The Personal Statement: Which Schools Actually Use It
There is no single answer to whether the personal statement counts. 2 of the 60 UK medicine and dentistry courses score it, 17 do not use it at all, and one will reject your application over it. Here is every school's own position.
Ask whether the personal statement still matters and you will be told, confidently, either that it barely counts any more or that it is your one chance to stand out. Both answers are given as though they applied everywhere. Neither does.
We read the admissions pages of all 60 UK medicine and dentistry courses one at a time. The positions they take are not on a spectrum from "a bit" to "a lot" — they are genuinely different policies, and the difference decides real applications.
The three things worth knowing before you write a word
One university takes opposite positions on its own two courses. Sheffield Medicine says it does not normally read or score personal statements as part of selection, and that your interviewers will not have read yours. Sheffield Dentistry assesses the personal qualities and values demonstrated in the statement, then interviews with reference to it. Same institution, same admissions office, opposite instructions. If a rule of thumb cannot survive one university, it cannot survive sixty.
"Not scored" is not the same as "does not matter". A large group of schools do not score the statement and can still reject you over it. Cardiff screens it without formally scoring it, which means it can cost you a place and can never win you one. That is a worse deal than being scored, and it is invisible if you only ask whether a school "uses" the statement.
The harshest consequence in the whole dataset is attached to a statement. Leeds Dentistry accepts only personal statements relevant to dentistry, and states that if yours is not relevant to dentistry, your application will not be considered. Not marked down: not considered. It falls hardest on exactly the applicants most likely to trip over it, the ones splitting five choices between medicine and dentistry on a single statement.
Every school, grouped by what it actually does
Each entry below is that school's own published position, read from its admissions pages. Where a school publishes nothing, it says so rather than guessing. Click any school for its full entry, including UCAT thresholds, grades and resit policy.
It is scored (2)
The statement earns marks that decide whether you are interviewed. At these schools a weak statement costs you the interview outright, whatever your UCAT says.
SCORED, and one of only two schools found in this dataset that scores it. Keele ranks home applicants on a combination of UCAT and personal statement scores, so the statement carries direct weight in whether an interview happens at all. International applicants are shortlisted on UCAT ranking alone.
SCORED, and the most explicit of the three schools that do. Lancashire states that the personal statement and academic reference will be evaluated and scored to determine whether an interview is offered, and publishes the criteria: motivation for medicine, academic preparation, and practical experience covering caring roles, teamwork, initiative and work-life balance. It also says it can only assess an application on the information given, so anything left out is simply absent.
It is read and judged (3)
Assessed as part of selection, without a published score. Less mechanical than being scored and no less consequential: a selector forms a view of you from it before anyone meets you.
Reviewed and used, which makes Birmingham Dentistry one of the few schools where the statement carries real weight. Statements are reviewed for motivation to do the course, specific mentions of dentistry, and the reasoning behind the application, so a statement written generically for medicine and dentistry together is a visible weakness here.
Assessed, and then used again at interview, which is the opposite of the position Sheffield Medicine takes. The dental school initially assesses the academic record, evidence of career exploration, and the personal qualities and values demonstrated in the personal statement and academic reference. Assessors then interview with reference to the information given in the statement, expecting candidates to show they are well informed about choosing dentistry.
Assessed, and the most explicit statement of it found in this dataset. St Andrews says its selection process includes an assessment of all information on the application form, naming academic performance, the personal statement and reference, and UCAT scores together. It also sets out what a successful statement must evidence: empathy, communication and listening, leadership, teamwork, commitment to academic study, resilience and intellectual potential, plus paid or unpaid work or shadowing in a caring or health environment.
It can only cost you (12)
A gate rather than a scoring component. It cannot earn you anything, and it can end the application: for irrelevance to the course, for plagiarism, or for failing a pass-or-fail read. This is the group people most often get wrong, because "not scored" gets heard as "does not matter".
