when are personal statements being scrapped

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• UCAS Personal Statements Are Changing in 2025

Last Updated: 16th January 2023

Author: Matthew Amalfitano-Stroud

Table of Contents

It was announced by UCAS in January of 2023 that traditional Personal Statements will be removed from the university application process in the UK. 

Since 1993, UCAS has required university applicants in the UK to submit a 4,000-character Personal Statement during the application process, which would then be accessed by university admissions teams to assist in the shortlisting process. 

However, it has been confirmed by UCAS that this process will be changing as soon as 2025. Here, we dissect the announcement, discuss what we currently know about this change and explain how this could affect your university application. Let’s begin:  

In short, this is what you need to know:

• UCAS Personal Statements are being replaced by a multi-question survey that gives applicants the chance to explain various aspects of their application.
• This change could be implemented as early as the 2025 admissions cycle for 2026 Entry in the UK.
• This will affect all applicants, both home and internationals, looking to attend a UK university in 2026 and beyond.
• Students will need to learn how to take on these new questions rather than traditional Personal Statement writing.
• Teachers will need to be prepared to do research on this new system and provide support for students in order to maximise their chances of success.
• We at UniAdmissions are keeping a very close eye on the situation and will update this guide as new information surfaces. We will also ensure that our support systems are up-to-date and effective at helping students through these changes.

What are Personal Statements Being Replaced with?

With the announcement that the current system for UCAS Personal Statements will be getting replaced, it is only natural to be asking what will be replacing it. Thankfully, we have already been given some idea of what to expect. 

Unlike the other major shake-up to the 2024 admission process, the removal of various admissions tests including the BMAT , the official announcement has provided us with an explanation of what UCAS is seeking to implement instead of traditional Personal Statements. 

Put simply, the current format of providing a 4,000-character piece of writing will be replaced with a series of specific questions which applicants must answer. These questions will still allow you to write your answers out, but you will be answering set questions instead of having to plan and structure a full statement from scratch. 

The specifics of this system have not been announced yet, including the number of questions and the character limits. We also don’t know what the questions will be yet as they are still being developed. However, we do know the key areas that these questions will focus on (all points are taken directly from the UCAS report): 

• Motivation for Course – Why do you want to study these courses?
• Preparedness for Course – How has your learning so far helped you to be ready to succeed on these courses?
• Preparation through other experiences – What else have you done to help you prepare, and why are these experiences useful?
• Extenuating circumstances – Is there anything that the universities and colleges need to know about, to help them put your achievements and experiences so far into context?
• Preparedness for study – What have you done to prepare yourself for student life?
• Preferred Learning Styles – Which learning and assessment styles best suit you – how do your courses choices match that?

Of course, this is all subject to change as UCAS is still actively working with universities to determine what they want most from applicants. However, it seems that they are aiming to cover the same ground as traditional Personal Statements while also allowing applicants to discuss more personal factors such as motivation, preference and extenuating circumstances. 

At UniAdmissions, we ensure all of our students receive the most up-to-date support.

At UniAdmissions, we’re working tirelessly to ensure that our tutors, curriculum and resources are ready to get our students through these changes. You can join them today and ensure you get the support you need to make it through the 2024 admissions cycle . 

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When Are UCAS Personal Statements Being Replaced?

The initial announcement stated that these reforms to the Personal Statement system will be introduced in the 2024 admissions cycle for 2025 entry. However, UCAS have since gone back on this and delayed the change to as early as 2025 (for 2026 Entry). However, this change could also occur the following year for 2027 Entry. 

UniAdmissions contacted UCAS directly to confirm if a date had been set for the implementation of the new Personal Statement format. The representative stated the following: 

The current discussion around the Personal Statement changes are to improve the application process for all applicants. At the moment the earliest this change would take place is in the 2026 application cycle. There won't be any changes this year. UCAS Representative

It’s worth mentioning that these plans have been in place for a fair amount of time, with discussions of reforming the application process starting in April 2021. However, this change still won’t be implemented for another year, so applicants applying for 2025 (and potentially 2026) Entry will still need to submit a traditional Personal Statement. 

Why Are UCAS Personal Statements Being Removed?

The announcement of these reforms was made on January 12th 2023 via a blog post on the official HEPI website. This post highlights the amendments being made to the Personal Statement process and the research that was conducted to influence this change.  

Interestingly, the data quoted in this post states that the majority of applicants surveyed were happy with the current Personal Statement process, with 72% feeling positive about it. However, the same survey indicated that 83% of applicants found the process stressful and 79% felt unable to complete theirs without support. This is the data that most likely influenced the changes. 

The post’s writer, Kim Eccleston, states that they are aiming to provide better support for both applicants and universities, creating “a more supportive framework” that allows applicants to write about what the universities need to know in a less restrictive way. It is also stated in a more detailed outline of the announcement that both students and teachers preferred the use of specific questions instead of free-form writing. 

However, a previous post released in November 2022 provides even more insight into the reasoning behind this decision. Based on data featured in HEPI Debate Paper 31 , various industry professionals had commented on the challenges facing applicants of certain background when it comes to the current style of Personal Statement. 

Within the quotes featured here, the traditional UCAS Personal Statement was described as “ambiguous” , “unfair” and “barometers of middle-class privilege” . These comments may potentially be in reference to the current importance of work experience, which can be difficult to obtain without connections in certain industries, as well as additional experiences which may not be available to all applicants.  

Therefore, this new system should presumably reduce the barriers for disadvantaged applicants by shifting focus to each individual’s own interest and abilities within their chosen subjects. 

Other Changes being Made by UCAS

Personal Statements are only one of five key areas being altered by UCAS, as highlighted in the blog post. This is certainly the most significant action taking place, but other changes to the application process include: 

• Academic references are being reformed, moving from a free-text approach to a set of three questions, similar to the Personal Statement reforms.
• The 'Entry Grade Report' will be created, which allows applicants to see grade profiles that have been accepted for courses over a five year period.
• A 'Course Recommendation Tool' is being created to provide applicants with personalised suggestions for courses based on their current grades and preferences.
• A 'Fair Access Programme' is being created to encourage widening access and participation.

Overall, it seems these changes all have the same intent; to level the playing field and make university applications more achievable for everyone. 

How will this affect my university application?

As previously stated, if you are applying to university this year for 2025 Entry, you will not be affected by these reforms and will need to submit a traditional Personal Statement to UCAS like previous years. 

