Personal Statement:Speech and language therapy 2 - The Student Room

Why do you want to study this course or subject?

I would go as far to say that language is as valuable as oxygen; we need it to survive as a community to express ideas and opinions with ease. By sharing ideas we avoid the sense of 'every man for himself', preventing Darwinism at its worst. I aspire to study speech and language therapy (SALT) as language is a phenomenon that has continued to fascinate us for millennia. A number of issues can transpire at any time in a person's life, prohibiting or complicating natural speech production. My main aim in life is to be able to assist people in overcoming these issues.

Whilst volunteering in Uganda, I met an orphan who was treated very differently to the other children in his school because of problems with his tongue, inhibiting typical speech production. I know his quality of life would improve if he was given the opportunity to have this rectified. This experience showed me that the ability to communicate impacts people's lives immensely; I know that studying SALT can aid me in understanding such intricacies of human communication, but also gain expertise in order to help people like him.

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

Recently, I gained experience at a school for children with special needs, where I witnessed 'Tac Pac', a form of communication for children with restricted senses. This was simply eye-opening as I was made aware of an innovative type of communication, helping children to interact, firstly with their own bodies, beginning to understand their own feelings, but also helping them to effectively communicate with peers at a later stage. Almost all of the children in my class had speech and language (SAL) problems; it was fascinating to research some of the problems they faced, and also learn how to deal with them. For example, one child with Dysphagia had to be monitored closely at lunchtimes as he could not intake any substances other than his own food, which had to be carefully prepared so that it was the correct consistency for him.

I have also gained clinical experience shadowing a SAL therapist for a day, working with older patients who had degenerative diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis, as well as patients who had experienced strokes. I found that this was very different to working with children. The way in which you deal with an adult who has been able to produce 'normal' speech for most of their life in comparison to a child who has always experienced problems must be very different. It is important to note that a career in SALT is also about clinical techniques, not only learning about the range of oral problems people can experience.

As I am currently studying Linguistics at the University of York, I have also had experience of university life and study. When in year 13, my original plan was to apply for a postgraduate SALT course so that my Linguistics degree could serve as a 'back up'. However, studying Linguistics in itself has encouraged me to transfer to a degree programme in SALT as I have a better understanding of language as a whole. Knowing more about the different aspects that construct human language has confirmed to me that I definitely want a career in SALT.

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

Since discovering the third sector organisation 'Operation Smile', I have been actively involved with the charity. After completing the Gold Challenge for them, representing them at the Olympic stadium charity parade, and going on a week-long conference in Ireland to learn about the work they do, I am concrete in my career choice. My ultimate goal is to primarily work in a hospital unit for the NHS, as well as being able to travel the globe with Operation Smile in my spare time to help patients with SAL problems after surgery.

Universities applied to:

• The University of Manchester

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.