personal statement examples for pgce

What to Include in Your PGCE Personal Statement

How your pgce personal statement should be structured, example personal statement, final thoughts, pgce personal statement.

Updated November 24, 2021

A PGCE personal statement is written as part of the application process for teacher training and gives candidates an opportunity to showcase their skills and attributes.

PGCE candidates will only write one personal statement, which is used to apply for all of their preferred choices. Students upload their personal statement to the UCAS Teacher Training system, and it is submitted for all choices in both phases of the application process (‘Apply 1’ and ‘Apply 2’). No changes can be made once it is submitted.

The personal statement is often used as the deciding factor for choosing whom to invite to interview . This piece of writing should explain the experience you have and how this translates into your abilities in the classroom.

It should also present what you might be like as a teacher – how will your personality and interests help engage students and get them enthused about the subject?

A lot is riding on your personal statement and writing it can be a daunting task. This guide will outline what your PGCE personal statement should contain and how to structure it for the best chance of success.

The admissions team will want to know about the skills, experience and personal qualities you have that would make you perfect for a teaching career. They need to see you have the dedication and passion to complete your PGCE and have a successful future.

Simply saying, “I would be good at this role and am well suited to it” isn’t enough. The PGCE provider needs to read real examples that demonstrate your skills and abilities and meet their requirements.

Here are some details you may want to include in your personal statement:

1. About You

A teacher’s personality and personal experience will be highly influential, therefore your own experiences are relevant to your application.

Before you start writing, it’s a good idea to spend a few minutes jotting down some key facts that are relevant to teaching. These might include:

• Your interests
• Qualifications/achievements
• What motivates you
• Your upbringing
• Relevant skills

Remember to include examples in your list. Coaching a sports team in your spare time suggests you are experienced in motivating young people and getting the best out of them. Maybe you play an instrument and use music in class. Including qualities like these will make your application stand out.

2. Why You Want to Teach

A key element of your application is explaining why you have chosen teaching as your future career. Show an awareness of how teachers can inspire individuals and also the benefits you might see in yourself.

Try to broaden your answer further than simply saying you are passionate about teaching or children. Every applicant will say they are passionate.

Give details of experiences that moved you towards this career or, perhaps, even the moment you realised this was what you were born to do. By using genuine examples, your passion and excitement will shine through.

3. Why You Are the Best Candidate

Try not to pull out a cliché like “I am passionate, dedicated and reliable” – make your application stand out by using a paragraph that the provider won’t see in any other application that day.

Think about what makes you different from any other candidate. Other applicants may say they can take charge of a class and have experience dealing with challenging children, but will they sing an entire lesson just to get the pupils to engage with them, like you did in your work experience? Or will they bring in a structure made out of Lego to demonstrate osmosis, like you did on your degree placement? Think of what makes you, you.

4. Why a PGCE?

Include details of why you have chosen to go down the route of a PGCE rather than doing a full teaching degree. Perhaps you dipped your toe into teaching while travelling after your degree and realised how much you love it, or maybe you are passionate about biology and wanted to decide at a later date whether to go into teaching or industry.

Show that you have done your research and understand the structure of the PGCE and what will be required.

5. Teaching-Related Experience

Include details of any experience you have gained working in schools or with children in another environment. This might include:

• Work experience
• Visits to schools
• Teaching assistant roles
• Voluntary teaching/supervision roles (like helping out at a scout hut, etc.)
• Experience via the Get School Experience service
• Classroom observations

With every experience you discuss, note the skills you gained and how they will benefit you as a teacher and how they have improved your understanding of the education system.

6. Other Professional Experience

Teaching demands a range of different skills – it’s not simply a case of delivering information.

Talk about past positions you have held:

• Did you manage people?
• Did you work within a team?
• Did you negotiate?
• Have you trained or coached others?
• When have you communicated information to different audiences?

The skills you have gained throughout your education, work and personal life can be highly relevant to your application. Be sure to include details of why these skills will make you excel as a teacher.

7. What You Learnt During Your Degree

Whether your degree was in the subject you intend to teach or not, it’s important to talk about the skills you developed throughout your learning and how they will benefit you as a teacher.

If you’re struggling to find transferable skills , here are some ideas:

• Think about how you communicated (presentations, critiquing the work of your peers, etc.)
• Give examples of how you organised yourself
• Describe times you helped others with their learning

Remember to talk about the benefits your initial degree will bring when studying for your PGCE and how your interest in it has inspired your desire to teach.

8. Your Knowledge of What Training to Be/Being a Teacher Entails

It’s important to stress your commitment to your training. To do this, you should demonstrate that you have done your research and are fully aware of what is to come.

Although teaching is a highly rewarding career, no one applying for teacher training will do so without being aware of the challenging nature of the profession.

There is no need to ignore these challenges in your application; actually, it will work in your favour if you show that you have thought about these challenges and are sufficiently prepared.

Talk about the positives and negatives that you expect to experience in your training and within your career, and how your core strengths will help you deal with them.

9. Your Future Plans

Discuss your plans beyond the PGCE:

• Do you have the ambition to be a headteacher?
• Do you plan to take on pastoral responsibilities?

