To study for an undergraduate degree at Manchester or any UK university, you must make your application through UCAS. You’ll find the key dates for applying for a course starting in September 2025 on our How to apply page.  

Before you apply 

You can find all the information you need on our Before you apply page, including our course finder and course profiles to help you make the right choice for you.  

Check the admissions entry requirements for your course. Specific grades and subjects may be required for some courses, and this information is available on each subject course profile. For some courses, you’ll be asked to take an admissions test or provide a portfolio. The course profiles will highlight if this is a requirement for your chosen course.  

UCAS application form  

You can discover everything you need to know about the application process, including research, the application itself, and your next steps, on the UCAS Apply website.  

You’ll be asked to provide personal details including:  

  • An email address – we recommend you check your inbox frequently (including your junk/spam folders) as we will contact you via this email address.  
  • Details of your education and any qualifications you've already achieved, such as your GCSE results.
  • A personal statement – an opportunity to tell us why you're interested in your chosen course.  

Read the guidance from UCAS on filling in your application before you begin.  

UCAS personal statement  

Your personal statement is part of your UCAS application and gives you the opportunity to share information about yourself and your motivation to study your chosen course. It’s your chance to tell us why you want to go to university, why you’re passionate about studying a particular subject, and to showcase both your educational and extracurricular skills and achievements.  

Use your personal statement to demonstrate that you have the qualities your chosen university is looking for and explain why you are the best candidate for your preferred course. For some of our courses, a strong personal statement can tip the balance in favour of receiving an offer for a place at Manchester.  

You can only write one personal statement, so the same wording and information will be seen by all the universities you apply to. Your personal statement should therefore focus on the course that you want to study, rather than the universities you’re applying to.  

The admissions teams for our academic Schools or Departments may use your personal statement in different ways during the application process. Our priority is always to ensure the application process is fair and consistent. We are aware that other universities may have different expectations from a UCAS personal statement, so if we are looking for anything specific this will be highlighted in the application and selection section of the individual subject course profile.  

Applying for September 2025 

If you’re applying to go to university in September 2025, your personal statement can be structured how you wish. Other than a 4,000-character limit (including spaces), there are no other rules about how to plan your statement or what to include. Read UCAS’ advice on writing a personal statement 

Applying for September 2026 onwards 

The UCAS personal statement is changing for students applying to study in September 2026. The new format will make writing your personal statement easier and more structured.  

Rather than a free text response, the new personal statement format will ask you to answer three separate questions. Each question will have a minimum character count of 350 characters. The total character count limit for all three questions combined remains 4,000 characters.  

These changes have been introduced to help you focus on ‘what, why and where you want to study’. It is hoped that the new format will make writing your personal statement less stressful and more accessible, especially if you’re applying independently, or you’re an international student. The questions have been designed to help structure what you want to say and guide you to include the information universities are after.  

Personal statement questions  

You’ll be asked three questions that will act as a starting point for what you want to say. UCAS refers to these as ‘scaffolding questions’ and they’re designed to help you build your answers.  

Find out more about each question below: 

Top tips for your personal statement  

  • Make it relevant to you and your chosen course – it is a personal statement and everything you say should relate back to the course 
  • Be organised and plan it out 
  • Be specific and honest, don’t make things up  
  • Write clearly, with correct grammar and spelling 
  • Don’t go overboard with the thesaurus  
  • Don’t just list things, but explain what you’ve done and how it will help you with your university studies 
  • Don’t be negative – focus on what you’re good at. It's okay to be aware that something needs improving, but share what you’re doing to achieve this 
  • Don’t reference achievements from a very long time ago  
  • Don’t only focus on your career goals after university  
  • Don’t copy or paraphrase – UCAS uses sophisticated software and checks every personal statement for plagiarism. 

Additional information for applicants

Completing your UCAS application