For applicants applying for 2026/27 Entry and beyond, your application will follow this new process, meaning you won’t have to submit a full Personal Statement but will instead need to answer a series of questions relating to your application and abilities for your chosen course. 

When hearing that the whole process will be changing, this typically instils a feeling of dread as you’ll be treading new ground that no one else has experienced before. However, it’s important to understand that UCAS states these changes are being made for the benefit of both the applicants and the universities. 

As we’ve already discussed, a key part of the reason this change is being implemented is that a high percentage of applicants found writing a traditional Personal Statement stressful, which is counterintuitive to what UCAS is trying to achieve. By providing applicants with a strong framework, in the form of specific questions, this new process should allow more applicants to provide better quality statements for universities. 

This change is also set to be particularly beneficial to those from disadvantaged backgrounds, as the process will allow them to better express their ability regardless of any areas that may be lacking due to factors out of their control. Essentially, the new process should allow more people to stand a better chance of making a good impression despite limitations. 

How Can I Start Preparing?

If you’re starting your preparations early, the main barrier you’ll face at this stage of preparation is not knowing what the questions will be, as they have yet to be announced. There are no resources available currently that cover this system, so you’re going to have to be independent with your preparation here.

Since we have a rough outline of what the questions to focus on, you should still be able to practice your responses. Although they won’t be as relevant any more, it would still be helpful to check out Personal Statement guides and examples as these can help you pin down the language and writing style you use. 

With all this information now available to us, you should be able to get a sense of what to do for your application in the coming years. The initial introduction of this system in 2024 will act as a test of its effectiveness, so elements could be changed in the years following. However, the important thing is that you understand how things are changing from the current system and how you can make the most of the new system. 

If you are applying for university in 2023 for 2024 Entry, you will need to make sure you’re ready to write your Personal Statement. Thankfully, UniAdmissions have plenty of resources to help you through it, including our Ultimate UCAS Personal Statement Guide and our collection of successful Oxbridge Personal Statements . 

If you’re looking for more in-depth support that covers the whole application process for Medicine, Law and Oxbridge courses, them find out how you can enrol in one of our Premium Programmes .  

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Ucas to scrap personal statements for student applicants

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Image: Tero Vesalainen, via Shutterstock

Admissions body pitches reforms to make admissions process fairer

Students will no longer have to write an essay-style personal statement in their Ucas applications, after the admissions body announced an overhaul to the process.

Ucas said in a report published 12 January, Future of Undergraduate Admissions, that students would answer a series of questions about their reasons for choosing a course instead of writing a personal statement.

There have been concerns that the personal statements disadvantage students who do not have access to good guidance and support when writing the essays, which some feel could “widen the gap” between applicants.

The change comes after scrutiny from the Department for Education on the admissions process. The DfE carried out a consultation on whether to switch to a system of post-qualification admissions in 2021, although it ultimately decided not to continue with the changes.

Writing in a Higher Education Policy Institute blog on 12 January, Ucas head of strategy and reform Kim Eccleston said that “most students are in favour of personal statements” as it gives them the chance to “demonstrate achievements beyond their grades”.

But more than 80 per cent said they found the process of writing the statement stressful, and 79 per cent said the statement is difficult to complete with no support.

Eccleston said the replacement questions will prompt students to write about six areas, including their motivation and preparation for the course and for studying at a higher level, how other experiences have helped to prepare them for university, any extenuating circumstances and their preferred learning style.

“We believe this will create a more supportive framework which in turn will help guide students through their responses by removing the guesswork, as well as capturing the information universities and colleges have told us they really need to know from applicants when it comes to offer-making,” she said.

Once the questions have been finalised, they will replace the personal statement from 2024-25.

The report also revealed that Ucas will introduce reports showing students the range of grades that have been accepted for their chosen course in the past, and it will replace the free text option for referees to comment on students with a series of questions.

It will try to offer students more personalised guidance on what their post-secondary options are, and will launch an Outreach Connection Service designed to help universities and employers in their efforts to improve access and participation.

Ucas consulted with 1,200 students, more than 170 teachers and advisers, 100 universities and colleges and government representatives when creating the report.

In her blog post, Eccleston stressed that “reform is an evolving process”, and she said that Ucas would “keep engaging with the sector to help us shape the delivery of these reforms”—particularly the changes to the personal statement.

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UCAS to Scrap Personal Statements from Next Year | This Week in Admissions News

The world of college admissions is ever-changing and for students with top university ambitions, it’s important to stay up-to-date on the latest developments. This week, UCAS announced that it will be scrapping the long personal statement as part of its wider reforms to admissions testing, while Harvard Medical School pulled out of the US News rankings. Check back next week to see what’s new and noteworthy in university admissions!

Ucas to scrap personal statements from next year.

Applications to Cambridge are set to change from the 2024 admissions cycle as UCAS has announced they will be scrapping the personal statement. The 4,000-character essay will be scrapped and replaced with a series of questions about the higher education course a student is applying for. The change comes amid claims that the personal statements favour middle-class students who may have better access to “high-quality advice and guidance”, according to Ucas, the Evening Standard reported.

The structured questions aim to “bring focus and clarity for students, reducing the need for support”. Kim Eccleston, head of strategy and reform at Ucas, said: “We believe this will create a more supportive framework, which in turn will help guide students through their responses by removing the guesswork, as well as capturing the information universities and colleges have told us they really need to know from applicants when it comes to offer-making.”

Cambridge had announced earlier in the year that they will be making some changes to their admissions testing as they were operationally unsustainable and “to deliver them affordably to students and higher education institutions.” The elite university has seen a drop in enrollment as well as applications over the last couple of years, owing to the Covid pandemic as well as an economic downturn in the UK.

Here are the changes we can expect in the UCAS from the 2024/25 admissions cycle:

• The 4,000-character personal statement essay will be scrapped and replaced with a series of questions about the higher education course a student is applying for
• Several university admissions exams, including BMAT (medicine), ENGAA (engineering), NSAA (natural sciences) and TMUA (mathematical skills) tests, will be discontinued
• The seven UK medical schools that use BMAT tests as part of their admissions process (Brighton and Sussex, Imperial, Lancaster, UCL, Cambridge, Leeds and Oxford) as well as medical and healthcare schools in other countries will put alternative arrangements in place

It should be interesting to see how the spread of AI will affect the college essay and personal statements. All of these changes are set to take effect from the 2024 admissions cycle - the 2023 cycle will continue as before. 