Show a keenness to immerse yourself in the school system and be open to opportunities that come your way.

10. Extenuating Circumstances 

Your personal statement is the place to openly discuss any extenuating circumstances, such as low grades or large gaps in employment/education. Make sure you show how you have overcome these challenges and what you learnt from them.

Write your personal statement in Word (or equivalent) and make sure you are happy with it before copying and pasting it into your application on the UCAS system.

You need to keep your personal statement to no more than 4,000 characters across a maximum of 47 lines of text . The UCAS Teacher Training system may differ slightly to your word processor, so be prepared to amend slightly once you have copied it into the UCAS page.

To keep to the character limit and cover all the suggested material above, you will need to be succinct. Make sure you only talk about topics that are relevant and delete any waffle.

Your opening statement should be strong and memorable – a good idea is to state why you have decided to get into teaching. Back up all details with examples and be sure to say what you learned from the experience or how you can bring the skills you developed into the classroom.

Split your statement into three sections:

• Introduction – Introduce yourself and talk about why you want to do a PGCE
• Middle – Use the notes above to cover the key details
• Conclusion – Tell the reader why you are the best person for the place they are offering

Avoid using bold, underlining or italics, and write in English (or Welsh if applying for Welsh PGCEs). The UCAS system will strip all special formatting out of the personal statement (except paragraph breaks) so ensure you keep it simple.

When you are happy with the content, make sure you ask someone to check your work . Spelling and grammar in personal statements should be accurate. Make sure you have not copied anyone else’s work at all – UCAS screens all applications for plagiarism.

Below is an example personal statement which covers all of the key points you should include in this piece of writing:

A teacher at my secondary school single-handedly transformed my passion and ability for maths; I was predicted an ‘F’ at GCSE and in a matter of months, she helped me achieve a ‘B’ and start to enjoy the subject. I can’t think of a more satisfying job than one in which you can inspire young people in the way my teacher inspired me. After achieving a ‘B’ in maths at A-Level, I went on to study the subject at University College London and graduated in 2018 with a 2.1. It was in the final year of my degree that I had my first taste of teaching the subject, as several of the modules involved presenting topics to large groups of first-year students. I was thrilled when students asked to see me afterwards to share their observations of what I had been discussing – it was clear my enthusiasm had rubbed off on them and they were excited by maths, which is exactly why I want to teach. I currently work as a teaching assistant at St Andrew’s School, where I have been for six months. This position has given me a great insight into the skills needed to be a fantastic teacher; the school has several SEN pupils and I have been exposed to the more challenging side of the profession. Being trusted to run activities with the entire class has helped me build confidence and learn how important it is to adapt lesson plans to engage students who have different abilities. I have gained valuable skills in implementing strategies such as gentle competitiveness between pupils, and tactical seating plans to get the best out of each student. Before working at St Andrew’s, I completed a work experience placement at Bell Lane Academy where I shadowed teachers working across the five different year groups. This experience helped hone my skills in addressing different age groups in different ways. My ability to get the best out of students is further strengthened by the experience I am currently gaining in the position of assistant coach at my local netball team. Having worked with the girls for the last 18 months, I have developed different ways of motivating individuals, helping push them outside of their comfort zones and encouraging them to take on new challenges. In my spare time, I enjoy playing netball and rugby and would be keen to take on extra responsibilities at a school in the form of after school clubs or teams. I also have a keen interest in management styles and personality types. The knowledge I gain from books on these topics helps me understand pupils and their differing learning styles – what works for them and what doesn’t. It also helps me look inwardly, analysing my own leadership style and methods of teaching. I have chosen to do a PGCE because I am passionate about maths, and I wanted to spend three years of a degree course exploring the subject further, rather than embarking on teacher training straight from school. My degree course has helped me with my confidence and my ability to speak in front of large groups of people. Teaching first-year students during my degree course helped me think about how to deliver the subject in an exciting and creative way. The experience I have had so far has clearly shown that teaching is an extremely challenging profession, but one which I believe is undeniably my calling in life. I adore maths and I want to bring the subject alive, helping children learn in an exciting, rewarding environment. A few weeks ago, I took it upon myself to ask the headteacher for permission to get the whole year group involved in a human percentages exercise – the children loved it. I believe I should be offered a place on your PGCE programme because I can commit to dedicating myself to a role in which I will strive to inspire and excite every pupil I teach.

The personal statement is your one opportunity to capture the attention of the PGCE provider and set yourself apart from other candidates. Teaching is about bringing your personality into the classroom and inspiring students, so avoid a formulaic application and speak from the heart, giving a full picture of who you are.

Your answers should convey enthusiasm for inspiring young people, a passion for teaching, creativity, excellent organisational skills and energy.

Demonstrate an awareness of this challenging profession but conclude with excitement and enthusiasm for your chosen career path.

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Writing a pgce personal statement.

If you’re applying to train as a teacher you’ll be required to write a personal statement as part of your application.

Take your time writing your personal statement. It’s your first chance to make a good impression so it's well worth investing time to develop a clear structure and style of writing.

