Contacts give private pupils edge applying for university The Sutton Trust, a charity promoting social mobility, warned that the conclusions underlined the gulf in access to top universities among independent and state school pupils. It emerged that 70 per cent of private school applicants involved in the study went on to high-ranking universities, compared with just half of those from state comprehensives or colleges. The charity called for the introduction of new rules governing the use of personal statements, including a limit on the number of work experience activities listed and curbs on the use of identical statements by more than one applicant. It also suggested that universities should routinely take students" background into account when assessing extracurricular interests and state schools should be required to provide more practical support to help draft statements. The recommendations are likely to prompt fresh concerns over attempts to "socially engineer" university admissions. But Sir Peter Lampl, Sutton Trust chairman, said: "Personal statements should be more than an excuse to highlight past advantages. Applicants should outline how they might contribute to campus life, and universities should make it clear that applicants are not penalised for lacking opportunities in the past due to family circumstances. Personal statements are written documents of up to 4,000 characters designed to supplement students" university applications. They typically feature information on applicants" background, suitability for courses, relevant work experience and other extracurricular activities. The Sutton Trust commissioned Dr Steven Jones, of Manchester University, to analyse 309 personal statements sent to the same university from students with the same A-level grades. He found that independent school applicants were "more likely to submit statements that are carefully crafted, written in an academically appropriate way, and filled with high status, relevant activities." "By contrast, state school applicants appear to receive less help composing their statement, often struggling to draw on suitable work and life experience," it was claimed. It said that independent school applicants used the opportunity to "exchange privileged forms of cultural capital and social capital." One 18-year-old boasted of working "for a designer in London, as a model... on the trading floor of a London broker's firm... with my local BBC radio station... events planning with a corporate five-star country hotel... in the marketing team of a leading City law firm... and most recently managing a small gastro pub." For state school applicants, work-related activity was more likely to involve a Saturday job or a school visit to a business. Family networks were also found to make a big difference. The father of one private school applicant was described as "an entrepreneur who has created and sold a number of successive businesses," enabling the student to experience the "multi-faceted world of business first hand." Another applicant told of regularly visiting an uncle in Japan, "observing his aircraft brokerage and marketing company." In further differences, it found that state school students were three times more likely to make grammatical errors and spelling mistakes, such as "aquired" for "acquired." The study also found that state school pupils were more likely to use inappropriately informal language, including: "I am not really sure what makes me so interested in the subject; I don't have an exact reason to be truthful. I love it as a whole. Most of all I love getting to the bottom of a puzzle. Mary Curnock Cook, UCAS chief executive praised the report but added: "I have every confidence in the professionalism of admissions officers - they are highly experienced in recognising social factors in the content of personal statements." More on Personal Statements Personal statement: 10 most overused opening sentences Ucas insider's guide to the personal statement Writing your personal statement: what the experts say Personal statement: how to write a personal statement Writing your university personal statement: It doesn't have to be poetry... Personal statement: A student's view