Other top stories in admissions news this week:

• Harvard Medical School announced it will no longer submit data to U.S. News & World Report for its “best medical schools” rankings. The decision was made due to concerns that the rankings create incentives for institutions to report inaccurate data and that the suitability of a medical school for a student is too complex to be reflected in a ranked list. This move follows the withdrawal of Harvard and Yale law schools (among other top schools) from the rankings in November, and is a reflection of the growing trend of elite institutions devaluing the importance of these rankings, which have traditionally played a significant role in shaping the decisions of prospective students.
• According to Times Higher Education , the Biden administration is planning to publish a list of programs/degrees that are considered to have low financial value for students. However, there is currently a lack of consensus on how to determine the economic worth of these programs. Amy Ellen Duke-Benfield, managing director of policy and research at Higher Learning Advocates, suggests that the department should consider metrics such as job opportunities for graduates and whether they possess the skills sought by employers when determining the list of programs.
• The PIE News writes on a new report from the Conference Board of Canada that highlights the need for a comprehensive strategy for the immigration and settlement of international students. The report states that despite the priority of Canadian stakeholders to retain international students after their studies, the government currently lacks a plan to effectively coordinate the granting of permits and selection of international students for immigration. The current lack of strategy creates friction for international students, and this problem could worsen as the growth in international student enrollment surpasses the planned increase in permanent immigration.
• English-language skills in China have slipped, according to a global proficiency ranking , especially among young Chinese, and some are blaming rising nationalism. The 2022 English Proficiency Index ranked China at 62, a low proficiency nation, down from a moderate proficiency ranking of 49 in 2021 and 38 in 2020. China lagged behind Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia and Hong Kong, the latter of which has remained a high proficiency economy over the past three years. According to the report, education reforms in China over the past few years have led to a reduction in the time spent in schools teaching and speaking English.

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UCAS set to replace personal statements from 2024

13th January 2023

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The university application landscape seems set for reform according to reports this morning. UCAS wants to replace a unified personal statement with a series of six questions. Admissions service are also making changes to teacher references, and plans to release details of grade profiles that were accepted onto specific courses. The changes may arrive for the cohort applying in the autumn of 2024.

This might be worth a read:

Five steps UCAS is taking to reform the undergraduate admissions process

The newly published UCAS report is available here

Initial reaction from Geoff Barton here

‘Breaking down the personal statement into specific questions feels to be a step towards a simplified, fairer application process,’ says @RealGeoffBarton of @ucas_online announcement https://t.co/kwseX9NSZQ — Tes (@tes) January 12, 2023

No doubt a huge amount will be said and written as the consultation process gathers momentum. The six question approach appears rather prescriptive and there will be plenty of discussion I feel about the last question on preferred learning styles!

And in a month when ChatGPT and other emerging AI tools have dominated the education headlines, what price that these AI bots will be able to generate convincing written responses in seconds?

• Higher education

Geoff Riley

Geoff Riley FRSA has been teaching Economics for over thirty years. He has over twenty years experience as Head of Economics at leading schools. He writes extensively and is a contributor and presenter on CPD conferences in the UK and overseas.

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Cambridge welcomes UCAS plan to scrap personal statements

Sam Lucy, Director of Admissions at the University, said the change will ‘mean that less well supported students can engage more effectively with the process’

by Nabiha Ahmed

This article is 1 year old

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Personal statements are to be replaced with a set of questions for university hopefuls, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) have announced this month.

The change will pave the way for bigger amendments to the application process such as multi-media submissions, says UCAS, with The Times reporting that video applications could be introduced.

Sam Lucy, Director of Admissions at the University, told Varsity that she welcomes the revisions, adding that “providing a more structured framework and better guidance to the expectations of universities will give Admissions Tutors more useful information, and will mean that less well supported students can engage more effectively with the process.”

The Future of Undergraduate Admissions report by UCAS, published on 12th January, detailed concerns over support for students writing personal statements being “not universal”. In the same report, UCAS acknowledged that the personal statement has been criticised “as a mechanism to ‘widen the gap’” between students.

The personal statement will be replaced by a series of questions covering six key areas: motivation for the course, preparedness for the course, preparation through other experiences, extenuating circumstances, preparedness for study, and preferred learning style.

UCAS hopes that the questions will “bring focus and clarity for students” and “reduce the need for support”.

The Future of Undergraduate Admissions report also revealed that 83% of students find the process of writing a personal statement stressful and 79% believe that the statement is difficult to complete without support.

Cambridge applications fall for second year in a row

These statistics are supported by a report by The Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) from November, which found that the task is an “unnecessary burden” on disadvantaged students and accused the 4,000 character essay of “contributing to inequalities in higher education access”.

Academic references will also be replaced with three structured questions for referees to answer. This comes after schools told UCAS that the ambiguous nature of the academic reference section – usually completed by an applicant’s form tutor or careers advisor – made it challenging to compare applicants against each other.

Alongside these changes, UCAS will introduce ‘Entry Grade Reports’ for applicants. This personalised tool will display the range of grade profiles that have been accepted for entry to courses over a five-year period, aiming to help students evaluate their options and consider courses they previously may not have.

Aside from Entry Grade Reports, which launches this year, all changes are set to be introduced in the 2024 application cycle, for those applying for 2025 entry onwards.

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UCAS reforms to the personal statement: One step forward, more to go? – HEPI’s WEEKEND READING

• 14 January 2023
• By Tom Fryer, Steve Westlake and Professor Steven Jones

This blog has been kindly written for HEPI by Tom Fryer, Steve Westlake and Professor Steven Jones. 

On 12 January, UCAS released  Future of Undergraduate Admissions , a report that contained details of  five upcoming reforms . 

In the report, UCAS proposes to reform the free-text personal statement into a series of questions. This is welcome. As we noted in our recent  HEPI Debate Paper  on UCAS personal statements, an essay without a question is always going to breed uncertainty.

So the change does represent progress towards a fairer admissions system. However, the number of steps we take towards this fairer system will depend on how the questions are designed. 