It’s a good idea to proofread your statement thoroughly and get others to read through and check for typos, grammatical errors, style, and tone.

What's the personal statement for? 

The personal statement is crucial to your PGCE application; it is used primarily to decide whether to invite you for an interview. A poorly written personal statement could end your teaching career before it has started!

This is your chance to demonstrate what you have to offer as a teacher. You should also explain why you want to teach a particular subject or age range, and how your skills and experience will help you become a great teacher. It’s your chance to show your motivation, commitment and teaching potential and an opportunity to show your enthusiasm for teaching a particular subject or age group.

Remember, you only get one opportunity to write a personal statement for both cycles of applications, so it’s important to keep in mind that you should avoid creating tailored personal statements for each university.

How to write and structure your personal statement

The personal statement is split into two sections totalling a maximum of 1,000 words. It’s important to make sure you do not repeat yourself and to take time to ensure that each section is organised coherently. Divide your writing into paragraphs, each dealing with a particular aspect of the question.

Section 1: Why do you want to teach?

(Up to 600 words).

This is the place to talk about why you think you would make a great teacher. You can include:  

• what has led you to choose teacher training
• your understanding of the demands and rewards of the PGCE course and of the teaching profession
• the personal qualities that will make you a valuable asset to a school
• details of any paid or unpaid experience you have of working with young people and what you learnt
• details of any other experiences which you can bring to the teaching profession. Think about any ‘transferable skills’ or qualities which you have developed which may be relevant to teaching.
• If you are a career-changer, what have you been doing and what are your reasons for the switch to teaching?
• your thoughts on children’s wellbeing and the education system

Your personal statement should tell us why you want to teach, your skills and about any experience you might have of working with young people or in the education sector. If you are taking any exams or additional study before starting the course, particularly if this relates to your eligibility to join the course, we want to hear about it.

It should also show that you understand the education system, what challenges teachers face and that you’re engaged with issues around education.

If you’ve not taught before, think about any other things you’ve done that might demonstrate the skills you’ll need to be a teacher (your transferable skills).

Although it’s a good place to expand on your skills and experience, this shouldn’t be the main focus of your personal statement as the rest of the application will showcase this.

Section 2: Why are you suited to teach your subjects or age group?

Up to 400 words.

Remember to not repeat anything you have already said in section 1!

If you’re writing a personal statement for secondary teacher training, use this section to describe your knowledge and experience of the subjects you’ve chosen. Any work experience in the field will be of interest.

What universities are looking for

Universities want to see your passion for teaching and understand why you think teaching this subject or age group is the right career for you.

Your personal statement should be original and honest. Try and avoid clichés or writing what you think we want to hear. All we really want to hear are the real reasons you’re applying to study a PGCE and become a teacher.

If you’re writing a personal statement for primary teacher training, say why you’d like to teach this age group. If you are particularly interested in certain primary subjects or have relevant experience in them, you can talk about that here too.  

You could talk about:

• any relevant work or unpaid experience
• your degree and degree modules
• your other relevant qualifications, such as A levels
• any relevant skills, interests or achievements
• your understanding of the national curriculum

Questions your personal statement should answer

• Why do you want to be a teacher? 
• Why do you want to teach a particular subject, Key Stage or age group? 
• What are your strengths? 
• What experience do you have and how has this influenced your desire to teach? 
• What skills do you have that would be useful for teaching

The finer details

Your personal statement should be:

• no more than 1000 words
• written in the first-person 
• grammatically correct - we suggest writing in a document before adding to your application
• your own work, don’t copy from anywhere online 
• structured correctly with a clear introduction, evidenced paragraphs and a conclusion 
• proof-read before being submitted

And finally, be prepared to answer questions about what you’ve written in your personal statement at the interview stage!

Find out more about how to get into teaching .  

Find out more about how to get into teaching . 

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How to write a PGCE personal statement

29 th September 2021

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Advice on how to write a PGCE personal statement that shows you’d make a great addition to a teacher training course.

What is a teacher training personal statement?

What to write, pgce personal statement tips.

When applying for a PGCE or postgraduate teacher training, you’ll probably have to write a personal statement. This is your chance to say why you’d make a great teacher by highlighting your relevant experiences and passion for teaching.

If you’re applying directly to a university or school, you should tailor your statement precisely to the course you’re applying for.

If you’re applying through UCAS Teacher Training, you can send your application to more than one university. Therefore, your statement should be more generic so that it applies to each one you’re applying to.

In both cases, make sure that your personal statement reflects the nature of the course or courses you’re applying for. Think about, for example, is it school- or university-based training? What age of students will you be teaching? Will you be specialising in a particular subject?

Before you start writing, look at any information you can find about the course and what you must do to apply. Has the university provided any guidance or topics of what you need to cover?

If not, can you speak to one of the course tutors to discuss what they might want to see in your statement? Or can you talk to a current PGCE student and ask what they wrote in theirs?

