How do you impress admissions tutors? Apparently not by waffling on about babysitting experience, or a love of crochetIt’s university entrance season, and so begin the trials of the personal statement, which now takes the form of three questions: “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?; What else have you done to prepare outside education, and why are these experiences useful?” – 4,000 characters for the Ucas form, in which every 17- and 18-year-old has to express their uniqueness, while at the same time answering the same generic questions. I can’t help my own kids with this because they’re Stemmy (as in science and maths-oriented). their scope of interests is expressed in formulae, and if I ever have the audacity to ask them to translate it back into words, they shake their heads and go, “You’re never going to understand electron configuration”, in the exact tone of voice you’d use to tell a dog sitting in a suitcase that it isn’t allowed to come on holiday.But I have had a number of kids doing work experience with me, wanting to study such things as politics, sociology, English and international relations. I should theoretically know my way around the language of persuasion on this territory, but to the Great Admissions Tutor of the collective imagination, nothing is ever good enough. Continue reading...
Tuesday 28 October 2025
theguardian - 12 hours ago
Want to go to a UK university? Don’t ask me to help you write your personal statement | Zoe Williams
Latest News
Too many want to do Britain down – Labour will defy the doomsayers and beat the forecasts | Rachel Reeves
- theguardian Man who won damages over Richard III film calls for more regulation of fact-based drama
- theguardian The Guardian view on press freedom in Italy: at a low ebb on Giorgia Meloni’s watch | Editorial
- theguardian The Guardian view on state failure: Britain’s crisis is not just one of investment, but also of upkeep | Editorial
- theguardian Man charged with rape of woman in Walsall after ‘racially aggravated’ attack, say police
- theguardian ‘Perfection’: how Prunella Scales’s Sybil Fawlty is one of TV comedy’s best characters
- theguardian Some of the earliest written notes in western musical history discovered in Pennsylvania
- theguardian Teen charged with looting Footlocker, Asics and Lifestyle Sports shops during 2023 Dublin riots
- thejournal Period Parrrty review – angst, fumbling and turmoil for a non-binary Tamil British teen
- theguardian Physical: Asia review – some of these super-strong contestants look like barrels wrapped in muscles and hair
- theguardian Hurricane Melissa: a visual guide to the strongest storm to hit Jamaica in almost two centuries
- theguardian Middle East crisis live: Benjamin Netanyahu orders immediate ‘powerful strikes’ on Gaza
- theguardian Ballymun attack leaves man in serious condition as Gardaí urge public not to share video
- thejournal Brendan Rodgers and Celtic were heading for divorce but acrimony was avoidable | Ewan Murray
- theguardian ‘Dangerously outdated’: high court overturns ruling implying domestic violence would not affect children
- theguardian Who is Lily Allen’s Madeline about? Wait, I don’t actually want to know – pop needs its mysteries
- theguardian Trump’s third term? Don’t laugh. He’s never let the rules stop him before | Arwa Mahdawi
- theguardian ‘I spoke complete twaddle for four minutes’: Meera Syal, Larry Lamb and more on the terror of stage fright
- theguardian What will Labour sacrifice for its housing targets? A standoff in south London is putting it to the test | Anna Minton
- theguardian Tattoo fixers on removing Nazi symbols: ‘You don’t know if they’re changing or hiding’
- theguardian Celebrate this Halloween with Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and an evil iceman on a train
- theguardian Marine wildlife fleeing to poles due to global heating as Australian oceans face ‘uncharted’ future
- theguardian AI psychosis is a growing danger. ChatGPT is moving in the wrong direction | Amandeep Jutla
- theguardian The Piper Alpha oil rig exploded and collapsed – and I made a desperate 175ft jump into the sea
- theguardian Trump and new Japanese prime minister share praise and vow to strengthen ‘remarkable’ relationship – US politics live
- theguardian Prince Andrew hosted Jeffrey Epstein at his Windsor home just days before his arrest in Florida
- thejournal ‘I flew to Luxembourg to see the gig there instead!’: music fans on how they cope with high UK ticket prices
- theguardian It s the noblest battle of our new free-speech age: Sarah Pochin s anti-woke couch crusade | Marina Hyde
- theguardian Kindling review – all-female ‘anti-friendship’ play gets boozy and primal in the woods