The UCAS report makes an initial proposal of six questions across the following topics: 

• Motivation for Course – Why do you want to study these courses? 
• Preparedness for Course – How has your learning so far helped you to be ready to succeed on these courses? 
• Preparation through other experiences – What else have you done to help you prepare, and why are these experiences useful? 
• Extenuating circumstances – Is there anything that the universities and colleges need to know about, to help them put your achievements and experiences so far into context? 
• Preparedness for study – What have you done to prepare yourself for student life?
• Preferred Learning Styles – Which learning and assessment styles best suit you – how do your courses choices match that?

Our first point concerns  inequality . To create admissions processes that address inequalities we should use questions that place explicit limits on the number of examples that can be used. If we leave questions open-ended, this risks creating a structure that allows some applicants to gain an advantage over their peers, a key problem with the original format. Also, where possible, questions should stress the acceptability of drawing upon activities, such as caring or part-time work, that may not be deemed ‘high-prestige’. This could minimise the impact of inequalities in access to these ‘high-prestige’ activities. The relatively small number of courses that require formal work experience could gain this information through an optional question.  

Secondly, admissions processes should prioritise applicants’ interests and avoid imposing an  unnecessary burden . The current proposals contain several questions that appear similar, which does appear to impose an unnecessary workload on applicants and their advisers. We recommend combining the second (course preparedness), third (preparedness through other experiences) and fifth (study preparedness) questions into one, in order to protect applicants’ interests. 

Thirdly, other commentators have drawn attention to the association of ‘ learning styles ’ in question 6 with the widely debunked model that classifies people into four different learning modes: visual; aural; read/write; and kinesthetic. This does not seem to have been UCAS’s intention. Instead through informal conversations we understand the question intended to focus on applicants’ preferences for independent study versus contact time, or frequent short assessments versus substantive end-of-year approaches. Regardless, should applicants’ attitudes to learning and assessment influence admissions decisions? There could be a range of reasons why an applicant has chosen a certain provider, including geographical location for those with caring responsibilities, and many of these will trump concerns about learning styles. We recommend removing this question. 

Fourthly, while the report gives evidence that many  applicants see the personal statement as an opportunity to advocate for themselves , this alone does not justify the creation of a large number of questions (or indeed, nor does it justify the status quo). Unfortunately, a lack of transparency prevents applicants from understanding how their statement will be read ( if it is read at all ), and many will be unaware of the research on inequalities in this area. These caveats are important when considering how applicants’ views should feed into discussions about creating an admissions system that protects all applicants. 

Our final point relates to  validity . Admissions processes should use valid measures of applicants’ ability to complete their chosen courses. Although there is limited research in this area, we think there are opportunities to improve the proposed questions. 

To take one example, the first question asks ‘Why do you want to study these courses?’. We contend that an abstract question is unlikely to be the most valid way to assess applicants’ motivations. This question is likely to prompt similarly abstract or cliched answers, including in the form ‘Ever since a child…’. As an alternative, in our  HEPI paper , we proposed the following: 

Please describe one topic that is related to your course. Please discuss what you have learnt about this topic, through exploring this outside of the classroom. This could include books, articles, blogs, seminars, lectures, documentaries, or any other format. 

This question measures both whether an applicant demonstrates a basic level of motivation and whether they understand what is covered on the course. By asking for a concrete example of a topic they have explored, we believe this question is likely to be a more valid way to assess whether applicants meet a basic level of motivation and preparedness, and it is less likely to result in overly abstract or clichéd responses that reveal little about applicants. 

UCAS’s proposed reforms to personal statements recognise that fair admissions require greater transparency, a more supportive structure, and the prevention of some applicants being placed at a disadvantage. Moving to a series of questions represents one step forward. However, to achieve these goals, the questions must be designed to address inequality and remove unnecessary burdens in a transparent and valid manner.  

There is currently no published research on how personal statements are used in admissions decisions. That’s why we are launching a survey to gather some initial data, which you can access  here . 

We are particularly seeking input from people involved with the day-to-day work of undergraduate admissions. We would appreciate it if you could share this with any of your colleagues. We plan to use this data to feed into the public conversation about UCAS’s reforms. 

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Alright I already wrote a reply, but it got deleted, so let me try again,

1, motivation for the course. For the MRes at Derby sept 23 to build on the great success which was my BA 2016 honours in Sociology major, with theatre studies minor. This degree took me five plus three or four years, given the multiple restarts I had to do because of my mental health fraility. Plus the drugs I was on acted as a hindrance as a help, I can now confirm. Anyway. 2, My BA Hons took nearly forever. Here’s a list of the modules I took; 4SL008 introduction to social inequalities prog code l300 grade c+ level 4 credit 15.0 result confirmed 1112 ; 4sl020 deviance and difference: exploring cultural identity l300 b- 4 15.0 1112 4sl028 introduction to social theory l300 c- 4 15.0 1112 4sl500 popular culture l300 52 (%) lvl 4 credit 20.0 result confirmed 1213 4sl503 researching the social world l300 82 4 20.0 1213 4wc001 Reflective Learning Skills l300 A- 4 20.0 1415 4TH501 Performance Analysis/PDP Y002 47 4 20.0 1415 4TH506 Modern Drama (With professor Sam Kasulé) Y002 41 4 20.0 1415 4TH507 Script Analysis for Production Y002 41 4 20.0 1415 (I actually got below 40% for my first essay, but was able to bring it back to a pass, after going all out/blitzing the second essay. I’d like to point out that I didn’t fail a single unit with no resits over the whole of my degree (even though there were some close calls) Total number of Credits achieved at level 4 160.0

5ED512 the sociology of education (this one was with a Canadian lecturer. I really liked him, from the education department.although the other girls in my class didn’t, well I think they had a problem with him, and collectively wrote negative feedback for the student satisfaction surveys at the post unit feedback, which resulted in the unit ceasing after this year. At least I think that’s what the lecturer told me, when I met him to discuss my grade, after it was marked. We did a poster (using PowerPoint), and had to present it to the class. I don’t know why the others didn’t like it? Maybe they got bad grades. Oh yes there was also an online element to it 40% I think, which needed two forum/message board posts per topic, with each topic lasting two weeks. Maybe the girls/ladies did badly at this element, and that was why they flamed him afterwards. Sorry mostly ladies, I seem to remember one or two other boys/gentlemen on the unit. Anyway… Y002 72 (get in) 5 20.0 1415 5ES506 Theatricality and Madness Y002 49 5 20.0 1314 another one with Sam Kasulé. I remember properly working my socks off for this one, providing a (what I thought) was a well argued and balanced counter-argumrent to the prevailing orthodoxy hegemony of the psychiatric model. With various plays as the evidence. The markers didn’t agree, as the grade shows. (40-49% is a D, and represents a satisfactory grade. I got a lot of these). Anyway.

