Personal Statement:Optometry 1

Why do you want to study this course or subject?

I would like to become an optometrist and in order to meet this aspiration of mine I want to complete a degree in optometry. Research and discussions with university students and pre-registration students have enabled me to reach a fully informed decision on demands and expectations to be an optometrist. I am confident that I have the necessary skills, attributes and commitment to complete this demanding course. The course involves a career prospect which will allow me to build further upon my interests in detailed optical work, I feel that improving patients' quality of life by helping them in correcting their vision will bring me a lot of job satisfaction.

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

Mathematics, chemistry and economics 'A' levels have provided me with a varied knowledge and a range of skills. Mathematics has helped me excel in my ability to analyse a problem and think of a systematic way of solving it. I have a personality trait of always investigating the reasoning behind a concept and this is why I enjoy mathematics. This is also the basis why I enjoy reading on science so much as it explains reasons and theories on things we come across in everyday situations.

Chemistry has enabled me to logically understand these ideas at a molecular level and has improved my manipulative skills. I enjoy using resources such as the internet to obtain background knowledge on scientific news as well as news about the current economy. Economics is a subject that can be adapted and be useful to any situation, understanding how markets are run and how formulae can be used to be able to make analytical judgements from.

I have also obtained an AS level in ICT, this was very enjoyable and I obtained a lot from it, some of the knowledge I obtained in ICT is adaptable in any situation and especially in recent times where there has been an upsurge in the applications and usage of information systems.

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

I enjoy participating in work in my community, I have helped organise annual fairs within my community as well as raising money for it and other charities by participating in activities such as charity walks, swim-a-thons and a five mile run; which was especially rewarding for me as I achieved thirty third position out of several thousand. I enjoy participating in charity events as I find it gratifying to see a large group of people participating in an activity to raise money for the same objective.

I currently have a part time job at a community run Saturday school. I began as a volunteer whereby my duties involved carrying out administrative work as well as being an English and Mathematics support teacher. This meant that I would work alongside a teacher to help students in reaching their full potential. I participated in this 3 hours a week. I developed several skills including administrative and organisational skills. This job is very fulfilling seeing the difference made when knowledge is passed on from one person to another. I feel that I am lucky to be a part of the flowing creativity and the general enthusiasm that this school thrives. I enjoy this as I have the opportunity to work with public.

A future goal of mine is to run my own ophthalmic practice, this will combine both interests of being able to work with the public and the interest of the optometry course and this inevitably will form a perfect career for me.

I enjoy playing sport and keeping active, every week I attend a community run sports club where I play sports including indoor football, table tennis and badminton which is a favourite sport of mine. I also participate in tournaments with against different teams in these sports. As I enjoy playing sport I decided further my knowledge by taking part in a Junior Sports Leadership Award, this enabled me to increase my communicative skills, sporting skills and refereeing skills.

I am a conscientious student and am determined to achieve the best that I can in order to succeed as a student as well as a person. I look forward to the challenges and range of experiences that await me in higher education and university life. I know that the course will be demanding but I know that I can achieve my predicted grades as long as I put in maximum effort; I accept that one has the ability to prosper in life as long as good effort is sustained.

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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