Earlier this year Sir Peter Lampl, Chairman of the Sutton Trust and of the Education Endowment Foundation, urged schools to make sure they are providing their students with better advice on their personal statements.
Research
The Sutton Trust’s ‘Making a Statement’ report found that a lack of advice and support with personal statements was harming poorer pupils’ chance of a place at a top university.
The report also detailed how teachers and tutors’ ideas about what makes a good personal statement are “worlds apart”. Findings showed that just a quarter of personal statements reviewed by the report were awarded the same grade by both school teacher and university admission tutors.
As a result, students from disadvantaged backgrounds aren’t receiving the proper advice compared to pupils from advantaged backgrounds who can afford to pay for extra help.
Sir Peter said: “Our research shows how important it is that students get good advice about their personal statements, which are a key part of the application process to universities.
“The views of teachers and admissions tutors can be a world apart, so it is vital we ensure teachers, students and parents are well informed about what universities want in the statements.”
Transparency
The Sutton Trust has called upon universities to be “more transparent” about how personal statements are evaluated.
The research brief, authored by Steve Jones, looked at the application outcomes of 44 state-education pupils who received help with their personal statements as part of the Higher Education Access Network’s Academic Apprentices programme.
All of these students received at least one offer from a Russell Group university, compared to three quarters of pupils in the control group.
However, the most notable finding was that only ten of the 44 personal statements were awarded the same grade by both teachers and admission tutors.
Disparity
Previous research produced by the Sutton Trust found that university applicants from state schools with the same grades as their privately-educated peers were a third less likely to gain an offer from a leading university.
This latest piece of research into personal statements could provide an explanation for the above.
For more information about the Sutton Trust’s latest research, please visit: http://www.suttontrust.com/research/
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