I would hope you have some ideas of your own - after all, you are choosing an Estate Management course!

First, some important general points about UCAS Personal Statements:

Most courses have Entry Profiles, and it is therefore essential that you research and consider these, via the websites of the universities of your choice, together with studying the literature published by the university departments to which you are applying. before you start on your draft. You will need to provide specific examples in your statement of the particular skills, qualities and attributes that are sought.

The most effective Personal Statements are likely to offer about three separate paragraphs, and with a little space left between them. The principal aim is to get across your enthusiasm for selecting your chosen subject. This means that most, probably two-thirds, of the statement will identify and reflect upon your academic interests. As a hard and fast rule specific examples are always far more convincing than very general statements, and so do not begin by stating ‘I want to read estate management at university because I am very interested in it’. Your interest is taken for granted; what selectors and interviewers want to know is what steps you have taken to foster and to develop that interest. You should therefore start by outlining clearly the reasons for selecting the subject, since it is essential that you justify your choice of course. Explain exactly what it is that excites you about it, and make explicit reference to very specific examples of topics, issues, personal research, reading, practical work, projects, coursework or fieldwork in related subjects. Link your subject choice with examples of personal experiences that triggered or reinforced your interest, though do not fall into the familiar trap of beginning with ‘ever since I was a child’. You should make reference to at least one book or article on estate management that has influenced, inspired or excited you, though do not present the selectors with a long reading list of authors and titles.

You need to get across the idea that you are applying to university with a view to broadening or deepening your academic experience (and the skills that accompany it). It is often a good idea to explain how much you are looking forward to making a systematic study of a range of theories and approaches, and that you are not looking for definitive answers to what are invariably complex questions. You should offer details of your academic achievements, such as scholarships, performance in AS level examinations (or equivalent), prizes awarded and any participation in external competitions. Since your course choice is in large part vocational you should place some emphasis upon any career on which your heart is set, and therefore on the experiences you have had to date that have influenced your choice. Where possible, establish links between your degree course choice and your career choice, though be careful not to put too much emphasis on any suggestion that your choice of course is simply a means to a career end.. Any relevant work experience should also be mentioned here, placing the stress on how you benefited and what exactly you learned. Any activity that is enabling you to develop one or more of your skills is particularly worth mentioning in this context. Indeed, you should include in your statement any information that demonstrates that you have acquired (and are using) particular life and study skills, including any associated with information technology, teamwork, leadership, problem solving, communication, and service to the wider community. Wherever possible, indicate how your various skills might be honed and exploited in your course, and in university life in general.

In the final section of your statement you have an opportunity to describe your personal strengths, qualities and interests, and thus to impress the interviewers and selectors with your likely contribution to university and college life. Wherever the opportunity arises, make sure that your interests and achievements match those that are specified in the Entry Profiles. As a general principle, you should always try to get across what you have learned from involvement in your chosen activities, making particular reference to the skills that they have enabled you to develop. It is therefore a good idea to explain how and why you have become more resourceful, or creative, or inquiring, or ambitious, or aware of your own strengths and weaknesses. It is also important here that you get over the fact that you have seized the more rewarding opportunities that have come your way, and that you are looking forward to developing at least some of them at university, or to taking up new ones. Include examples of activities and interests that demonstrate your leadership or teamwork capacity, your enterprise or originality, your contribution to a community, or your determination to stick at a task. So select three or four prominent (and preferably contrasting) activities which bring out these qualities. You can therefore use references to your extra-curricular activities to highlight your motivation and your ability to rise to a challenge. Try to offer evidence that you have plenty of energy and stamina, that you can work independently, that you can manage time effectively, and that you have a clear sense of priorities.

On the specific issue of your chosen course, my advice is to focus upon the specialisms that attract you most, and explain why. Estate Managers are involved in the development, use and management of all types of buildings and property in the business and residential sectors. This includes property in the public, corporate sectors, education, health care, licensed, leisure and telecommunications - to name but a few. Property surveyors act for clients in the valuation of land and buildings, purchasing, selling, management and leasing of business premises, negotiating between landlord and tenants, planning disputes and strategic management of property portfolios. It is a challenging and varied course and career which requires people skills, is not desk bound, allows specialisation and involves working with other professions in the Built Environment. Tailor your remarks to the specific content of your chosen courses. Programmes/modules mught be offered in any of the fields of building surveying, construction management, estate management, property management, quantity surveying, shopping centre management, surveying practice, construction, real estate, adjunction, arbitration, project management, conservation of the historic environment, facilities management and property investment. As you can specialise within Estate Management courses to reflect your individual interests and career aspirations, you should focus upon the areas that you think you will choose. The most common specialist options include housing, planning, surveys and valuations and conservation. The degree also develops a wide range of key skills, which will mean that you are highly employable as a graduate. These include team leadership, communication, IT skills, presentation, innovation, analysis and inquiry. So talk about one or more of these too.

Remember that the aim of the statement is to establish that you are an interesting individual in your own right, with your own priorities, values and agenda, and therefore someone who will clearly benefit both from the course and from university life; this should be summarised in a short, though decisive concluding sentence. Something along the following lines might encapsulate what you have been attempting to say – ‘I greatly look forward to the challenge of a demanding degree course, and am confident that I have the academic ability, determination and personal qualities to make a success of it’.

I hope this is helpfil. Good luck with your application.