Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) Personal Statement Guide

The Personal statement is a crucial opportunity to showcase your interest in PPE, your academic achievements, and your unique experiences.

But writing one isn't easy; there is a lot to cover and you'll only have 4,000 characters to do it in.

You'll need to show a passion for PPE, demonstrate a willingness to learn, as well as showing your potential to thrive under the rigorous Oxford system.

This guide will provide you with detailed advice on writing a fantastic personal statement that will capture the attention of admissions tutors. 

• Why are Personal Statements Important?
• What Should I Include in a PPE Personal Statement? 
• What Should I Avoid in a PPE Personal Statement? 
• Advice on How to Start a PPE Personal Statement 
• Advice on How to Finish a PPE Personal Statement 
• FAQs 

Why are Personal Statements Important? 

Your personal statement is a written statement that is sent to universities as part of your UCAS application. You only write one, and this is then sent to all of your university choices. Another important point to note about the personal statement is that it is relatively short: it must fit within either 4,000 characters or 47 lines in the UCAS form (whichever limit you reach first).

Personal statements are an important part of the application process as they are your chance to introduce yourself to Admissions Tutors in your own words and give them a chance to see who you are, what motivates you, and crucially, how you might contribute as a potential student at their university. This is valuable because the rest of your application is likely to be fairly similar to other students’ who are studying similar subjects and are at a similar level of ability. The personal statement helps to paint a picture of who you are, intellectually and personally, and therefore helps the universities choose between applicants based on who they think is a good fit for their course and university.

For a PPE personal statement, there are certain selection criteria that you must demonstrate. While candidates are not required to have studied any philosophy, politics, or economics at school, you should be able to demonstrate your interest in these subjects and that you have the aptitude for studying them at a high level.

PPE is a highly competitive course for admission, so a successful personal statement for PPE will demonstrate deep and original thinking, and real passion for the study of these subjects. It will also be unique to you. This can seem daunting at first, but with the right support and preparation, writing your personal statement can be an enjoyable experience and a chance to create something to be proud of.

What Should I Include in a PPE Personal Statement? 

A successful PPE personal statement must demonstrate your motivation for studying philosophy, politics, and economics. Ideally, you will be able to show your passion for each of these subjects individually, and also why you want to study them together. There are various ways you can demonstrate this interest and aptitude, including relevant work or academic achievements and your own independent learning outside of school. There are also some skills specific to PPE that admissions tutors will be looking for:

• Application and interest: this includes your capacity for sustained study, self-motivation, and interest, and demonstrating an independent and reflective approach to learning.
• Reasoning ability: your ability to analyse and solve problems using logical and critical approaches, ability to assess relevance, capacity to construct and critically assess arguments, flexibility, and willingness to consider alternative views.
• Communication: your willingness and ability to express ideas clearly and effectively on paper and orally; and ability to listen carefully and to give considered responses.

If you can bear these skills in mind as your write up your personal statement, it is well on the way to being a successful PPE personal statement.

Passion for Studying PPE

Many students are tempted to simply state that they are passionate about studying PPE and hope that this is enough to convince the admissions tutors. However, while you may well have passion, you need to demonstrate this in a way that is specific and personal to you. It can be helpful to retrace your interest in PPE; where did it begin? Where has your curiosity taken you so far? What have you enjoyed? What have you found challenging or surprising? Clearly, there are no right or wrong answers to these questions as they are personal to you, but as you are writing make sure that you are always going deeper and avoiding generalities or things that you have read or heard from other people. This will likely take a few brainstorming sessions and multiple drafts, and that’s okay!

Academic Achievements and Experiences

Selection for PPE is based primarily on academic achievement and potential, so it is important that this section is the highest quality it can be. It can be a mixture of formal and informal achievements such as essay competitions you have taken part in, or reading that you have completed that has challenged you to go beyond your school courses. Keep returning to the PPE-specific skills you wish to demonstrate, and weave those into your accomplishments. You can develop your analytical skills, ability to listen and communicate, and ability to reason carefully across a range of different subjects (including both humanities and sciences) and also in extra-curricular activities. Think about any research you have done, events you have helped with, debates, or volunteer work.

Specific Interests and Evidence of Research

This aspect of your personal statement is critically important as it is a chance to show that you are motivated and ready to study PPE at university level. It can be effective to talk about books or research that you have read and found fascinating, stories in the news, podcasts, documentaries, or films that have led you to want to explore PPE further. It can be helpful here, after your initial brainstorm, to identify some themes or common threads so that you can demonstrate that you have taken your interest and gone deeper with it, rather than simply writing a long list of different books you have read. You should reflect on everything you are reading or watching, make notes if possible, and try to link them to other sources and note down their main insights, limitations, and questions raised. While not a guarantee, admissions tutors do read your personal statement very carefully before your interview, so may well draw on readings you have mentioned for their interview questions. This is an opportunity for you to prepare well and be ready to show that you engage deeply with what you are reading and are hungry to learn more.

What Should I Avoid in a PPE Personal Statement? 

Perhaps the most common mistake students make is being too generic in their personal statements. While you will have a lot in common with other students, remember that you are unique. Your academic journey, your motivations, and the things that sparked your curiosity are all unique to you and you should make sure you communicate this in your personal statement. There is no need to make your personal statement “quirky” or dramatic, but be sure to make it specific, personal, and original. You can achieve this by making sure every sentence in your personal statement serves a purpose, and is not superficial or cliched. This takes effort and multiple drafts, but will be worth it to craft a really compelling personal statement.

Another common mistake is to mention achievements that are not relevant. They may well be impressive in themselves, but remember that admissions tutors are only looking for who is the best fit for PPE, not who is impressive in a general sense. If there is a particular achievement you want to include, be sure to explain how this deepened your interest in studying PPE or gave you some relevant transferable skills.

Advice on How to Start a PPE Personal Statement  

If you have a chance to read different successful personal statements, you will notice that there is no single way to begin a personal statement. This is good, because it means you can be creative and make it personal, but it can also be daunting as it means there is no template. The opening matters because it acts as a frame for the rest of the personal statement, setting the tone and helping the rest of it to flow in a way that is logical and compelling.

However, if it is too hard to get started facing a blank piece of paper, it can be helpful to leave the opening to the end and write it after you have identified the key themes of your personal statement. PPE offers an almost limitless source of inspiration for opening lines: quotes, books, your personal story and motivation, and world events are all potential places to start. As with the rest of the statement, the key is to make it original, personal, and tie it into your overall themes.

Advice on How to Finish a PPE Personal Statement  

In some ways the advice for ending a personal statement mirrors the advice for starting one: your closing paragraph should be personal, original, and tie together the ideas discussed in the rest of the personal statement. You should give careful thought to the impression you want to leave in the mind of the admissions tutor reading your statement and your final paragraph should be a strong demonstration of this.

Ideally, the ending should leave the person reading it wanting to meet you at interview, and excited about your potential as a PPE student. This will likely take a few rewrites but is time well spent, and very satisfying once you have got it right.

FAQs