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You will be able to view and download all UCAS Personal Statements online, critiqued and edited by our UCAS experts, using your StudyZones UCAS account to sign into the UCAS Zone.

What exactly does the editing service consist of?

  • Upload your UCAS Personal Statement to a StudyZones UCAS expert who will provide detailed feedback and editing where needed.

  • After spending time revising and enhancing your essay with your editors suggestions in mind, you can upload a new draft for a second round of editing and critique. All subsequent drafts to this revised draft are priced at £4.99 per uploaded draft.

  • Within 7 days after your draft is returned, you can ask your UCAS expert any questions you may have.

  • Access to over 300 example UCAS Personal Statements critiqued and edited by a UCAS expert

  • A comprehensive 100 page 'E-Guide to Application to British Universities'.

What exactly is a UCAS expert?

All of our UCAS experts have many years experience advising students on university application within an academic institution as a full time teacher.
For example, one StudyZones UCAS expert was Head of Economics and Politics at Tonbridge School (one of the leading boys' boarding schools in the country and is highly respected internationally) between 1981 and 2001, as well as Head of Sixth Form. In the latter capacity he was responsible for the administration of applications to university through UCAS, and has advised generations of students on course and university choices, on the completion of their application forms, on their gap year plans, and on their preparation for interviews, including those at Oxford and Cambridge colleges.

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Your UCAS Personal Statement will be returned best case within 48 hours.

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Unlike many lesser editing services available via the Internet, StudyZones will never make your UCAS Personal Statement available to the public.

What about Oxbridge applications?

We do accept Oxbridge Personal Statements and uploads will be allocated to a Oxbridge UCAS expert.

What format will the uploaded document have to be?

StudyZones accept .doc (Microsoft Word), .odt (Open Office), .txt (text file), .rtf (Rich Text Format).

What if I encounter difficulties uploading my UCAS Personal Statement?

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StudyZones UCAS Services

Access to over 300 UCAS Personal statements editing and critiqued by the experts

Examples

Gain access to over 370 example UCAS Personal Statements covering a diverse range of subject areas. Every UCAS Personal Statement has been critiqued and edited by a UCAS expert, with every draft uploaded being improved upon until the final draft is ready for submission to UCAS.
You will also gain access to a comprehensive 100 page 'E-Guide to Application to British Universities' written by a StudyZones UCAS expert who has advised generations of students on the UCAS application process.

Editing

Upload your UCAS Personal Statement to a StudyZones UCAS expert who will provide detailed feedback and editing where needed.
StudyZones UCAS Personal Statement Editing and Feedback upload service
Our UCAS experts have over 20 years experience with university applications within academic institutions as full time teachers where they have been responsible for the administration of applications to university through UCAS, advising generations of students on course and university choices, on the completion of their application forms, personal statement, on their gap year plans, and on their preparation for interviews, including those at Oxford and Cambridge colleges.
After spending time revising and enhancing your essay with your editors suggestions in mind, you can upload a new draft for a second round of editing and critique for as little as £9.99 per uploaded draft. During this time you can ask your UCAS expert any questions you may have, and your Personal Statements will never be made public. This service is also packaged with over 300 example UCAS Personal Statements. Every UCAS Personal Statement has been critiqued and edited by a UCAS expert, with every draft uploaded being improved upon until the final draft is ready for submission to UCAS. As a a bonus, you will also receive a comprehensive 100 page 'E-Guide to Application to British Universities'.

