4 common mistakes with UCAS statements

Because writing your statement before now doesn’t give you time to really write about your work, your inspirations – both what inspires you and WHO inspires you.

UCAS Statement

The main emphasis should be about you:

• What you’re making your art about (ideas, concepts)
• How you’re making your art (materials, processes, so not to just describe this but what learning did you make/take from this)
• Who’s influencing you and how
• Your ambitions in the industry that you’re applying for

You need to write concisely and to the point – not just to ensure you stick within the word/line count but to make an impact – check out my blog post about UCAS personal statement word limit.

I’ve read many drafts and what often stands out to me is:

1. Students waffle – each sentence should have a purpose
2. When a student doesn’t know what to write, they tend to fill it with ‘art speak’ ie. what they think the colleges WANT to hear.
3. Too much emphasis is given to exam achievement, extra-curricular activities, jobs, etc. If you are going to mention these you need to relate it to your studies and why it’s useful (having a purpose again)
4. Justifying your statements is essential. If you say that a ‘project gave you chance to work as a team’, then what role did you play in that team, what skills did you bring to that and how did this enhance the project as a whole…what about the future?

Hoping this helps with your application for art and design colleges…

If you do this now, you will have a much better 2024 I promise you!

And if you have any questions, just leave a comment or email me and ask away. I am here to help you.

Seriously, don’t be shy. 😀