Screened, but not formally scored, which is a distinct position from either extreme: the statement can cost an applicant their place without ever being able to win them one. Cardiff asks for the new UCAS headings to be used and expects the statement to evidence suitability for a medical course.
Read, though not as a scored ranking component. King's ranks on GCSEs, UCAT and contextual data first, then reviews the rest of the application including the personal statement and reference to settle who is invited, so it can affect the outcome at the margin without being a score of its own.
One factor among many rather than a scored component. King's says it looks particularly for evidence of appropriate commitment to, and a realistic appreciation of, the academic, physical and emotional demands of medicine.
Not weighted or scored, but capable of ending an application. Queen Mary's admissions policy says statements and references are not weighted or scored, and provide evidence of genuine interest; that the entire application may be rejected if no reference is received; and that a statement showing evidence of plagiarism may cause rejection irrespective of all other achievements.
Not weighted or scored, on the same policy as Queen Mary medicine: the statement evidences genuine interest rather than earning marks, a missing reference can cause the whole application to be rejected, and plagiarism can cause rejection irrespective of all other achievements.
Not scored when selecting for interview, but not ignored either: Birmingham says it considers the personal statement and reference both before and after interview to check the application as a whole. For international applicants it goes further, and the final stage of selection for interview is an assessment of non-academic qualities made on the evidence in the personal statement.
Screened as pass or fail rather than scored. UEA's FOI disclosures state the statement is read but not assessed or scored in any way, while its course page confirms primary screening checks that an applicant has a satisfactory personal statement and reference. So it cannot earn marks and can still end an application. Applicants with gaps in education must use it to explain what they have been doing or plan to do.
Not formally assessed, but not ignored: Edinburgh says the statement may provide guidance when shortlisting for its Assessment Days, and that it is essential preparation for anyone invited. So it can tip a borderline shortlisting decision without ever carrying a score.
Not scored, but decisive at the margin, which is the most useful thing to know about it. HYMS says it does not score the statement, and that it carefully examines all the information on the UCAS form when deciding on candidates who are borderline either at selection for interview or at selection for offer. It also warns that fabricated or exaggerated material, or similarity to other statements, may lead to a future offer being withdrawn.
Not formally part of shortlisting, but load-bearing in one specific way: Leeds requires any mitigating circumstances to be set out in the personal statement and academic reference at the point of application, so a resitting applicant who leaves them out has weakened their case. Leeds also states that the decision to make an offer after interview depends entirely on interview performance, not on grades or the UCAT.
A hard gate, and the harshest consequence attached to a personal statement anywhere in this dataset. Leeds accepts only statements relevant to dentistry and states that if the statement is not relevant to dentistry the application will not be considered at all. An applicant splitting their five choices between medicine and dentistry cannot satisfy this with one statement. Mitigating circumstances must also be included there.
Not scored for the five-year course. Southampton's selection policy scores responses to the BM6 application questions, a separate widening participation route, and screens BM4 and BM5 applicants on academic requirements before ranking on the UCAT. The statement's only decisive role is negative: a statement that is not the applicant's own work counts as a fraudulent application and can end a place already taken up.
Not used to select, but you will be asked about it (3)
No part in deciding who is interviewed, and then in front of you on the desk when you get there. Writing a throwaway statement because it "is not scored" hands the panel a weak document to question you on.
Not used to select, but used at interview, which is the combination most likely to catch out an applicant who has been told statements no longer count. ARU says it does not directly use the personal statement in the selection process, and in the same breath that you should be prepared to discuss or use aspects of it at the MMIs.
Used at interview rather than to select. Swansea states the personal statement will be considered and discussed during the interviews, and that candidates may be questioned on its content in one or more stations. Once an applicant is selected for interview the admissions test result is considered no further and the offer rests solely on interview performance, so the statement carries more weight here than the UCAT does at that stage.
Replaced rather than scored, which is unusual and worth planning for. All applicants meeting the minimum academic criteria are sent a Non-Academic Information Questionnaire, which Liverpool describes as an expanded UCAS personal statement, and it is that document rather than the statement itself that carries the non-academic evidence.