5SL507 Capitalism, Culture and Class: Social Theory in Classical Modernity This one was with the classic Socialist nick cimini, who born in Italy, but raised in Scotland, spent two or three years here teaching us, then returned to Scotland because they offered all returnee Scottish lecturers an upfront payment of £20k which was an offer too good to refuse. He’s had a couple of kids since then. I got on well with Nick. He was a good guy. It was Derby’s loss. Y002 42 5 20.0 1314 I thought I did better at it 5SL508 ‘Race’ and Ethnicity in Modern Britain Y002 45 5 20.0 1415 this was one of my more difficult units. Not that the unit was particularly difficult, it was actually a presentation based grade, but the lecturer didn’t like me, and so gave me a ‘d’ either that , or I was just so worn out by the whole five plus years degree process, I was running out of steam. Hopefully these past four years I have had to rest and recuperate in my flat, will give my batteries a good boost and recharge, for another two masters, and maybe even a doctorate afterwards, depending on how I get on?) ; 5SL513 Sociological Research Methods1: Qualitative and Quantitative Techniques y002 62 5 20.0 1314. I think this was the unit I took with the dreaded SPSS computer statistics program based exam. Exams are always scary, and SPSS is a bit of a killer, but luckily the lecturer Raul gave us good notes, and extra revision cheat-sheet videos for each section, which I crammed, watched twice each, and ended up with a good final grade. Compare that to the other girls in my class, who I guess we’re less mathematically geared, and so didn’t do so well on the exams. Or maybe they got the same as me, which would be disappointing for an A student (70th percentile) God I’ve been yabbering on Let me just try and get these finished And the rest of the questions Anyway 5th503 research methodologies y002. 56. 5 20.0 1314 this one was with Dr Becky Barnes. She left to Sheffield in the end. This was another big blow for Derby imho So the total number of credits at level 5, and 6 for that matter, were 120.0 .. 6ES501 Shakespeare Today Y002 55 level 6 20.0 1516. This one was with Dr Mary McNalty another super-star. I should mention all of my lecturers were Drs, in case already mentioned. 6ES508 Riots and Rebels: Studies in Intercultural Drama Y002 57 lvl 6 20. Credit 1516 Another one with Sam. We watched Sarafina with Whoopie Goldberg, a seminal pre end of Apartheid south-african freedom musical film, from 1980 I think. This was a beautiful movie. Also watched woke soyinka I think, and some other African dramas. We also has to research these texts from some journals and other chosen readings, which were hard work, but this was a final year English unit, so you don’t expect it to be easy. I remember being estatic with the grade. I was able to hit my 60% 2.1 bang on the head, thanks to the generous awards given me by Sam and Mary for example. And not so much thanks to some of the others. But never mind. I am a mature student, 30 something when I did it, and on heavy depot injections at the time, so it wasn’t easy for me neither

6SL506 Religious and Ethnic Minorities Y002 47 6 20.0 1415 another third Honesty is the best policy. Sometimes it is the only policy. I find it helps to be honest. Plus the number of words I’ve written in my lifetime mean I’m quite comfortable with this means medium. 6DL508 Sociology of Health and Illness Y002 78. 6 20.0 6SL999 Sociology Independent Study Y002 68:6 40.0 1516 With my final two units supervised by yet another super-star Dr Phil Burton-Carteledge. Like Nick Dr Phil is a radical communist. Oops I said it. Damn, I hope word doesn’t get out! (Seriously he’s yet another great guy, who did well to put up with me. He is also the Bachelor’s Sociology program leader now.)

That’s it. And as a caveat I seriously think you should consider giving All of the lecturers I have named in this essay, pay rises. Just give them what they want. They put up with us, after-all. Plus they are providing for the next generation, of leaders, workers, thinkers speakers and parents. It’s called investing In our future.

Ok look I’m actually tired out from that essay.

So I’ll skip to the end; preferred learning style, I think I am more a visual/auditory learning style. Kind of I have quite a good memory, like photographic, but I do sometimes struggle with my emotions (diagnosis paranoid schizophrenia. Oh yes and I think they are trying to poison me. So that is why I am hoping to come off my tablets. Please don’t put compliance with my medicines as a requisite to me doing the masters, cos that isn’t fair. Is blackmail. I’ve got until September to get my head sorted, one way or the other

Thanks John

Sorry one last thing my degree was Overall Classification: SECOND CLASS HONOURS (1st Division) Date of Award 10 Jun 2016 Qualification Obtained: Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Sociology with Theatre Studies UNIVERSITY OF DERBY student code: 100052398 HESS Number: 0710571013537 Mode of study: Part Time Level of Study: Undergraduate Study Site: Derby Campus Location of Study/Partner Oganisation: University of Derby, Kedleston Road, DERBY , United Kingdom, DE22 1GB Student Name: JOHN ROBINSON Date of Issue: 22 Jul 2016 Date of Birth: 03 Mar 1981 Registration/Study Period: September 2011 to June 2016 Programme: Y002. Joint Honours Scheme Level of Study: Undergraduate

And I did not use any form of AI to complete this form. Thankyou

The discussion seems framed by the assumption that applicants need to show their best look and hope to be let in.

A modern education system surely wants each person to get the education and training they desire and need. Allowing that not all desires can be met there should be a focus on people getting a place – as long as they are capable of the course.

I dont see how those questions add much to that basic issue of can the person do the course. If they can – surely there needs to be a good reason to not offer them a place.

I do not know the UK reality but the Australian reality is that most courses do indeed want the interested student who has the necessary base capability.

I suggest that studies are much better designed and much more worth conducting by the subjects and by the researchers if they are informed by what is already known about the subject.

This statement is wrong, even for England: ‘There is currently no published research on how personal statements are used in admissions decisions.’

Here is a little of the published work on the use of personal statements in admissions decisions, but there are hundreds if not thousands more:

Albanese, M. A., Snow, M. H., Skochelak, S. E., Huggett, K. N., & Farrell, P. M. (2003). Assessing personal qualities in medical school admissions. Academic Medicine, 78(3), 313-321.

