Goodbye UCAS personal statements, hello better job interviews?

The UK’s university admissions service announced they are to be dropped, in a sign that more organisations are turning away from traditional methods of recruitment.

Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) has previously asked students to write a statement about themselves in 4,000 characters. However, those applying for undergraduate places in 2026 will instead be asked to answer three, standardised questions.

The move is apparently an effort to improve social mobility by removing barriers to entry for those who are not wordsmiths. As one of the UK’s largest recruitment processes, it has provided food for thought for businesses designing their own interview tasks.

Answer these questions three

UCAS has required personal statements as part of the application process for over three decades. Under the new process, applicants will be asked to answer:

• Why they want to study the course or subject
• How their studies or qualifications helped them to prepare for the course
• What experiences they have had outside of education that will be helpful

Entrants would likely have answered the above questions within their personal statement anyway. But experts argue the old, long-form format gave an unfair advantage to middle-class students who are more likely to have had help from tutors or family members.

This directed approach is intended to ensure that applicants are judged on merit and qualifications rather than their writing ability.

Lee Elliot Major, a professor of social mobility at Exeter University, told The Guardian that the medium had “become a barometer of middle-class privilege as so many personal statements are now co-created and polished by advisers, teachers and parents.”

“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.”

Assessment methods

Hiring and company culture experts now recommend that businesses offer multiple assessment methods during interviews, to avoid subjective bias in the recruitment process.

Candidates who perform best during traditional hiring tests, such as Q&As or cover letters, tend to be more confident and eloquent. That can automatically exclude people who don’t have these particular traits.

Alternative skills testing, such as aptitude tests, personality assessments, and situational judgement tests, create a fairer interview experience that caters to every character type.

With UCAS taking action to promote social mobility, companies might also consider how they can redesign their recruitment stages, and avoid contributing to the Class Pay Gap.

Ease of application

Alongside steps to build a fairer application process, this streamlined approach to the personal statement could also be about improving recruitment figures for UCAS.

Recent data indicates that the number of undergraduate applications by sixth formers in England and Wales has dropped for the second year in a row; perhaps due to many undergraduates stating they regret starting their degree course.

Government statistics indicate that just the number of applicants to UCAS has fallen by 1.2% between 2022 and 2023. Many organisations and recruiters struggling to find suitable talent have taken steps to expedite the application process for job hunters.

John Lewis recently published its full list of job interview questions in order to banish interview nerves and improve its recruitment figures.

Is it AI again?

The decision by UCAS to move away from personal statements could also be a response to the growing number of students relying on generative AI platforms to write their essays.

While the organisation made no mention of AI in its announcement, other educational institutions have previously banned personal statements in reaction to the trend.

In March this year, Singapore Management University (SMU) scrapped its use of personal statements in undergraduate admissions amid concerns about applicants’ use of ChatGPT.

Startups has previously spoken to job hunters who are using AI in job applications. Using the tools, they are able to write CVs, cover letters, and even complete interview tasks in record time — a shortcut that many view as necessary for firing off potentially hundreds of entries.

On average, today’s tight labour market means that UK graduates now submit an average of 37 job applications to land a role.

Research has shown that 70% of job seekers are planning to use ChatGPT to complete an application in 2024. 17% of young people are already actively using it; perhaps indicating that they have grown familiar with the tools while at school or university.