What Is A Perfect UCAS Personal Statement? (Part 2)

Having completed your introduction you are ready to move on to what is arguably the most important part of your university personal statement – the academic section. This is where you prove your suitability and qualification to study the subject you have chosen at university level.

To plan this section, you might want to start with a brainstorm to help you think of all the possible ideas you could include. Really think back over your past year of studying – what have you enjoyed the most, found frustrating, felt passionate about?

What Is A Perfect UCAS Personal Statement? (Part 3)

It is time to move on to the final phase of your UCAS personal statement, the section where you will list your personal and extra-curricular achievements, your cultural interests and social activities. Many students find this one of the most difficult sections to write, as it can seem the most ambiguous in terms of both content and tone. Should you list every single cello exam you have taken since the age of 5? Should you mention your passion for Italian cinema or focus on your sporting success and charity work?

Exam essay techniques: planning under time pressure

It’s that time of year again; exams are looming and revision is your highest priority. But don’t forget, just learning the facts isn’t enough to score you the high marks you deserve. It’s also crucial to spend some time brushing up your exam essay writing technique, to save valuable minutes when you are under time pressure and stop you from panicking when you get into the exam room.

Punctuation: commas, apostrophes and quotation marks

As an editor, I see the same simple punctuation mistakes time and again costing students valuable marks when the overall quality of their work deserves a much higher grade. Whether it is everyday essay writing or an undergraduate dissertation, correct grammar punctuation is the quickest way to see a huge improvement in the quality of your work (not to mention better grades!)
The good news is that help is at hand! Listed below are examples and explanations of the most common errors in using punctuation marks, along with some simple tricks to help you remember how to correct them.

Best essay advice: write my essay with style!

This blog often focuses on the practical side of essay composition, but what about the style of your writing? How can you make sure that the way you write and your choice of words isn’t letting you down? Follow these top essay writing pointers to make sure your writing style isn’t letting you down.

Dissertation writing and the dissertation supervisor

When you are trying to work out how to write a dissertation and you are putting together a dissertation proposal, your college will assign you a supervisor. The relationship with the supervisor is really important: a good supervisor can be a valuable guide to steer your research in the right direction. What should you expect from the supervisor and how do you get one?

Essay writing tips: online essay writing guides

There is so much academic writing available online, from sites offering free essay advice, through to help with writing exam essays and revision notes. There are some first rate sites out there, but some writing blogs and websites can provide dubious advice. Some sites are easy to discount. These are the ones that are pure gibberish. Sentences make no sense and may even be written by a software package that jumbles words together, rather than being written by a human being. These are easy to spot!

Essay writing guide: the essay introduction

You want to make a good impression on the marker from the start of your essay, but how do you know if you are getting the essay introduction right? A good introduction should be like a map; you are telling the reader what to expect and how the terrain of the essay is set out. Here are some important essay writing dos and don’ts: