Oxbridge Prep
What actually makes a strong Cambridge personal statement
A Cambridge personal statement is not a list of achievements. It is evidence that you can think about your subject past the edge of the syllabus — and an admissions tutor can usually tell, within a paragraph, whether that thinking is genuinely yours or borrowed from a summary.
This guide is in preparation
Watch this space.
We are writing this one now — drawn from the same cycle we sat ourselves. Here is what it will cover.
- What the statement is actually for
- Reading beyond the syllabus — and proving it
- Naming a book is not engagement
- Turning reading into a position you can defend
- The structure most strong statements share
- What to cut
- The opening anecdote
- Achievements that carry no argument
- How the statement is used at interview
Work through this with us
We draft and redraft statements with applicants as part of our Oxbridge Prep. Sessions are one-to-one with a Cambridge student who has recently sat these exams.
Work with us