Personal Statement - PCGE Primary Education

Why do you want to study this course or subject?

My interest in teaching and becoming a teacher was first ignited when I undertook the Children and Language module as part of my undergraduate degree. I was awed and inspired by the magnitude of children’s learning in their early years. My reason for wanting to teach comes principally from my desire to pass on my passion and enthusiasm for learning to others. The experiences children have of learning whilst in primary school are experiences that shape and influence their perception of education, which is why I believe that it needs to be a positive and enthusiastic one and it is something I would like to help them have.

It would give me great pleasure to play an integral part in the academic and personal development of children. I feel confident that my experience and personality equips me well for being a teacher. I have a strong commitment to learning, academic and personal development and I feel that I would prove an invaluable member of the teaching community.

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

During my degrees and more recently re-taking my GCSE Maths, I appreciated being able to improve upon my ability to prioritise, my IT and communication skills and to progress my numeracy. I felt particular pleasure in gaining a grade C after a great deal of personal hard work and commitment to achieving this. These incidences have served me in good stead during my time volunteering and in my current employment, enabling me to draw on personal experience to motivate, encourage and inspire pupils to attempt every task to the best of their ability and to be determined to succeed.

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

During my time spent volunteering at a local primary school with years three, four and five I witnessed and discussed the varied behavioural and teaching problems teachers encounter. I developed an appreciation for the demands on the teacher to manage different student learning styles whilst also managing the wide-ranging educational needs of the class as a whole, for example some students retained topic instructions better and proved to be less disruptive when presented with something to occupy their hands with. I observed the different measures the teachers employed for behavioural management, tools such awarding privilege time and filling a jar with pasta as a means of rewarding pupils for good behaviour, working well and for attentiveness to instructions. This kind of reward system worked particularly well as praise from the teacher, or myself, was an instant reward whilst the promise of privilege time gave them something to work toward gaining at the end of the week.

In my current employment as a Learning and Teaching Assistant in a secondary school, I assist both statemented and unstatmented pupils with a range of Special Educational Needs ranging from being slow to acquire basic numeracy and literacy skills to those diagnosed with ADHD and autism. I have come to appreciate how creativity plays an integral part in aiding the educational development of all children and feel immense pleasure when I see how I have helped a pupil understand something they had previously struggled to comprehend. Knowing I have been a part of their academic development fills me with great pride.

Grades achieved:

• GCSE Maths grade C

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.

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