When you have a good idea of what admissions tutors will be looking for, create a mind map or list:

• Your relevant academic and practical experiences
• Areas of the course that you’re most interested in
• Anything else the university wants you to include

When structuring your statement, you can use your mind map or list to plan what information to put where.

Your structure can look something like:

• Introduction – about yourself and why you want to do the PGCE
• Middle paragraphs – relevant information of your academic achievements and experiences of working within education
• Concluding paragraph – tying up the main points of why you’re the best candidate for the course

If you’re applying directly to the university, check what the word limit for your personal statement is.

If you’re submitting to UCAS Teacher Training, your personal statement can be up to 47 lines of text or 4,000 characters.

Expanding on your mind map or list from before, think in more depth about why you want to teach.

• What qualities do you have that would make you good at teaching?
• What do you think are the challenges and benefits of being a teacher?
• Why have you chosen this particular age group and/or subject?
• What have you learned from your previous experiences in education?
• Will you be completing any extra exams or relevant experiences before the course starts?

If you studied education at undergraduate level, your course was probably focused on the theoretical side of the subject. Your PGCE course, however, will be about applying those theories to real-life situations in schools. Your personal statement should reflect your understanding of this.

If you haven’t taught before, what other activities or events in your life suggest that you would make a good teacher? Have you worked with children in different environments?

Admissions tutors don’t just want to see why you think your experiences make you a good teacher. Instead, they want to know that you’re aware of the importance of teaching and the demands that come with it.

• Why is it important to reflect on your abilities as a teaching practitioner?
• How will you work on your own development to become a great teacher?
• What interests you about the education system and its challenges?
• Do you have any thoughts are on child welfare and social justice?

When writing, make sure to use evidence and examples to back up your points. Through your tone of voice, try to show that you are positive and passionate about the work.

To see more information on how to style your personal statement, see our postgraduate statements guide.

• Ask someone you know to check it through. Even better if you can get feedback from a teacher
• See if you can speak to other students applying for a PGCE to share thoughts and ideas of what to write
• Similarly, reach out to PGCE staff at your university – or a teacher you know – they have experience that might be valuable to you!
• Any time you can spend in a school will be a valuable addition to your application. If you haven’t already, see if you can arrange to volunteer with one locally
• If you’re invited to an interview, you’ll be asked about what you’ve written on your statement, so be prepared to talk about it in more detail

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• How to write a teacher training personal statement

Teacher Training

• Routes into teaching in England
• PGCE university-led teacher training in England
• School Direct (tuition fee) programmes in England
• School Direct (salaried) programmes in England
• Postgraduate Teaching Apprenticeship programmes in England
• Teach First Leadership Development Programme
• Assessment Only programmes in England
• Researchers in Schools, including Maths and Physics Chairs programme
• Postgraduate Early Years Initial Teacher Training in England
• Find teacher training programmes
• Train to teach in Northern Ireland
• Explore your options in Scotland
• How to apply for teacher training in Scotland
• Scotland and Wales: What happens next?
• Fees and funding
• Returning to teaching
• Decisions and replies
• Know your rights!
• Preparing for interviews
• Preparing for teacher training

Tips for your teacher training application

Tips for your teaching training application.

If you're looking for programmes in  England , use the DfE's  ' Apply for teacher training' service . If you're looking for programmes in  Wales or Scotland,  use  UCAS' search tool .

You can only complete one personal statement You can’t change it or create different ones for university or school-based choices. The providers you’re applying to understand this, so they won’t be expecting you to say specific things about them or their programmes. However, if you’re applying for programmes in a particular subject or age group, it would be helpful to explain why you have chosen them, and the skills and attributes you have that make them appropriate for you.

I read hundreds of UCAS applications for teacher training every year, and I cannot stress how important the personal statement is. Claire Harnden, Director of Initial Teacher Training at Surrey South Farnham SCITT

What to include

You do need to think carefully about the things that all your chosen providers will want to know about you. You’ll probably want to include things like:

• your reason(s) for wanting to teach
• evidence that you understand the rewards and challenges of teaching
• details of your previous education and how you have benefitted from it
• any other work with young people, such as helping with a youth club, working at a summer camp or running a sports team
• the range of relevant abilities and skills you can bring to teaching, for example, practical experience, managing people, working with or leading a team, and communication skills
• any reasons why there may be restrictions on your geographical mobility
• why you want to study in the UK, if you don’t currently live here
• whether you have any previous classroom experience, either independently or had a taste of school life via the  Get School Experience service .

These are the things all training providers want to know – whether they’re School Direct, a university or a SCITT – so there’s no need to worry that you can’t write different personal statements. Read what SCITT director, Claire Harnden, looks for in a  teacher training personal statement .

In addition to the details you give in the school and work experience section, you can also expand on your experience of teaching, such as visits to schools, classroom observations or working as a teaching assistant. To help, read   Chris Chivers' tips for completing your teacher training application .

Whatever the route, the process will have similar elements, which are worth considering, so that the appliation has the greatest chance of making an impression. Chris Chivers, experienced ITT tutor and mentor

How to write it

You can use up to 47 lines of text (4,000 characters) in your personal statement. Some word processing packages calculate line counts differently from the UCAS Teacher Training system, so you might need to redraft your statement if there’s a discrepancy between the counts.

