University applicants will now answer questions in their personal statements to level the playing field for disadvantaged students, Ucas has confirmed.
Students who wish to start university in 2026 will no longer write a free-response essay for their personal statement, the admissions body said.
Instead, prospective students will provide answers to three guided questions in their Ucas personal statements.
The reform follows longstanding concerns that the existing personal statement favours advantaged students who can access more support.
It is hoped the structured questions will provide students from all backgrounds with a better understanding of the key information universities and colleges want to know about them when making admissions decisions.
The move comes as Ucas data suggests the gap in university application rates between the most and least advantaged students has widened in the last year.
Currently, applicants set out their skills, experiences and their reasons for applying for a course in a text box – which can be up to 4,000 characters.
But from September 2025, students who are applying for 2026 entry to university or college courses will answer three mandatory 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 of education, and why are these experiences helpful?
Previous Ucas research found 79% of students felt that the process of writing the personal statement was difficult to complete without support.
Ucas surveyed potential applicants about to start their personal statement, and found more than three-quarters prefer the new three-question format.
The reformed personal statements will still be up to 4,000 characters long.
The latest figures released by Ucas on Thursday showed that the overall number of 18-year-olds in the UK applying to undergraduate courses at universities or colleges has risen slightly this year.
As of June 30 – the final deadline to apply to up to five courses simultaneously – a total of 321,410 18-year-olds from across the UK have applied to courses, up from 319,570 in 2023 (0.6%).
But the latest data shows the application rate from the most disadvantaged backgrounds has fallen slightly to 25.4% in England, while the application rate for the most advantaged has marginally increased to 60.7%.
Jo Saxton, chief executive at Ucas, said: “Today’s figures show that whilst positive progress has been made, there is still much to do.
“The changes to the personal statement, along with our recent fee waiver for students in receipt of free school meals, are all part of Ucas’s contribution to the sector-wide effort to ensure more people from disadvantaged backgrounds can benefit from the life-changing opportunity of higher education.
“During my time in schools, 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.
“The new approach, with guided questions, aims to give greater confidence to those students, as well as their teachers when advising on how to secure their dream course.”
Kevin Gilmartin, post 16 specialist at the Association of Schools and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “This is a very welcome change. The current ‘text box’ approach is far too vague and has favoured students who are able to draw on support from family members that have previously been to university and submitted personal statements themselves.
“The switch to structured questions will provide much needed clarity to students about what information they should be including.
“These questions should also be of more use to admissions tutors than the old-style personal statements, which research has shown were barely being read in many cases.”
A report by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) think tank last year suggested that university applicants’ personal statements are read for just two minutes on average.
Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, said: “This welcome reform strikes the right balance between a more structured approach to deter fabrication, while not limiting the opportunity for applicants to personalise their statement.
“I believe it is a significant step in making the university admissions system a little bit fairer for all applicants.”