Murphy, S. C., Klieger, D. M., Borneman, M. J., & Kuncel, N. R. (2009). The predictive power of personal statements in admissions: A meta-analysis and cautionary tale. College and University, 84(4), 83.

Parry, J., Mathers, J., Stevens, A., Parsons, A., Lilford, R., Spurgeon, P., & Thomas, H. (2006). Admissions processes for five year medical courses at English schools. Bmj, 332(7548), 1005-1009.

Siu, E., & Reiter, H. I. (2009). Overview: what’s worked and what hasn’t as a guide towards predictive admissions tool development. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 14(5), 759-775.

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• Coffee House

Scrapping university personal statements is a mistake

• 13 January 2023, 5:22pm

William Atkinson

The decision to scrap personal statements shows up our university system for what it really is: the priority is no longer about educating students, or academic endeavour, but expansion for expansion’s sake.

Ucas (the Universities and College Admissions Service) plans to replace the current applicant essay with a survey. This will reportedly ask taxing questions such as why applicants are motivated to study a particular course, why they are ‘ready to succeed’ and any context for their academic achievements – or lack thereof – so far. The justification? That the status quo is unfair on those students without access to ‘high-quality advice and guidance’. Yet the decision to get rid of personal statements from the university application process will erode standards and only makes the case for total reform of the sector stronger.

It’s no surprise that  pupils at  leading private schools receive more application help than state school students from poorer homes. The private school I went to provided me with plenty of advice, and I wrote up seven or eight drafts of my personal statement before it was finalised. My Oxford contemporaries who got in without such help deserve more credit than me – even if being a public schoolboy at Oxford now looks to be an  increasing disadvantage . 

But just because the current personal statement system can be unfair, it doesn’t mean replacing it is wise. More than eight in ten university applicants  surveyed  by Ucas found the current application process stressful; 79 per cent found it difficult to complete. This should be welcomed: stress and difficulty are natural parts of a process designed to test candidates’ ability to communicate subject aptitude. That Ucas wants to get by without them shows how little importance our universities now place on studying and academics. 

This week’s announcement is the latest sorry symptom of a sick university system

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Tony Blair’s dream of more than 50 per cent of school leavers going to university  has now been realised . That represents a tenfold increase in the number of people taking degrees since the 1980s. This is  despite  English 16–24-year-olds being less likely to be numerate and literate than their parents and grandparents. It’s not higher academic standards, though, that are responsible for these increased student numbers over the decades, but a broken business model. 

Rampant grade inflation at school has bedded in over a number of years. Even before the pandemic, A and A* grades almost doubled at A-level, and more pupils than ever were receiving top grades. This has fed through into universities. By  last summer , four in ten graduates were receiving a first; in particular, the number doing so after achieving three Ds or lower at A-level had soared. This is hard to square with a generation struggling to read and write properly. Instead, it shows that what students learn at university has increasingly little bearing on the grades they are given. The so-called ‘graduate premium’ is  increasingly meaningless  in an over-saturated market. 

Who is responsible for the mess the university system finds itself in? Successive governments share the blame. Margaret Thatcher put universities on track to becoming businesses first and places of learning second. John Major renamed the polytechnics to create dozens more universities overnight; Tony Blair put numbers before standards. The coalition’s tuition fee hike meant more students racked up more debt doing courses of decreasing value. 

All this has done is create one big vicious cycle. An ever-expanding undergraduate population has forced universities to borrow money for increasing capacity years in advance. To attract students, they want to be as high up the league tables as possible. This incentivises them to provide the best grades possible – whatever the quality of work produced. The intellectual quality of students entering the system is becoming increasingly irrelevant. Who needs a personal statement when the logical outcome is that one day everyone will get firsts? 

This model cannot be sustained. Rising interest rates mean the university debt bubble will become harder to finance. With increasing numbers of graduates unlikely to ever pay off their tuition fee loans, this means a bigger burden on the taxpayer. By the 2040s, it has been predicted that this could cost the Treasury well above 10 per cent of GDP. This cost will only rise if undereducated graduates contribute less to the economy than government modellers expect. 

What, then, can be done about this? The university system has to be overhauled, grade inflation stamped out in school, underperforming universities closed. Personal statements should be retained and the application system made more rigorous. Undergraduate numbers must fall – draw a line: no university places for anyone receiving anything under a B or C. Those institutions that survive should be funded by central government, private donations or fees, rather than a debt mountain.

Neither the Conservative or Labour party wants to change the status quo. The Tories may rail against campus wokery, but they have no desire to reform a sector that provides one of the country’s few growing industries. A conveyer belt of arts graduates also conveniently provides Labour with a substantial chunk of their future voter base. 

This week’s announcement is the latest sorry symptom of a sick university system. Whether you believe a degree is worthwhile for its own sake, or just a necessary step towards a job, this constitutes a tragic waste of human potential. The university blob’s unwillingness to wake up to their delusion of a thriving university system means the problem of falling standards, meaningless grades and ballooning debts will only grow. It will be students – and the taxpayer – who pay the price.

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UCAS to scrap personal statement requirement for student applicants

T he Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) has said that students will no longer be required to write a personal statement when applying for higher education.

In a report titled Future of Undergraduate Admissions , which was published on 12 January, UCAS said that students would now answer a series of questions about their reasons for choosing a particular course.

Once the questions have been finalised, they will replace the statement from 2024-25.

It detailed concerns that support for students writing personal statements was “not universal”, and that it favoured privileged students. As a result, UCAS wrote that the personal statement has been criticised “as a mechanism to ‘widen the gap’” between students.

Analysis by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) in November last year found that writing a statement is an “unnecessary burden” on disadvantaged students, and it said that the 4,000-character essay was a factor “contributing to inequalities in higher education access”.

The personal statement will be replaced by a series of questions covering six key areas: motivation for the course, preparedness for the course, preparation through other experiences, extenuating circumstances, preparedness for study, and preferred learning style.

UCAS said that it hopes that the questions will “bring focus and clarity for students” and “reduce the need for support”.

The report found that 83% of students find the process of writing a personal statement to be stressful , and 79% believe that the statement is difficult to complete without institutional or external support.

UCAS consulted with 1,200 students, more than 170 teachers and advisers, 100 universities and colleges, and government representatives when creating the report.

In February 2022, UCAS announced that it was considering making changes to the application process.

