Impersonal statements: aspiration and cruel optimism in the English higher education application process

Full-time undergraduate applicants to English universities must apply via the University and Colleges Admission Service (UCAS). By analysing the UCAS statements of 15 undergraduate applicants this article attempts to develop a critical understanding of the role that the personal statement has in applicants’ formation of themselves as subjects within higher education. The article explores how UCAS’s advice around the personal statements draws on...