Personal Statement:Media and Communications 2

Why do you want to study this course or subject?

A career in the media is one of the most difficult to achieve, but I believe that getting the skills and knowledge needed to succeed at a high-quality university added to my determination and passion, will help me fulfil my dream of entertaining people all over the country, an ambition I have wanted to do since I was very young.

My passion for this career path has increased through reading many autobiographies such as those of Graham Norton and Chris Moyles and gaining an insight into the world on the other side of the radio and television screen and furthered with work experience.

I want to use my undoubtedly great experiences at university to let me continue to grow as a person and help develop my interest further whilst help me decide exactly which area of the media I would like to focus in so I can finally move on to the first step of my career path.

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

As I've completed my studies, my skills have become more suited to this area. My confidence has grown and any opportunity given to write creatively or present in front of a large group of people has been relished.

From my A-levels I have seen a huge development in my writing skills, especially from English Language where I have had to adapt my writing to many different contexts and the importance audience has on a piece of work. This course, along with Psychology, has taught me to look at things more analytically, especially with texts, a great example being my English Language coursework where I studied the language of four stand-up comics. However English Language has also helped me improve my creative thinking.

Geography has helped increase my skills in group work; with many fieldtrips emphasising the importance of working together when trying to collect data to use to validate statements made.

In Law I discovered the consequences that negative media can have, with examples of newspapers being taken to court for defamation and in Sociology I explored the different values that societies have and how cultures can find different things offensive. These aspects of my courses have helped me realise the different things that affect audience when it comes to the media.

My courses have also helped develop my skills in IT especially in using programs such as Publisher and PowerPoint confidently and competently.

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

Knowing how competitive the media industry is, I have realised how important relevant work experience is. I managed to get a placement at the local theatre where I learnt about the lighting and audio for theatre productions as well as pyrotechnics and front-of-house interaction. I had to complete tasks including creating an educational booklet for local schools and writing a film review to be published in the local paper.

I also got a placement at Lite FM and Connect FM in Peterborough where I helped do research for the presenter's links and saw how jingles and promotions were edited together whilst trying to make some of my own. I also saw some of the shows being broadcasted and how they set up the playlists and edit what is being put on air and how they pre-record links to broadcast later and also took part in an aired interview.

My extra curricular activities include reading a wide range of publications such as local and national papers and music magazines such as 'NME' as well as reading autobiographies and some fiction.

Art and music are important to me and I listen to a varied range of genres and I'm also trying to learn the electric guitar and enjoy drawing. I watch a variety of sports, including rugby union where I occasionally see the local team play.

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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