Students warned of major change as key part of university application form scrapped
Students are being warned that the way they submit their personal statements for university applications is changing in favour of a different option.
Students are being warned of one major change to the university application process, implemented to encourage more applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Currently, UCAS requires students to submit a 4,000-character personal statement discussing why they want to study their chosen subject, as well as any relevant skills and achievements.
However, under chief executive Jo Saxton, a significant change has been made in order to foster diversity and inclusion at universities across the country.
Instead, students will now be asked to answer three questions on why they want to study their chosen subject and how they are prepared for it.
The three questions are: Why do you want to study this course or subject? How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject? And what else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences helpful?
Saxton said: "[It will ensure] the doors of opportunity stay open for as many students as possible so that they can benefit from a university education.
"I saw first-hand how the personal statement can help students really clarify and articulate their ambition, but also how challenging it can be for those with less support."
She said "those with less support" will not feel "greater confidence" when applying to unversity, which comes as the proportion of people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds who applied to university this year fell in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
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Saxton has already waved the application fee for students receiving free school meals and this latest move has been heralded as a "significant step".
Lee Elliot Major, a professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, told the BBC: "[It's a] significant step in making the university admissions system a little bit fairer for all applicants."
UCAS says they want to see students' "passion for and knowledge of" their chosen subject through the three new questions, which combined will have the same 4,000-character limit as the old personal statement.
