“This is very a welcome change. The current ‘text box’ approach is far too vague and has favoured students who are able to draw on support from family members that have previously been to university and submitted personal statements themselves.
“The switch to structured questions will provide much needed clarity to students about what information they should be including. These questions should also be of more use to admissions tutors than the old-style personal statements, which research has shown were barely being read in many cases.”