• Write in English (or Welsh if you’re applying to Welsh providers) and avoid italics, bold or underlining.
• Get the grammar and punctuation right and redraft your statement until you’re happy with it.
• It’s a good idea to write your personal statement in a word processor first, then copy and paste it into your application.

Don’t copy!

Don’t copy anyone else’s personal statement or from statements posted on the internet.  Make sure your personal statement is all your own work.

You might also like to read

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Writing a Postgraduate Teacher Education personal statement

Updated on 7 July 2023

Guidance on how to write a PGDE/CE personal statement and an example to help demonstrate your skills, experience and motivation for teaching.

A personal statement is a short piece of writing (47 lines/4000 characters) which you are asked to submit in support of your application to study a PGDE/CE made through UCAS. It is your opportunity to demonstrate your skills, experience and motivation for teaching.

Before you start

Remember that this is a very important part of your application. Take your time to carefully plan out and practise your statement. It is a good idea to draft your statement in a word document and get some feedback on it before committing to the final version..

• Don't waste space with irrelevant or repetitive information. Be succinct and avoid complicated language and overly long sentences.
• Be specific about what you have to offer. Detail what you have gained from your experiences in schools/working with children. Give appropriate evidence of the skills you possess for teaching.
• Indicate the relevance of other types of experience or skills you possess, e.g. supervising people or sports
• Avoid using negative language. Present any gaps in skills or experience positively.
• Finish with a summary of what you have to offer     leave the selectors with a clear understanding of your suitability for the course.
• Let your enthusiasm for teaching and working with children shine through in everything you say.
• Check grammar and spelling thoroughly! Do not rely on the spelling and grammar check on your word processing package alone. Ask someone to proof read it for you.
• If you are cutting and pasting from a word document, remember to check the formatting.

Questions to consider when structuring your Personal Statement

• Why do you want to be a teacher? - What has inspired you; who/what influenced you?
• Why do you want to work with young people? - What appeals to you about working with this age group; what skills do you possess that will help you?
• Why do you want to teach your subject? For primary: demonstrate a breadth of knowledge across a range of curriculum areas. For secondary, show how your subject knowledge is relevant to the curriculum.
• What have you gained from working with young people? - Have you had any experience in schools or working with children in other settings? Reflect upon what you did, what you observed, what you learned.
• What else can you offer? Skills in sports, music, languages, arts and crafts, ICT etc.

This is an example personal statement. There is considerable room for improvement and the notes make suggestions to help you with writing yours.

I am applying for the PGDE course because I have always wanted to be a teacher. I really like working with children and think that I have the right kinds of skills to become a good teacher .

• The above statement is far too short: you are allowed 47 lines/4000 characters so use them.
• Remember to specify whether you are applying f or primary or secondary courses.
• It is not enough to say that you have developed the "right kinds of skills". Be specific about them.
• It is important to have a strong opening statement . It is the first thing the selectors will read so you want to make an impact. 
• Think about why you have always wanted to teach and clearly demonstrate.

New Paragraph

At school, I was involved with the Primary 1 class when I was in final year. I helped the less able children with reading on a one to one basis. I also help out at my local Brownie pack every week, keeping the girls busy with various activities. I have applied to do the Student Tutoring Scheme.

• When describing experience with children, make sure you are specific about what you learned from the work and the skills you developed.
• You need to demonstrate (by providing evidence) that you have developed/ have the potential to develop skills such as communication, leadership, teamwork, problem solving, organisation, planning and time management.

At school I studied a wide range of subjects but the one I enjoyed most was History so that is what I have studied at university. I also took Psychology and Politics in first year and Politics in second year too.

• When describing your studies, remember to show how this is relevant to the subject(s) you will be teaching.

I have been a babysitter for two children for several years and enjoy helping the older child with his homework now that he is at school.

• When describing your experience remember to demonstrate the transferable skills you have gained in this role that would be relevant to teaching. For example with babysitting you could link to the skill of 'behaviour management'.

I am very interested in education generally and keep up to date with current issues by reading the BBC website.

It is not enough to say that you 'keep up-to-date' here. Give a summary of what you have to offer and stating why you should be offered a place on the course.

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Writing a personal statement for a PGCE

How To Write a PGCE Personal Statement

Your personal statement is crucial to the success of your application and must be well written, concise, well-structured. It must also clearly demonstrate your reasons for choosing teaching and your commitment and suitability for this career in only 47 lines!

Before applying, do your research. Find out what being a teacher is really like. Get experience in a school, talk to teachers and read careers information.

General Tips:

• Compose your statement in Word and cut and paste it into your online application. This will allow you to ensure it fits, that you have used spell check and have proofread it to ensure its word perfect. Personal statements with a poor level of written English will be rejected.
• Use Verdana 12 as this is the size and font used by UCAS.
• Ensure it has a good structure with an introduction, a middle and a conclusion.
• Get someone to check your final draft who is knowledgeable in this area and whose judgement you trust.
• Research the Training Provider you are applying for. Which skills/experience/qualifications do they expect?