Michelle Donelan, the Universities Minister at the time, said: “I have always felt that personal statements in their current form favour the most advantaged students.

“So I’m pleased that UCAS have confirmed that reform of the personal statement is in their plans so that personal statements work to the benefit of all students.”

The report also revealed that academic references are to be replaced with three structured questions for referees to answer, in order to make it easier to compare applicants against each other.

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Liverpool students have their say on UCAS scrapping personal statements

The change comes under new plans to make applying for university more accessible and level the playing field

• 18:00, 17 JAN 2023

University lecturers and teachers have taken to Twitter to share their reactions to UCAS scrapping personal statements for university applicants.

As well as grades and predicted results, university applicants have traditionally had to write a 47-line personal statement as part of their application. The statement is designed to illustrate their interest in the course they're applying for and highlight non-academic achievements, but it has been criticised by some as a disadvantage to students from low income households.

UCAS has announced that the personal statement will be scrapped no earlier than in 2024 for 2025 applicants, and replaced with a questionnaire. The new plans could go further in a few years and scrap a written statement entirely to be replaced with a video submission.

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Personal statements have been criticised as some argue better-off students get more help from their families in writing the statement, while many private schools offer specialist assistance. However, one student called the change 'insane', and other criticised the new proposed questionnaire.

Charlotte Jones, an Environmental Sciences student at the University of Liverpool, said: "I didn't particularly like writing my personal statement, I don't think many people did. But in mine I referenced a lot of books I had read that were relevant to my course and stuff like that, which I wouldn't have been able to do otherwise. I think my personal statement is part of the reason I got the offers that I did."

Dan Walsh, a Geography student at the University of Liverpool, added: "I did a lot of work outside school to that was relevant to my course, which I put in my personal statement. It's going to be different for different people depending on what course they want to apply for.

"I do think it gives some people an unfair advantage though. My sister went to a school where they had a lot of support for people doing their UCAS applications and helped them write their personal statements, so I got her to help me with mine because my school didn't have anything like that."

Niamh Motley, a Maths student at the University of Liverpool, said: "I think if you got rid of the personal statement completely, a nobody would sign up to NCS or Duke of Edinburgh or anything like that, because loads of people sign up to that because they get told they can write about it in their personal statement.

"I don't think I would have liked doing the questionnaire instead, because I'm the type of person who likes to just have a blank screen and be able to write whatever I want, but some people like having a bit of guidance and stuff."

Stuart Wilks-Heeg, Professor of Politics at University of Liverpool, tweeted: "Replacing the almost universally disliked personal statement on UCAS forms with set questions sounds like a great idea, until you see the questions."

Replacing the almost universally disliked personal statement on UCAS forms with set questions sounds like a great idea, until you see the questions. https://t.co/h55hYsvLgG

— Stuart Wilks-Heeg (@StuartWilksHeeg)

Another student said: "so after hassling and fighting to get my personal statement done last year I wanna tell me they’re scrapping it off of UCAS. please this is insane."

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Personal statements scrapped over growing ChatGPT use

Singapore management university provost timothy clark says reforms will push students away from using generative ai in admissions statements.

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A Singapore university is scrapping its use of personal statements in undergraduate admissions amid concerns about applicants’ growing use of ChatGPT.

Under new changes for this autumn’s entry, Singapore Management University (SMU) has abolished the essay used by applicants to explain their values, approach to learning and achievements beyond academia, and replaced it with shorter structured answers related to a potential student’s intended course.

The reforms are intended to reduce the use of ChatGPT and other generative artificial intelligence chatbots – some of which are expressly geared around creating personal statements – as the questions in the new format are “much easier for applicants to answer”, explained the university’s provost, Timothy Clark.

“There’s less of a temptation or need to go to AI for help,” said Professor Clark, a former pro vice-chancellor at Durham University . “In fact, it’s probably even faster for students to just come up with their own short response rather than having to think of the right prompt to input into ChatGPT in order for a plausibly useful response to be generated.”

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However, the use of generative AI would not be banned when answering the new questions in the new format, said Professor Clark, who insisted that the university was “not against students using generative AI to spark ideas and for inspiration”.

“What we do want to see, however, is authenticity and a strong personal voice, which is hard to do with generative AI still in the early stages at this moment,” he said, adding that he hoped the answers would “provide a little glimpse into the applicant’s personality and potential fit for both the student and the university” ahead of an admissions interview.

SMU is one of the first universities to scrap the personal statement directly in response to the rise of artificial intelligence, although the UK’s admissions body, Ucas, is withdrawing the essay for 2025 entry onwards on the basis that the 4,000-character essay unfairly advantages middle-class students.

In the first admissions window since generative AI went mainstream last year, SMU’s clarification on how it will treat AI-generated admissions content remains unusual within higher education. Only a handful of US universities have publicly banned AI use by students in admissions, although Ucas currently advises that “generating…all or a large part of your personal statement from an AI tool such as ChatGPT, and presenting it as your own words, could be considered cheating by universities and colleges and could affect your chances of an offer”.

Conversely, university admissions teams are increasingly using AI to help select promising students despite concerns that algorithms might inadvertently discriminate against certain groups .

Reflecting on how SMU used AI, Professor Clark said an applicant’s academic performance was still the most important piece of data to assess “the applicant’s intellectual potential and readiness for university-level work”.

“This is the starting point for most selective universities around the world,” he said, adding that SMU also used individual and group interviews to gauge university readiness.

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New york’s antiquated adultery ban one step closer to being tossed: ‘down to 9 commandments’.

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A bill to scrap New York’s antiquated state law banning adultery now heads to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk after being approved by legislators.

The measure sailed through the state Senate 57-4 Wednesday without any debate on the Senate floor.

“We’re down to 9 commandments!” one lobbyist outside the Senate chamber said with a chuckle.

The current law , written in 1907, dictates that someone found guilty of adultery can be sentenced up to 90 days in prison or face a $500 fine. 

“I think it’s just kind of an antiquated law that was not really in practice in New York state so we’re just updating it and that’s always important to do whenever we have the chance,” state Sen. Jessica Sparcella-Spanton (D-Staten Island) said leaving the chamber after the vote.

The state Assembly passed the measure last month, meaning it just needs the swipe of Hochul’s pen before New Yorkers can have that fling without fear of ending up behind bars.