It plays no part (17)
These schools say plainly that the statement does not enter selection. Some do not read it at all. If your five choices are all in this group, your statement genuinely will not change the outcome.
Not used at all, stated as plainly as any school in this dataset: BSMS does not use personal statements at any point during the admissions process.
Not scored. Lancaster states it does not score or rank the personal statement at any stage of its admissions process, and uses the interview to learn about the candidate instead. The one exception is practical rather than scored: a resitting applicant is expected to explain their circumstances there.
Not used for the BDS. Once applications clear the academic threshold, the UCAT alone determines who is selected for interview. The personal statement is used for the separate BSc Dental Therapy course, where shortlisting explicitly includes it. The referee's statement is read on all applications to identify negative comments.
Not scored. Newcastle's selection runs on an academic score out of 40 and a UCAT score out of 60, with the interview weighted 50:50 against that combined academic screen, leaving no share for the personal statement.
Read, but not formally assessed and not used to decide who is interviewed. City St George's is explicit that its process rests on objective measures so that every applicant is treated equally, ranking on the admissions test alone for interview and on MMI score alone for offers.
Not scored. UCL states plainly that it does not score personal statements to select candidates for interview, while encouraging applicants to use the space to evidence the attributes and values needed to work in healthcare.
Not scored in its own right. Aberdeen weights the decision explicitly: academic attainment and predictions 30%, UCAT 20%, interview performance 50%, leaving no share for the statement. It does expect work experience to be expanded on there.
No share of the score. Aberdeen publishes its weighting outright: the initial score is academic attainment and predictions 60% and the admissions test 40%, and all subsequent offers are made on interview performance alone. It does say selectors look favourably on applications showing as much relevant healthcare experience as possible, which is where the statement can help indirectly.
Not used. Bristol states: “We no longer use the personal statement as a weighted component of our selection criteria.” Where two applicants finish interview on identical scores, UCAT is the differentiator, not the statement.
Not used as a weighted component of selection. Bristol dropped both the personal statement and the reference from its scored criteria; shortlisting rests entirely on the UCAT once academic requirements are met.
Effectively unused at interview. Glasgow tells candidates to revisit their personal statement before attending and states in the same breath that interviewers have no knowledge about them other than their name, so nothing in the statement reaches the panel.
Not used for the main applicant groups. KMMS mentions the personal statement only for its Group C and E routes, where it says the reference and personal statement will be important in the process.
Not scored. Nottingham says it will not score personal statements or school references, but will review them after interview to check they are satisfactory. Offers rest on interview performance.
Not part of the shortlisting algorithm, which combines the UCAT with GCSE performance judged against the applicant's own school. Tutors do review all non-shortlisted applications afterwards to identify candidates the algorithm may have underrated, and 80 were added back to the shortlist for 2026 entry on that basis.
Not used at all, and Plymouth says so plainly: it does not currently consider personal statements or work experience when selecting for interview. One of the very few schools to rule out work experience as well.
Not used to select for interview, and neither is work experience. Plymouth states: “We do not currently consider personal statements or work experience when selecting for interview.”
Not normally read at all, which is stronger than not scored: Sheffield says it does not normally read or score UCAS personal statements as part of selection, and that interviewers will not have read yours, though you can expect questions on the topics applicants usually write about. The single exception is punitive rather than evaluative: if UCAS flags plagiarism the application is unsuccessful regardless of anything else.
They publish no position (5)
We read their admissions pages and found no statement of how it is used. That is an absence of policy, not a policy of absence, and it should not be read as either encouragement or dismissal.
Not stated. Brunel describes its initial review as checking the reference and whether the academic requirements are met or predicted, with no mention of the personal statement being scored or read at that stage.
Considered as part of the UCAS application alongside work experience, but Imperial publishes no weighting for it and ranks purely on UCAT score after academic screening to decide who is interviewed. Its guidance to applicants is to be honest, specific and concise.
