Business and management degree personal statement example (1m) International Baccalaureate

Why do you want to study this course or subject?

Ever since I can remember, I recall always wanting to organise everyone and give them certain tasks to do. In fact, even when I was just playing with my friends. I remember how I used to organise all the plays and concerts that we did, and that was pretty often, and to want to have everything close to perfection. From then until now the situation hasn't changed very much. I still have the tendency to be on top of things and keep everything organised and scheduled. Therefore, I have decided that Business Administration and Management studies are exactly what I want to do. I strongly believe that such a course will satisfy this need of mine and at the same time develop it and make it better as well. With the appropriate studies I believe that I am capable of becoming a very successful employee- and customer-oriented manager.

Finally, I chose the UK as the country that I want to study because it can offer very many important and useful things to students. First of all, there are the extra-curricular activities that exist in all UK universities. From my point of view, these activities are very important because they enable the students to discover new interests, work together as a team and of course make new friends that share the same interests with you. Another very important feature of the universities in the UK is that they have students from all nationalities. This is very positive because the students learn and understand the different religions and cultures and at the same time overcome prejudices. Studying in the UK because of its universities' high standard and quality would certainly benefit me.

How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject?

As far as education is concerned, after careful research and consideration I chose to attend the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme for my last school years. This is a unique programme in terms of the skills, abilities and opportunities for further development that it offers. Through it, I have had the chance to study in depth subjects from all fields: Languages (English, Modern Greek), Social Sciences (Business and Management, Psychology), Natural Sciences (Physics), as well as Mathematics. Having so different classes has helped me to be more open-minded and able to understand better the latest news, discoveries and literature. Through the IB programme I have also gained the skills and abilities to manage my time, prioritise and be able to cope well with deadlines. I've had also the chance to conduct research or even experiments when that was needed for my assignments. Finally, through the Theory Of Knowledge lesson, that is unique of its kind and exists only in IB schools, I learned how to form valid arguments and not take everything for granted.

What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?

Another part of myself is ballet and modern dance. I have been doing ballet for the last ten years and modern dance for the last three. These activities have helped very much, in order to get to know myself better, realise my limits and true capabilities. I think that these experiences will prove to be very important in my university years, since I have learned to be patient and perform well under pressure in order to get the best results. Most importantly, I have learned to be critical with myself and take failures with successes.

I have also learned what volunteering really is and how that pays off when you can actually see the changes you have made and smiles on some people's faces, who had given up hope. That happened through the Creativity, Action and Service programme, which is a part of the IB diploma. I liked the CAS programme so much, that I took the initiative to join many ecological, animal protecting and philanthropic organisations (WWF Hellas, Arktouros, Giatroi xoris sinora). In fact I worked so hard that am now a council member in an organisation that wants to provide the stray animals a better future. These activities, and what I have seen through them, made me realize that I have to be more than grateful to be in a good health and have a secure background and always try to help the people in need and never do anything to worsen their situation.

Along with school I always try to do some kind of sport. Since I like playing volleyball very much I have joined my local team and in fact had the chance to participate in three championships, where in one of them we went to another city for the final matches. Playing volleyball and doing other sports in general have provided me with the skill to perform well when anxious and under pressure. Also, I have gained an idea of what hard competition really is like and realizing that in order to win you have to prioritise effectively and do your best.

Moreover, I would like to say that I already have some working experience that in my point of view is very important. For the last four summers I've had the chance to work at Kitchen Gallery, a kitchen furniture selling company. There, I had the chance to closely see and understand how the different departments work inside a big company. Specially last summer, when I had some business and management knowledge, I had the opportunity to apply everything that I had learned in class, in real life conditions. This enabled me to practice management and motivational theories, marketing directions and accounting issues. The most important aspect that I learned from that experience though is that it is not always possible to apply exactly the theories as they are in the book on the company and also the fact that you always have to wait for the unexpected.

How personal statements have changed?

The current personal statement format, with three 'scaffolding' questions, was introduced by Ucas in September 2025. This personal statement was submitted before then, using the old essay-style format. It has been carefully edited into the three-question format, with all of the original wording kept.

Need help with your personal statement? You can ask a question or get feedback from The Student Room community (and our trained personal statement experts) on the personal statement advice forum.