Nine Top Tips | law personal statement

Follow all application instructions closely

Read the UCAS advice for completing personal statements. Check any extra guidelines that are offered by the universities that you are interested in applying to.

Appropriate time management is essential

Give yourself enough time to write your statement properly; It is highly unlikely that you will be able to sit down and get it done in an hour off the top of your head. It’s not unusual for people to have done 10-20 drafts before they feel totally happy with their statement.

Brainstorm

Before you start jot down a few notes - things to consider:

Why do you want to study law?

What personal qualities, interests and experience do you possess that demonstrate that you are suited to studying law at university?

Know your audience

What type of institutions are you applying to? Are they likely to appreciate a famous quote in your statement or an attempt at humour? If you are unsure, avoid these types of high risk strategies! Remember to write to your audience – these are just a few of the types of things that Admissions Tutors will be looking for:    

Is the student suited to law?  i.e. are they academic high achievers with a consistent track record and do they possess the right qualities to be successful on a law degree and to practice law? E.g. are they able to communicate well on paper (at application stage) and verbally (interview stage) conscientious, hardworking, determined to succeed, able to perform under pressure, able to manage change well and so on.  

Has the student demonstrated that they have a desire to learn, with a genuine interest in law? Have they have taken the time to research the course properly?

Do a plan – this will help you decide on an appropriate structure and to get the content right

For further details, please see the UCAS Personal Statement guide.

Get the tone right

Be confident – not arrogant or precocious. Avoid clichés such as ‘I have wanted to train to be a lawyer for as long as I can remember…’.

Less can often be more

It is perfectly acceptable for candidates not to use the entire 4000 character word allocation; it’s preferable to have a shorter and well written statement than a long, tedious and irrelevant one. The majority of Academic Tutors would rather read 42 lines of well crafted, relevant and considered thought rather than 47 lines of unstructured drivel.

Proof reading is essential

Once you are happy with what you have written, read through your statement slowly. It can help to read it out aloud, and it's important to try to read it from the academic tutor's perspective. Check the content. Does it make sense or contain any obvious omissions? Check your spelling, and consider the flow and grammatical structure of what you have written. Have you varied the word usage and avoided starting every sentence with the word ‘I’? Have you under or oversold yourself?

The next stage involves giving the statement to other people you trust to read and check for you. You may wish to ask a few people to get a range of different opinions, e.g. your careers advisor, a teacher, a member of your family, trusted friends, or employers.

Aim high

Your statement is representing you on one single piece of paper. Consequently, if you feel that the content or structure of your statement fails to do this properly, then work on it until you've got it right. You need a strong beginning (to capture the reader’s interest), a good middle (to sustain that interest), and an appropriate ending (to make them remember you in a positive light).

Coventry University Careers Service

04-01-2010