Not published for the graduate-entry BDS. The University of Lancashire says of its related dental programmes that it considers educational achievements, predicted grades, work experience and the personal statement together, but it sets out no specific policy for entry into Year 2 of the BDS.
Not stated on Liverpool's admissions information page. How the UCAT and the rest of the application are used is published each year in its A100 Departmental Supplement to the Admissions Policy, which Liverpool expects applicants to read before applying, and that is where any statement policy would sit.
Manchester does not state a role for the personal statement in its selection or interview pages, and no offer is made without an interview.
What this means for your five choices
Work out which groups your five schools fall into before you decide how much time the statement deserves. Five schools that do not use it is a genuinely different situation from four that do not and one that scores it, and only the second requires the statement to carry weight.
Then write for the strictest school on your list, not the average one. A statement good enough for Keele or Lancashire is more than good enough for a school that never reads it; the reverse is not true. And if any dentistry course is among your choices, write about dentistry specifically rather than hedging across both subjects.
Two things are worth doing regardless of where you apply. Put anything a school needs to know in it: several require mitigating circumstances, resit explanations or gaps in education to be set out there, and leaving them out weakens an application at schools that would otherwise have taken them into account. And write it yourself, entirely — the penalties for plagiarism are the one part of this that is consistent across schools, and they extend to withdrawing an offer you have already accepted.
Common questions
- Does the personal statement still matter for medicine?
- It depends entirely on where you apply, and the range is wider than most advice admits. Of the 60 UK medicine and dentistry courses we track, 2 score the personal statement as part of deciding who gets an interview, while 17 state that it plays no part in selection at all. Several more use it only as a gate that can reject you without ever earning you anything. Any blanket answer, in either direction, is wrong for a large number of schools.
- Which medical schools score the personal statement?
- Keele University and University of Lancashire both score it. Keele ranks home applicants on a combination of UCAT and personal statement scores, so the statement helps decide whether an interview happens at all. The University of Lancashire states that the personal statement and academic reference are evaluated and scored to determine whether an interview is offered, and publishes the criteria it scores against. A small number of others assess it in selection without publishing a score.
- Can a personal statement get my application rejected?
- Yes, at several schools, and this is the risk most applicants underestimate. Leeds Dentistry accepts only statements relevant to dentistry and states that if yours is not, your application will not be considered. Queen Mary says a statement showing evidence of plagiarism may cause rejection irrespective of all other achievements. Southampton treats a statement that is not your own work as a fraudulent application, which can end a place you have already taken up. Hull York warns that fabricated or exaggerated material may lead to a future offer being withdrawn.
- Can I write one personal statement for both medicine and dentistry?
- Not safely, if Leeds Dentistry is one of your choices. Leeds states it will only accept personal statements relevant to dentistry and will not consider an application whose statement is not. A statement written to satisfy both audiences is, by construction, not specifically about dentistry. Birmingham Dentistry also reviews statements for specific mentions of dentistry and the reasoning behind the application, so a hedged statement is a visible weakness there too.
- If a school does not score it, can I write anything?
- No, for two reasons. Several schools that do not use it in selection still put it in front of the interview panel: Anglia Ruskin says you should be prepared to discuss aspects of it at the MMIs, and Swansea says it will be considered and discussed during both interviews. Separately, some schools require specific content in it regardless of scoring: Leeds requires mitigating circumstances to be set out there, Lancaster requires a resitting applicant to explain their circumstances, and UEA requires gaps in education to be accounted for.
- Where does this information come from?
- Each school's own admissions pages, read individually rather than aggregated from other sites. 42 of the 60 courses publish a position on the personal statement; for the remaining 18 we read the pages and found none stated, which is recorded as an absence rather than filled in with a guess.
Where this came from
Every position above was read from that school's own admissions pages rather than copied from another guide. 42 of the 60 courses publish a position; for the remaining 18 we checked and found none stated, which is recorded as an absence rather than filled in.
If you want your own statement read against the schools you are actually applying to, that is what our personal statement review does.