Your Personal Statement should:

• be persuasive
• be fluent, realistic, relevant and specific
• mention young people- it is about enabling them to learn rather than why you want to teach
• overuse of short sentences all beginning with ‘I’
• general statements and narrative
• I feel/think/believe – instead, use positive action words e.g. planned/managed/implemented/organised
• making a statement without having evidence to back it up

Sections in your Personal Statement:

• Introduction- why teaching and why you?
• The relevance of your work experience
• What subject you want to teach and why?
• Additional factors
• Concluding paragraph

1.Introduction

Why teaching?

• What is your motivation? What has influenced your decision to teach? Avoid ‘I have always wanted to teach’ or ‘I believe teaching is worthwhile’ or ‘I like children’.
• Concentrate on what influenced your decision to teach, how the idea has developed and what can you offer in terms of personal skills and attributes.
• Have certain people influenced you? Why? How?
• Show your desire to work with young people and refer to evidence.

Make a list of skills and qualities that you have that can be linked to all the key skills that make an effective teacher and how you can demonstrate this with examples:

• Organisation
• Communication
• Energy & enthusiasm
• Responsibility
• Love of subject
• Team player

2.Relevant Experience

School-based experience:

• Where? Try to avoid visiting the school you attended as a pupil
• How long for? One day is probably not enough time to see what it means to be a teacher, you need enough time to gain a good understanding of teaching and schools.
• What did you do? Did you observe lessons, work as a TA, attend meetings/training/ research curriculum/teaching and learning/had a focus on EAL or SEND pupils?
• What Key Stages did you experience? Make sure it is relevant to the specific PGCE course you are applying for.
• What techniques did you observe? Effective and not effective and why?
• Lesson-planning
• Classroom organisation
• Classroom management
• Inclusion/ diversity issues e.g. English as an additional language (EAL); special educational needs (SEND); disadvantaged pupils and gifted and talented pupils.

Always say what you have done and how it demonstrates the skills required as a teacher. For example, ‘reading with a group of pupils showed me that…’ or ‘working with a low ability group allowed me to…’

Other work with young people (paid/unpaid): 

• Youth groups
• After school groups
• Summer camps

What if you don’t have any relevant experience?

Highlight the other experiences you have engaged in and use these to demonstrate your understanding of teaching and schools.

3. What subject you want to teach and why?

• For Secondary, you need to show that you are passionate about your subject area and passing on that enthusiasm to young people.
• Link to relevant work experience, what have you observed and match your skills to this.
• Refer to any research you have done regarding your subject and also the curriculum/ examinations you would be required to teach at that Key Stage
• Link your qualifications and wider reading to your subject knowledge, if your qualifications are not relevant you need to show how you are going to develop your subject knowledge in order to teach the subject.
• State why you have applied to this particular type of PGCE course e.g. school-based/ flexibility/ reputation.

4. Additional Factors

• Hobbies linked to the profession/ skill set e.g. value-added skills such as sport, music, language etc.
• Additional courses you have completed/ completing e.g. ICT, subject knowledge enhancement course etc.
• Further experiences planned for the future prior to commencing a PGCE course.

5. Concluding Paragraph

• State your commitment to the course, acknowledge that teaching requires dedication, stamina, time management, being pro-active
• Reinforce your reasons for being committed to teaching
• Demonstrate awareness of the physical and mental demands of the course and the profession
• Career plan – what is your goal for your teaching career?

A teacher’s must-have qualities:

• Interpersonal skills
• Ability to think of their feet
• Good time-management

Background Reading

www.ucas.com/ucas/teacher-training 

Times Educational Supplement ( www.tes.com )

www.theguardian.com/education

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PGCE Personal Statement Example

Are you applying to PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate in Education) Primary or Secondary? Start your application by writing a PGCE personal statement with our example as a guide.

Personal Statement Example for PGCE Secondary

My twenty-year teaching career has given me extensive skills in training and management, as well as working directly with children. As a result of these roles, I have been able to observe how my experience within teaching has impacted my ability to assess and report on a variety of issues. Moreover, I have regularly studied and completed professional training to be able to provide feedback, allowing me to provide successful mentoring and assessment.

Studying for a degree in Early Years Education offered me a chance to develop analytical skills by translating teaching experience into academic qualifications. In academic studies, the evidence must be gathered, analyzed, and interpreted, and findings must be documented consistently. My experience gathered evidence through essay writing and project work, whether consulting previous studies or conducting my own. Being consistently recognized for my outstanding performance demonstrates that I am an expert in this field.

As a supervisor, manager, chairperson and governor, I gained experience in gathering, analyzing and interpreting evidence within an academic context. Reporting on findings at committee meetings or in writing has been part of each of these roles.

Through my previous role in preschool management, I demonstrated my dedication to facilitating learning through training and supervision, which required an understanding of the impact of decisions at the management level on the quality of education. Educational planning has to be considered alongside practical concerns, such as budget restrictions when using the Early Years Educational Framework. It took organisational and diplomatic skills to implement this framework by managing an existing team. My commitment to training and development allowed me to acquire the skills necessary for this; while a fair, reasonable approach to feedback allowed me to instil the same in my colleagues. Through this approach to constructive feedback, I was also able to provide structured guidance to students visiting from local colleges.