- theguardian Kenny Dalglish review – Liverpool’s everyman football hero who took the city’s woes on his shoulders
- theguardian Misleading, divisive and self-serving - Celtic owner Dermot Desmond takes aim at Brendan Rodgers
- thejournal Elon Musk launches encyclopedia ‘fact-checked’ by AI and aligning with rightwing views
- theguardian
Down Cemetery Road to Jimmy Carr’s Am I the A**hole? The seven best shows to stream this week
- theguardianCome to vote, stay for the rhubarb tart: The polling station inside a sitting room in Tipperary
- thejournalGillian Welch and David Rawlings review – perfectly paired talents at the peak of their powers
- theguardianGardaí to be honoured for bravery in fire rescue and armed incidents with terrorists and robbers
- thejournal‘I don’t make it easy for myself’: divorce and desire power Lily Allen’s autofictional comeback
- theguardian‘It’s scary how many St George’s flags there were’: Blood Orange on coming home to Essex and mourning his mother
- theguardianBlue Lights is more than great TV. It might be the best chance Britons have of reckoning with the Troubles | Jonathan Freedland
- theguardianLily Allen’s West End Girl is funny, sexy, jawdropping – and forged in the fires of tabloid Britain | Jennifer Jasmine White
- theguardianThe Guardian view on the Caerphilly byelection: Labour’s collapse in its Welsh heartland signals a wider loss | Editorial
- theguardian
Minister defends plan to house asylum seekers in military sites even if it costs more – UK politics live
- theguardian ‘Drugs quieted my inner loathing’: Todd Marinovich on the NFL, addiction and the power of art
- theguardian Frustration among Fianna Fáil backbenchers as rebels eye up no confidence motion in Taoiseach
- thejournal Zelenskyy says Ukraine ready for peace talks anywhere besides Russia and Belarus – Europe live
- theguardian Simon, you crazy diamond: Armitage poem marks 50 years of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here
- theguardian Wrexham’s Nathan Broadhead: ‘Cardiff fans I know are telling me not to score – hopefully I do’
- theguardian This hotels saga isn’t really about asylum seekers: it’s a window on to a far bigger scandal | Gaby Hinsliff
- theguardian UK reportedly faces more than £20bn hit from steeper productivity downgrade, fuelling tax rise speculation – business live
- theguardian Kicking back in Catalonia: a new eco-retreat in Spain with yoga, ebikes and volcano hikes
- theguardian Yes, Keir Starmer is Britain’s most unpopular PM ever. That could liberate him | Polly Toynbee
- theguardian Dutch volleyballer and convicted child rapist Steven van de Velde denied Australian visa
- theguardian Forget diplomatic niceties: it s beyond time Europe denounced Trump s trashing of democracy in the US | Paul Taylor
- theguardian Jimmy Carr’s Am I the A**hole? review – the idea for this comedy panel show is one of TV’s laziest
- theguardian ‘DeepSeek is humane. Doctors are more like machines’: my mother’s worrying reliance on AI for health advice
- theguardian Why young women are having facelifts: ‘I couldn’t even open my eyes. That’s how swollen I was’
- theguardian Ukraine war briefing: Russian drones hunt civilians in crime against humanity, UN inquiry finds
- theguardian Trump news at a glance: president floats a third term as Democrats vow ‘no way in hell’
- theguardian Trump and Xi talks: what will be on the agenda when US president meets China’s leader?
- theguardian Cyclist fitted with printed 3D face after drunk driver left him with third-degree burns
- theguardian More than a million people every week show suicidal intent when chatting with ChatGPT, OpenAI estimates
- theguardian It: Welcome to Derry review – the demonic, liver-eating baby in this Stephen King prequel is horrifying
- theguardian Once Upon a Time in Space review – the fascinating, intimate tales of the people who climbed inside the shuttle
- theguardian Vogue World 2025: Hollywood stars turn out to raise money for LA wildfire victims – in pictures
- theguardian At least 174 racehorses died from racing or training injuries in past 12 months in Australia, report finds
- theguardian F1 title run-in: Who will win the drivers’ championship in three-way tussle? | Giles Richards
- theguardian Immigration system in crisis: sky-high hotel bills and a convict on the loose – podcast
- theguardian Nige thinks Pochin’s comments were ugly and unpleasant. But he agrees with them | John Crace
- theguardian The Guardian view on global aid cuts: a malaria resurgence could be the canary in the coalmine | Editorial
- theguardian The Guardian view on Labour’s new deputy leader: Lucy Powell can help a floundering government reconnect | Editorial
- theguardian Sources