UCAS Questions & Answers

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History Personal Statement

Asked by miss_fitzy2003 | Oct 24, 2004
miss_fitzy2003
Q: Hiya I am just wondering if it would be possible if some one read through this statement, and make any suggestions in ways 2 improve it. “We’re all making history; just as history has made our world what it is”. Arthur Marwick wrote “because everything has a history as a body of knowledge and as a discipline covers everything” and history is indeed the most inclusive of all intellectual pursuits- its wide range of subject matter is a definite factor in its favour. History can also be a challenging and totally absorbing intellectual exercise, which develops valuable life long skills. I am captivated by the diversity and depth offered by a history degree, attracted by the way it encourages us to be analytical of the values and patterns of past society. I am eager to explore a wider scope of history, as my interests are not just limited to the twentieth century and in particular, am looking forward to the options of studying the Ancient, Medieval and Early modern epochs too. The subject has enhanced my understanding and interest of current affairs and contemporary issues which I enjoy following closely. My interest led to student exchanges to France and Germany, which gave me the opportunity to widen my historical spectrum. I think my commitment is proved by the fact I sat my history examination in June, despite being extremely ill. However, I only managed to complete one of the three papers before being sent home after being sick three times. In addition to a genuine enjoyment of history, I feel that my hardworking and dedicated nature prepares me well for the challenges and discipline required for success at degree level. The nature of my other A-levels complements the study of history. In English Literature I have found the portrayal of attitudes and values presented within texts to be as important as the narrative. Law has extended my analytical and observational skills, assisting with the varied interpretations of history and the original sources on which they are based. Even at this early stage, I can envisage entering the legal profession. It would, of course, be easier to take a law degree in order to step onto the legal train. However my love for history demands that I study it at degree level. In years eleven and twelve respectively, I received the school history and law prizes, for my dedication and contribution to the subjects. Last year I attained an ILM Introductory Certificate. As head barrister, I was an integral part of the team, which took part in the 6th form Citizenship Foundation Bar National Mock Trail Competition. Our team won the London Heat and participated in the National and International finals, which were held at the Old Bailey. As a school senior prefect, I have many responsibilities, such as organising school events, as a senior magazine editor, and as a proactive member of school council. These experiences have taught me to use my own initiative and develop public speaking and diplomacy skills. I have also been involved with the school dramatic performances, having appeared in West Side Story and Abigail’s Party. Playing for various school sport teams, such as rounders, hockey and athletics, has earned me several awards, including Full Colours. The honour of playing for Bromley hockey club and captaining my schools hockey team has taught me the importance of leadership, teamwork, and self-reliance as well as motivational skills. Last year I organised the School’s mixed doubles tennis tournament, of which, my partner and I were runners up. I also found that the experience of assisting special needs pupils, with English and reading development, extremely rewarding. Outside school, I currently work part time for Sainsbury's as a cashier. My managers have received positive feed back from customers, who, on more than one occasion, have telephoned from home to express satisfaction with the service I provide. My success in this role means promotion to supervisor on my eighteenth birthday. Having risen to the academic challenge of sixth form I intend to rise to the greater challenge of university, and I am looking forward to unravelling more of the greatest story ever told, our history.
Answer: I have transferred what you wrote to a WORD document, and it now appears in the attached file. I have made a substantial number of amendments, since the original is too long, while the wording was rather clumsy or repetitive in several places. I have reduced the opening quotations to one, since it is never a good idea to bombard the selectors with several. I have deleted all the comments about missing exams through illness - this would be seen as a negative comment, and should not appear in a PS - leave any comment on this to your referee!

One other point. Your love of history comes over strongly, though you don't ever mention any specific topics. A sentence early on identifyng some of these would rectify this deficiency. I hope you like the revised version.

“We’re all making history; just as history has made our world what it is”. Arthur Marwick suggested that the subject “covers everything”, and I have discovered for myself that history is indeed the most inclusive and comprehensive of all disciplines. History is also a challenging and totally absorbing intellectual exercise, which develops analytical, critical and research skills that will last a lifetime.

I am captivated by the diversity and depth offered by a history degree, and attracted by the way it encourages the student to be critical, yet tolerant of the values and patterns of past society. I am eager to explore a broader scope of history, as my interests are not limited to the twentieth century; in particular, I am looking forward to the options of studying the Ancient, Medieval and Early Modern periods. The subject has enhanced my understanding of, and interest in contemporary issues, and has also led to student exchanges to France and Germany, which gave me the opportunity to extend my historical spectrum.

I feel that my hardworking and dedicated nature prepares me well for the challenges and discipline required for success at degree level. My other A-level subjects complement the study of history. In English I have found the portrayal of attitudes and values presented within texts to be as important as the narrative. Law has extended my analytical and observational skills, assisting me in my assessment of the varied interpretations of history, and the original sources on which they are based. Even at this early stage, I envisage entering the legal profession. It would, of course, be easier to apply for a law degree in order to step onto the legal train, but my course choice has been dictated by my love of history.

In years eleven and twelve respectively, I was awarded the school history and law prizes, while last year I attained an ILM Introductory Certificate. As ‘head barrister’, I was an integral part of the team, which took part in the 6th form Citizenship Foundation Bar National Mock Trial Competition. Our team won the London Heat and participated in the National and International finals, held at the Old Bailey. As a senior prefect, I have many responsibilities, including the organisation of school events, editing the magazine, and membership of the school council. These experiences have taught me to use my own initiative and helped to develop public speaking and diplomatic skills. I have also been involved in school drama, having appeared in West Side Story and Abigail’s Party. Playing in various school sports teams, such as rounders, hockey and athletics, has earned me several awards, including full Colours. The honour of playing for Bromley hockey club and of captaining the school hockey team has taught me the importance of leadership, teamwork, and self-reliance, as well as motivational skills. Last year I organised the school’s mixed doubles tennis tournament, and finished runners up. I have also found the experience of assisting special needs pupils with English and reading development has been extremely rewarding.

Outside school, I currently work part time for Sainsbury's as a cashier. My managers have received positive feedback from customers, who, on more than one occasion, have telephoned to express satisfaction with the service I provide. My success in this role means promotion to supervisor on my eighteenth birthday.

Having risen to the academic challenge of the sixth form I intend to do likewise at university. I am greatly looking forward to unravelling more of ‘the greatest story ever told’, and am confident that I have the ability, commitment and personal qualities to make a success of my chosen course.

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