Additionally, I recruited and trained staff, controlled budgets, and established strong relationships between colleagues and parents. The ultimate responsibility for key decisions lay with me, even though my role as chair of the committee involved considering and meditating disparate viewpoints. By accepting this responsibility, I demonstrated my ability to weigh up the evidence to reach balanced judgements, which have always benefited the children.

My experience has taught me that communication skills are essential in any management position. Besides academic writing, I have been responsible for producing a variety of documents, including staff and pupil records, training materials, and fundraising materials. I have also been instrumental in producing a monthly 35-page parish magazine, requiring an eye for detail and a strong grasp of word processing and publishing IT packages, as well as the ability to respond to the concerns of contributors and advertisers.

I have developed my verbal critical feedback skills via staff management and training, and my work on mainly located has given me a priceless opportunity to mediate and lead the conversation, defending, interpreting, and adjusting my opinion as needed.

I have consistently maintained a high degree of professionalism. I’ve continued to be passionate about learning new things and expanding my experience so that I can properly perform each function. I have expertise with and have adapted to the appropriate frameworks for each educational institution I have worked in, both in the classroom and in simpler elements, including health and safety laws.

Due to my experience working in early childhood education in both the UK and Australia, I have also demonstrated my ability to quickly and efficiently adjust to foreign environments while maintaining the same high quality of care. I have worked to establish solid, professional connections with all stakeholders in addition to my practical understanding of each function, and I have proven to be an asset as a committee member and in supervisory responsibilities.

Although it has been evident in my managerial and administrative duties, my enthusiastic and thoughtful commitment to delivering a top-notch education for every kid has also sparked energy inside the educational setting. My dedication to equality, diversity, and excellence in education—as well as the many challenges that these values present—has been inspired by my work with children of all ages and my extensive experience working with children with special educational needs, such as autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, and visual and hearing impairments.

Other examples:

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Teaching personal statement examples

Giving you the chance to show why you'd be a great teacher, your personal statement is an important part of your application and worth taking the time over

What is a teaching personal statement?

Your personal statement is used to explain why you want to become a teacher and your suitability for the role. While your application form briefly outlines your qualifications, skills and work experience, your teaching personal statement is where your personality shines through.

Take your time with it. Many candidates often spend a few weeks on this part of the application as you don't have to write it all at once. You should get someone to read over it and be prepared to receive constructive feedback and write a few drafts before you send it off.

It's important to:

• use examples based on your recent teaching experience
• tailor your personal statement according to the school/age group
• use good, clear, written English, using first person terms such as 'my' and 'I'
• be original and honest
• avoid clichés and general statements, such as 'I've always wanted to teach'
• demonstrate a passion for teaching.

While it's crucial to get it right, your teaching personal statement is only a small part of the application process. Find out how else you'll need to prepare to  get a teaching job .

How to write a personal statement for teaching

Your personal statement should be between 500 and 1,000 words. It's crucial that you  don't copy  and that the statement you provide is  your own work .

This is your opportunity to:

• write about any relevant skills and experience you have
• explain your understanding of why teaching is important
• detail why you want to become a teacher
• list any extra skills or experience you have, such as volunteering or first aid.

See  personal statements for postgraduate applications  for more guidance.

The nature of your personal statement will vary, depending on the type of teaching you'd like to pursue. Take a look at some of our example personal statements to get an idea of how they differ.

Personal statement for PGCE primary

As well as focusing on roles in which you've gained experience with primary-age children, a PGCE primary personal statement should demonstrate your well-rounded personality and any skills that could be useful for the range of extra-curricular activities primary schools provide (such as the ability to read music for recorder lessons, or drama experience to help with school plays).

Personal statement for PGCE secondary

Many good PGCE secondary personal statements acknowledge the challenges involved in teaching older pupils and provide examples of where the candidate has worked to overcome these problems. As secondary teaching roles are geared towards teaching a specific subject, training providers are looking for more evidence of your subject and degree knowledge.

Personal statement for School Direct

If you're applying for the salaried School Direct route, you should discuss the experience you've gained in the classroom prior to your application. One of your references will need to be from an employer, or someone who can comment on your work ethic and suitability for teaching. Don't worry if your degree is unrelated to the subject you'd like to teach - you may still be able to apply by completing a subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) course .

Find out more

• Discover how to structure a teaching CV .
• Find out what it's really like to be a primary or secondary school teacher .
• Search postgraduate courses in teaching .

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• Education and teaching personal statements

ICT PGCE degree personal statement example (1a)

As a motivated, organized and dynamic individual, I feel I can bring so much to the teaching profession. From a very young age I had an interest in computers and video games, and a wonder of how they worked. These fascinations lead me to pursue a degree in computing, and last year I achieved a Bachelor of Science in Computing and Web Development from the Institute of Technology, Sligo.