“Governor Hochul will review the legislation,” a spokesperson for the governor wrote in a statement to The Post.

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A channel has opened for vessels clearing wreckage at the Baltimore bridge collapse site

Friends and neighbors have put up a memorial to the bridge workers who died in the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore last week. (AP video by Tassanee Vejpongsa; production by Ao Gao)

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore says he understands the urgency of clearing up the Baltimore bridge debris but warns mangled steel, described as “chaotic wreckage,” poses significant risks. “We have to move fast, but we cannot be careless,” he says.

Footage shot from a coast guard boat showed the mangled remains of a collapsed bridge in Baltimore and damage to a cargo boat as crews continued clean up operations following a collision earlier this week.

The owner and manager of a cargo ship that rammed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge causing the span to collapse last week filed a court petition Monday seeking to limit their legal liability for the deadly disaster.

The fallen Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore is pictured Sunday, March 31, 2024, where divers assisted crews with the complicated and meticulous operation of removing steel and concrete. (AP Photos/Mike Pesoli)

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Wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge rests on the container ship Dali, Sunday, March 31, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Parishioners attend Easter Mass at Sacred Heart of Jesus and Saint Patrick, Sunday, March 31, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Flowers stand at a lookout point for the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, Sunday, March 31, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

People watch as workers start to remove a section of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, Sunday, March 31, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

People watch as workers start to remove a section of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, late Sunday, March 31, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

BALTIMORE (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard has opened a temporary, alternate channel for vessels involved in clearing debris from the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore , part of a phased approach to opening the main shipping channel leading to the vital port, officials said Monday.

Crews are undertaking the complicated work of removing steel and concrete at the site of the bridge’s deadly collapse after a container ship lost power and crashed into a supporting column. On Sunday, dive teams surveyed parts of the bridge and checked the ship, and workers in lifts used torches to cut above-water parts of the twisted steel superstructure.

Officials said the temporary channel is open primarily to vessels that are helping with the cleanup effort. Some barges and tugs that have been stuck in the Port of Baltimore since the collapse are also scheduled to pass through the channel.

Authorities believe six workers plunged to their deaths in the collapse, including two whose bodies were recovered last week.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said at a Monday afternoon news conference that his top priority is recovering the four remaining bodies, followed by reopening shipping channels to the port. He said he understands the urgency but that the risks are significant. He said crews have described the mangled steel girders of the fallen bridge as “chaotic wreckage.”

“What we’re finding is it is more complicated than we hoped for initially,” said U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath.

Moore said crews used a large crane to lift a 200-ton (180-metric ton) span of the bridge, a task that took 10 hours. He said the piece was considered a “relatively small lift” in the grand scheme of the recovery effort, which he called enormous.

Moore said crews would lift another 350-ton (317-metric ton) piece from the bridge later Monday as weather allows.

Officials earlier said the temporary channel would have a controlling depth of 11 feet (over 3 meters), a horizontal clearance of 264 feet (80 meters) and a vertical clearance of 96 feet (29 meters).

“This marks an important first step along the road to reopening the port of Baltimore,” Capt. David O’Connell, the federal on-scene coordinator of the response, said in a statement Monday. “By opening this alternate route, we will support the flow of marine traffic into Baltimore.”

Two additional larger channels are planned as more debris is removed from the waterway. Officials declined to provide a projected timeline for those channels being opened.

Meanwhile, the ship remains stationary, and its 21 crew members remain on board for the foreseeable future, officials said. Twenty of them are from India, and one is from Sri Lanka, said Will Marks, a spokesperson for the crew. He said they’re currently busy maintaining the ship and cooperating with investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Marks said it’s unclear how long the crew will remain on board.

Officials in Baltimore said the crew has plenty of supplies. They said parts of the ship that were damaged in the crash didn’t include the crew’s living quarters or kitchen.

President Joe Biden will visit the collapse site Friday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced Monday. He will meet with state and local officials and get an “on-the-ground look” at federal response efforts, Jean-Pierre said.

Moore said he expects the president will leave with a better understanding of the task at hand.

“He’s going to see the fact that we have a ship that is almost the size of the Eiffel Tower, that weighs about as much as the Washington Monument, that’s in the middle of the Patapsco River,” Moore said. “He’s going to see a bridge that has been in existence since I was alive — I don’t know what that skyline looks like without the Key bridge — and he is going to come and he’s going to see it sitting on top of a ship.”

Also Monday, the Small Business Administration opened two centers in the area to help companies get loans to assist them with losses caused by the disruption of the bridge collapse.

Yvette Jeffery, a spokesperson for the agency’s disaster recovery office, said affected businesses can receive loans for as much as $2 million. She said the effects could range from supply-chain challenges to decreased foot traffic in communities that depended heavily on the bridge.

The bridge fell as the cargo ship Dali lost power March 26 shortly after leaving Baltimore on its way to Sri Lanka. The ship issued a mayday alert, which allowed just enough time for police to stop traffic, but not enough to save a roadwork crew filling potholes on the bridge.

Two workers survived, two bodies were found in a submerged pickup, and four more men are presumed dead.

The Dali is managed by Synergy Marine Group and owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd., both of Singapore. Danish shipping giant Maersk chartered the Dali.

Synergy and Grace Ocean filed a court petition Monday seeking to limit their legal liability, a routine but important procedure for cases litigated under U.S. maritime law. A federal court in Maryland will ultimately decide who is responsible and how much they owe.

The filing seeks to cap the companies’ liability at roughly $43.6 million. It estimates that the vessel itself is valued at up to $90 million and was carrying freight worth over $1.1 million in income for the companies. The estimate also deducts two major expenses: at least $28 million in repairs and at least $19.5 million in salvage.

Officials are trying to determine how to rebuild the major bridge, which was completed in 1977. It carried Interstate 695 around southeast Baltimore and became a symbol of the city’s working-class roots and maritime culture.

Congress is expected to consider aid packages to help people who lose jobs or businesses because of the prolonged closure of the Port of Baltimore. The port handles more cars and farm equipment than any other U.S. facility.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said it won’t happen overnight, but the city and its port will recover.

“It will be likely a very hard road,” he said. “But we here in Baltimore are built with grit ... and we’re going to show the world what that truly means.”

Contributing to this report were Associated Press journalists Mike Pesoli in Baltimore; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; Sarah Brumfield in Washington.