Personal statement and Statement of purpose
Guidance on the personal statement and statement of purpose, and who to contact if you have questions.
What documents are required?
Most courses require you to submit a personal statement or statement of purpose. Some courses will only require you to submit a research proposal. Guidance on providing a research proposal can be found in the research proposal section of this Application Guide.
The How to apply section of the relevant course page will state which of these documents are required, the specifications and the criteria by which they will be assessed.
There is one slot on the ‘Supporting Documents’ tab of the application form for documents of this category. If your course requires both a statement of purpose (or personal statement) and a research proposal, you should submit them within the same document with a clear subheading for each, unless specifically stated otherwise in the How to apply section of the course page.
For courses that require a piece of written work, please note that your personal statement or statement of purpose does not fulfil this requirement.
If your statement of purpose or personal statement significantly exceeds the permitted length stated on the relevant course page, it will be removed from your application and your application will be considered incomplete and is unlikely to be assessed by the academic department. If you submit an unnecessary personal statement or statement of purpose, it will be removed from your application.
Your statement of purpose or research proposal must be entirely your own work. Departments may screen your statement of purpose or research proposal using plagiarism-detection software. For more information, consult our guidance on plagiarism as well as the guidance on the use of artificial intelligence tools within this Application Guide.
topWhat could a personal statement or statement of purpose contain?
A personal statement is likely to focus on how your personal motivations, experiences and values have contributed to why you are applying to the course.
A statement of purpose is likely to focus primarily on your research interests, academic background and career objectives and why you are applying to the course.
The suggestions above are for guidance only. It is not unusual for elements of a personal statement to be included in a statement of purpose and vice versa. Since the requirements will vary significantly between courses, you should check the instructions in the How to Apply section of the relevant course page.
topWho to contact if you have questions
If you have questions about the permitted content and length of your personal statement or statement of purpose, contact the relevant academic department using the contact details on the relevant course page.
topHow to write a personal statement or statement of purpose
Our students, alumni and staff have provided tips and advice on preparing your application for postgraduate study.
Whether you're just thinking about applying, or are already preparing documents to support your application, you'll find guidance below to help.
How to approach writing your personal statement or statement of purpose for graduate applications.
If you're applying for a graduate course that requires a personal statement or statement of purpose, it can be difficult to know where to start and what to include. Read on for tips from some of our masters’ students about their process and what they found helpful.
Before you start
The academic work is the most important reason why we’re here, but that also translates into work experiences, internships, volunteering. I think a big part of the personal statement is crafting that narrative of academic self that fits alongside your professional experiences, to give that greater picture of who you are as an academic.
Lauren (MSc Modern Middle Eastern Studies)
Start by thinking about the skills, knowledge and interests you’ve acquired over time and how the course at Oxford will take them forward.
Your story
Your statement is the story you want to tell about yourself and your academic work to the department you are applying to.
Most of your application and its supporting documents communicate plain facts about your academic career so far. Your personal statement or statement of purpose is your best opportunity to put these facts into context and show assessors how you’ve progressed and excelled.
Make sure you highlight evidence of your achievements (a high grade in a relevant area, an award or scholarship, a research internship).
Presenting yourself
Make it easy for an assessor to see how you meet the entry requirements for the course (you can find these on each course page). Don’t make any assumptions about what Oxford is looking for!
When I was writing my personal statement, I went onto my course website. I looked at what they emphasised and what kind of students they were looking for, and I wrote about my experiences based on that.
Kayla (MSc in Clinical Embryology)
Get to know your department
You want to study this particular subject and you want to study at Oxford, but why is Oxford the right place for you to study this subject? What interests or qualities of the academic department and its staff make it attractive to you?
Use your academic department’s website for an overview of their research, academic staff and course information (you'll find a link to the department's own website on each course page).
Talk it out
Talking to others about your statement can be a great way to gather your ideas and decide how you’d like to approach it. Sarah even managed to get benefit out of this approach by herself:
“I spent a lot of time talking out loud. My written process was actually very vocal, so I did a lot of talking about myself in my room.”
The writing process
Know your format
Make sure you’ve read all the guidance on the How to Apply section of your course page, so you know what’s needed in terms of the word count of the final statement, what it should cover and what it will be assessed for. This should help you to visualise roughly what you want to end up with at the end of the process.
Make a start
When it comes to writing your personal statement or statement of purpose, just getting started can be the hardest part.
One good way to get around writer’s block is to just put it all down on the page, like Mayur.
First - write down anything and everything. In the first round, I was just dumping everything - whatever I’ve done, anything close to computer science, that was on my personal statement.
Mayur (MSc Computer Science)
You’ll be editing later anyway so don’t let the blank page intimidate you - try writing a little under each of the following headings to get started:
- areas of the course at Oxford that are the most interesting to you
- which areas you've already studied or had some experience in
- what you hope to use your Oxford course experience for afterwards.
Finishing up
Get some feedback
Once you’ve got a draft of about the right length, ask for feedback on what you’ve written. It might take several drafts to get it right.
This could involve getting in touch with some of your undergraduate professors to ask them to read your draft and find any areas which needed strengthening.
You could also show it to people who know you well, like family or friends.
Because they’re the first people to say, ‘Who is that person?’ You want the people around you to recognise that it really sounds like you. It can be scary telling family and friends you’re applying for Oxford, because it makes it real, but be brave enough to share it and get feedback on it.
Sarah (Bachelor of Law)
Be yourself
Finally - be genuine and be yourself. Make sure your personal statement or statement of purpose represents you, not your idea about what Oxford might be looking for.
We have thousands of students arriving every year to undertake study or research in a huge range of subjects, and they come from many backgrounds, institutions and countries.