Study Skills, Personal Statements Do's and Dont's

Do

Do give your reasons for wanting to study the course. Remember that there will be competition for places so you must be convincing and sincere
Do make reference to your current work by saying what you enjoy, why you enjoy it and what skills you have gained
Do try to make reference to your long term career plans and try to link them to your course choice
Do mention positions of responsibility that you may have held and give examples of your duties
Do present an image of yourself as an interesting and active person with well rounded interests, not just an academic
Do show your statement to other people so that they can check spelling and grammar, and so that they can suggest things to include that you might have missed. People who can help are parents, friends, family, teachers and careers advisers
Do make sure that your statement is neat and tidy, legible and easy to read, clear and well written

Don't mention activities or responsibilities without referring to the skills and experience gained - admissions tutors have many forms to read and do not have time to "read between the lines"
Don't refer to experiences that were too long ago, try to keep to recent and relevant experiences
Don't mention interests without being specific - for reading mention particular authors or genres, for music or art mention specific performers, styles or artists
Don't exaggerate or lie! (Remember, there will be an interview)
Don't apply for too many different courses because it will be difficult to write a convincing personal statement to support your application and you can be seen as undecided
Don't write a statement which makes your choices look random and badly thought out

The golden rule for getting a gold star on your personal statement is this:

For every statement of fact remember to add a sentence describing what this means to you or what it could offer to them.

There are lots of examples of this sort of writing in the Introductory sentences page.