Post qualification application would solve the uncertainty and anxiety for young people but I appreciate that you have established a system that works for you and will find excuses not to change it. Maybe it’s just a power thing or you think you’re some sort of magical sorting hat with a campus attached. If I fail to get the grades I hope I will be given the same opportunity as an international year one student who pays for the privilege to study on campus with direct entrants.
While on the subject of grades, it would be helpful to know exactly what you are doing about degree grade inflation and why half of first class degrees awarded are unexplained by statistical modelling. I see you are correcting this but that means I might be penalized by having a lower degree classification than someone who attended in those golden years.
3. What other experiences have prepared you for this course, and why are they relevant?
I complain a lot and so can support that student trend. I can even enhance my global citizenship in line with your strategy by providing support for international students as they are 36% of all complaints to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for HE. Because I often borrow money from my siblings and never pay it back I’ll cope well with joining the 1.8m graduates with a taxpayer funded debt of over £50,000 and those not earning enough to pay it off. As I don’t like getting out of bed not attending lectures is OK with me and given the way you’re cutting staff that should help you out.
I’m quite frugal, so living in borderline poverty shouldn’t be a problem however bad the maintenance loan situation gets. I am also used to disappointment (having supported Gareth Southgate and England since 2018) which will lessen the pain when I get to the realities of the graduate job hunt. My empathy is shown by my concern for international students on reading that data collection on graduate outcomes has been cut back which means they have even less insight than I do about job prospects.
In summary my experience as an intense online gambler, who eats little, never goes out, earns a pittance, borrows heavily, complains a lot, expects to be disappointed and has limited life prospects has prepared me perfectly for life as a student. Only kidding (again) I really would like the chance to learn.
The Generation Game
For this imaginary student there is a lot to consider in the light of survey research suggesting 30% of people being “broadly uninterested” in universities and a further 27% being “negative” or “sceptical”. While the culture wars that saw the Conservative Government going head-to-head with the sector in recent years may be over there is little respite in terms of additional funding to reduce the level of fee debt or improve maintenance loans. As the imaginary statement suggests there seem to be plenty of reasons to worry about whether university is a good investment of time, money and stress.
The weakness in UK undergraduate applications revealed by UCAS this week suggest that this argument might be playing out in the minds not only of 18 year olds but also every group under 25. It’s troubling in the context of a rapidly growing 18 year old cohort that is predicted to expand for the rest of the decade and even more so if surveys suggesting a third of UK students may drop out due to money worries are accurate.
Notes
- For those who miss the link the report “Tackling the UK’s regional economic inequality: binding constraints and avenues for policy intervention” is co-authored by Ed Balls whose surname was the punchline to Michael Heseltine’s joke at the Conservative Party Conference in 1995.
- It is entirely recognized that the gender imbalance on courses cuts both ways. It is also clear that despite more women than men going to university in the UK there is a huge amount still to be done on gender pay imbalances and equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has explored aspects of the intersection between these factors.
Image by Antonios Ntoumas from Pixabay
I have just written an article on this very subject on my LinkedIn page.
The AI is rewarding those people using keyword density and pat phrases and penalising minorities.
That is certainly my understanding of the situation. There seems to be no reason at all for students (or even job applicants) to engage authentically with the process of application. Any attempt to inject personality into the application simply, and probably literally, does not compute. All that is before we get into the questions around inherent bias in the application of AI programmes determined by human inputs. Glad to see that others are writing about it – keep up the good work.