12th February 2016 1:00
By Blue Tutors
Education charity The Sutton Trust has raised concerns that schools are offering poor advice to students on university admissions, particularly with regards to personal statements. The trust compared the comments on students’ personal statements made by teachers with those of admissions tutors and found that in many cases, teachers had very little understanding of what admissions tutors were looking for. A statement that teachers praised, saying it showed a clear enthusiasm for the subject, was described as ‘weak’ and ‘lacking in substance’ by admissions tutors, while another, which teachers described as ‘too long and impersonal’ was praised by admissions tutors for its excellent analytical content. The trust has said that universities need to be more open with schools about what it is that they are looking for, and highlighted a gulf between schools and universities when it comes to admissions.
Hiring a private tutor to help with university admissions has become increasingly popular, not least because tutors who are current university students and recent graduates are in an excellent position to bridge the gap between schools and university admissions. Having succeeded in winning places themselves, tutors are aware of what makes a good admissions statement, and are able to advise their students on what is necessary in a way that teachers are often unable to. Sometimes tutors find that their students’ schools are lacking in the requisite information about applications, and other times they are simply too stretched to give students the best advice on statements. Often, a tutor will be able to look at a statement which a school feels is well written and enthusiastic, and point out that admissions tutors are likely to see thousands of similar statements. Tutors can then work with students to make their applications unique and ensure that they contain the requisite amount of detail.
The Sutton Trust has said that universities need to be more specific about what they are looking for, but tutors appreciate that this can be difficult for universities. Admissions tutors don’t have one ideal personal statement for their subject, and if everyone wrote similar statements they wouldn’t be able to tell much about the individual candidates. Rather than telling students the right way to write a personal statement, tutors can help them focus their thoughts on what they really enjoy about their subjects and produce an excellent, individual and successful statement.