I first realised I would like to become a teacher in my final years at secondary school. I attended a boarding school in Dublin, which I could easily claim to be the best years of my life. As a boarding student, almost my entire teenage years revolved around school. The extra time living in school helped students and teachers build good relationships, particularly through sport and other extra curricular activities. I had a good rapport with many teachers and this has influenced me greatly to pursue a career in teaching.

I would consider myself to be athletic and have always been involved with sports at school and at local level. I had been selected to captain my football team on more than one occasion, and displayed some strong leadership skills whilst doing so. This lead me to become a coaching assistant in the training of younger teams over the last two years, primarily the 13 to 17 year old age group, which I believe has helped me improve my communication skills and the ability to build a good rapport with that age group. This coaching experience has given me a taste of what working with teenagers can be like, proving to me that it can be challenging, yet enjoyable.

I am now certain that it is secondary school students that I would like to teach. Such is my determination to become a teacher, that since graduating from college, I have achieved a qualification in teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL Certificate). I learnt some teaching skills through this course such as how best to give feedback, motivational skills, classroom management and cultural awareness in the classroom. I found this course to be enjoyable and interesting, but at the same time I found elements of it to be challenging. I am determined to have completed several months of teaching English as a second language before any potential PGCE course start dates in a foreign country teaching English, to try and gain some more classroom experience and more experience working with young students.

On top of this, I have arranged for an observation day to shadow an ICT teacher at a school in England. I hope to gain an insight into the English education system and how ICT is thought in English schools. I had hoped to get at least one week of shadowing an ICT teacher, but I have had considerable difficulty in doing so. . I would be delighted to be given the opportunity to teach, as it would allow me to share not just my knowledge and passion of computing and technology, but also my life experiences, in a rewarding and challenging career. I am aware that working with teenagers has its challenges, but I am confident I am capable of dealing with these challenges and can help the students to reach their full potential.

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Teacher training personal statement example (primary pgce) 10.

I am applying to study within the education department because I have a keen interest to work with younger children and pursue a career as a primary school teacher. I believe primary school teachers are extremely important as they support children through their first experience of going to school, giving them their first insight into education. I believe Primary school teachers can have a very positive impact and become a memorable role in children’s life.

Being the youngest child within my family, I rarely encountered children younger than me apart from at school, until 2010 when my cousins began to have children, this is what initiated my interest in younger children, I would jump at any opportunity to see and care for them, playing and looking after them seemed to come naturally, it was amazing to watch how quickly they developed, and nothing could beat the feeling of seeing a child conquer a new skill and knowing you helped them reach a new milestone.

In 2014 I was able to gain further insight into what it would be like to work with children, as I completed two weeks’ work placement at Tudor Court Day Nursery allowing me to see all areas of working with children aged 0-4yrs, although it was only two weeks I was able to independently motivate groups of children whilst working alongside them to assist them in their learning process.

For additional experience, I worked at Little Stars’ Day Nursery over Summer 2016, each day I turned up on time and remained professional whilst taking the time to build relationships with the children and staff. My time at the nursery was extremely beneficial as I was able to work with groups of children, using my creativity and confidence to come up with and complete various activities with the children. This gave me an insight as to what it would be like to cater and care for a group of child of differentiating abilities, reinforcing my desire to teach as the older children within the nursey were due to start school in the September.

I have experience with children of Primary school age as I have been caring for two children aged 5 and 10 since October 2015, this children has proved that I am responsible as I am the sole career for them from when I pick them up from school until their parents return home, it also has given me the opportunity to further access what it would be like to work with primary school children as we regularly complete their homework, allowing me to see some of the activities a Primary school teacher teaches.

The Subjects I took at A- Level have enhanced many of my skills, by taking four subjects at A-level and working, it has engaged and improved my organisation skills. Taking Film Studies taught me to delve deeper into the meaning and reasoning for things, which not only do I feel is a good life skill, it helped me to improve my analysis and assessment skills. Film studies also largely improved my creativity and my research skills.

Philosophy and Ethics A- Level also helped improve my skill of assessing, but helped more so to applying the assessment to real life situations, rather than films. It also aided me in my essay writing skills and my written communication. Studying Health and social care enabled me to independently research into the role of Primary school teacher, improving my knowledge of the job role, and accessing¬¬¬ my suitability for the role which only furthered my interest in becoming a Primary school teacher myself.

Throughout my time at school one subject I have always enjoyed is maths, which is why I took it as an A – Level, it has furthered my maths skills and made my aspiration of specialising in maths more certain. I’m a confident friendly person, which has been essential whilst working at Tesco’s, I also have developed good communication skills which has really helped whilst helping the Year 9’s at Breakfast club.

I have a variety of different hobbies that I look forward to continuing whilst studying my degree, including caring for animals, of which I have two dogs and three cats. I also enjoy cooking, especially experimental cooking which is a skill I developed during GCSE hospitality, I enjoy the challenge of throwing random ingredients together in order to see what works and what doesn’t. in my spare time, I like to read, when things get hectic picking up a book is just the right thing to take my mind of things and escape into the world that the book is creating.

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