United Kingdom · Years 12 and 13 · UCAS applications for 2027 entry

Computer science personal statement projects: something real to write about

Most searches for a computer science personal statement end at example statements, and copying from those is the one thing UCAS checks for. The useful question comes earlier: what has the student actually done with computing that they can describe, explain and defend? Cambridge's Department of Computer Science and Technology says a simple program run from the command line is a great example of independent work. This page sets out what UCAS, Imperial and Cambridge say about the three-question statement, gives six project briefs of ours sized for a sixth former, and works one through with real measurements. We mentor the project. The statement stays the student's own.

Book the free first class Book a priority demo See the six project briefs Ask on WhatsApp

Live teaching since 2020 · 10,000+ students · Guidance quoted from UCAS, Imperial and Cambridge

In short

The UCAS personal statement is now three questions sharing 4,000 characters, each answer at least 350 characters, and Imperial confirms that structure for 2027 entry. For computer science, Cambridge suggests super-curricular work such as building an app, a command-line program or a Raspberry Pi device, or researching a theoretical topic. Modern Age Coders mentors sixth formers live online, in a group of 15 to 20 or 1-on-1, through building and measuring such a project; we never write or edit any part of the statement.

Where to start

Three courses behind a strong project

One for machine learning projects, one for the A Level that underpins them, and one for the algorithms that make a project worth measuring.

AI and Machine Learning for Teens course thumbnail

CSP / 01

AI and machine learning for teens

Train a small model, then study where it goes wrong: the part worth writing about.

Open the syllabus →
A Level Computer Science for AQA 7517 and OCR H446 course thumbnail

CSP / 02

A Level Computer Science

AQA 7517 or OCR H446, with the theory that turns a project into an explanation.

Open the syllabus →
Problem Solving for Teens course thumbnail

CSP / 03

Problem solving and algorithms

Complexity, searching and sorting: the tools for a project that compares two methods.

Open the syllabus →

The UCAS format

What are the three UCAS personal statement questions?

UCAS replaced the single free-text statement with three questions that share one 4,000-character limit. Each answer needs at least 350 characters, and UCAS says admissions staff still read the three as a whole, so evidence should not be repeated across them.

The three questions as UCAS words them, with the evidence UCAS suggests for each (read 31 October 2026)
#UCAS questionEvidence UCAS mentionsWhere a CS project fits
1Why do you want to study this course or subject?Motivation, subject knowledge, research, super-curricular activitiesThe question the project set out to answer, and why it mattered to you
2How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject?Skills from formal study, EPQ, competitions such as UKMT, essays or projects on a techniqueA project grown from A Level work, an EPQ, or an olympiad you sat
3What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?Work experience, hobbies, online learning such as MOOCs, podcastsA project built in your own time, and what it taught you

The numbers, and how flexible they are

UCAS says the 4,000-character limit, including spaces, is unchanged, and that it can be spread across the three answers in any way. Imperial gives the same rule for 2027 entry: at least 350 characters per section, 4,000 overall, with a built-in counter.

Our arithmetic: three minimum answers use only 1,050 characters, leaving 2,950 to place where the evidence is strongest. A strong project might take a third of the total on its own.

No wrong box

UCAS says there is no wrong place for a piece of evidence and that applicants should not panic about whether something belongs in question 2 or 3. Cambridge adds that it has no preference for how a statement is split.

So a project built for an A Level class and then extended at home can sit in either answer. What matters is that it appears once, explained, rather than three times in passing.

Sources: UCAS How to write your personal statement, and Imperial College London personal statement page, read 31 October 2026. The character arithmetic is ours. We are not connected with UCAS or any university named here.

Imperial and Cambridge

What do universities want to see in a computer science personal statement?

Academic engagement, explained. Cambridge says it reads every statement in full, gives it no formal score, and wants mostly academic detail; Imperial wants fewer skills with evidence rather than a long list. Both point away from activity lists and towards what the student thought.

What two universities say about the statement, quoted from their own pages (read 31 October 2026)
UniversityWhat it says
Cambridge"We will read your personal statement in full." and "We don't give personal statements a formal score."
CambridgeYour statement "should focus mostly on academic detail throughout"; "Don't exaggerate."
CambridgeNon-academic activities "should not take up more than 20% of the section that you mention them in"
Cambridge"It is better to focus on a few activities in detail." and "Crucially, we are interested in your thoughts."
Cambridge"The best personal statements show a pattern and logic in an applicant's academic engagement."
ImperialOne statement goes to all five choices; choose "quality over quantity" when describing skills, with evidence for each
ImperialWork experience "isn't essential for most Imperial courses"

Cambridge Computer Science, specifically

The Department of Computer Science and Technology defines super-curricular work as "learning about the subject independently, beyond what you're taught in school". Its suggestions are deliberately modest: an app or website, a command-line program, something built with a Raspberry Pi, or an article on a theoretical topic you researched.

It also suggests learning a language the Cambridge course does not teach, naming Python as a popular choice, and lists puzzle sites such as Project Euler, Advent of Code and Codewars, plus the Bebras Computing Challenge and the Cipher Challenge.

Mathematics is still the centre

The same department says in its FAQs that its primary focus is on Mathematics, that Further Mathematics is highly recommended, and that A Level Computer Science is valuable where a school offers it. Cambridge Computer Science also requires the TMUA, and Peterhouse and Trinity add the CSAT.

A project does not replace any of that. It gives the reader of a strong mathematical application a reason to believe the student will enjoy a degree that ends with a substantial project and a 10,000 to 12,000 word dissertation.

Sources: University of Cambridge UCAS personal statement page and Computer Science course page; Cambridge Department of Computer Science and Technology super-curricular activities and FAQs; Imperial's personal statement page; all read 31 October 2026.

Six briefs of ours

What computer science projects are good for a personal statement?

Small, finished projects that start from a question and end with something measured or explained. The six briefs below are ours, sized for a sixth former working a few hours a week, and each matches one of the kinds of work Cambridge's department suggests. None needs anything beyond a laptop, apart from the Raspberry Pi in brief 4.

Our six project briefs, with the question each one asks
#Our briefThe question it answersWhat to measure or explain
1Count primes two ways in Python: trial division and the sieve of EratosthenesWhy is one method so much faster as N grows?Steps taken for N = 104, 105, 106; the growth rate of each
2A command-line Sudoku solver: plain backtracking, then with constraint propagationHow much search does a little reasoning save?Number of guesses on the same twenty puzzles, before and after
3A frequency-analysis breaker for Caesar and Vigenère ciphersHow much ciphertext does frequency analysis need to work?Success rate against message length
4A Raspberry Pi logger that records room temperature every minute for a weekHow noisy is a cheap sensor, and how do you smooth it?Raw against moving-average readings; what the window size does
5A small handwritten-digit classifier, then a study of its mistakesWhich digits does it confuse, and why those?A confusion table; examples of 4 read as 9, and what they share
6A researched article: why no program can decide whether every program haltsWhat does the proof actually show, and what does it not?The argument in your own words, with one worked case

Start from a question

"I built a website" invites the reply "so what?". "I wanted to know why my prime counter slowed down so badly" invites a conversation. Every brief above is phrased as a question for that reason.

Finish small

Cambridge's department says a project "doesn't have to be something complicated and polished". A finished command-line tool with one clear result beats an ambitious app abandoned at the login screen.

Measure something

A number the student produced, such as steps taken, guesses saved or accuracy lost, turns a hobby into evidence. It is also the thing an interviewer is most likely to ask about.

The six briefs are ours, written on 31 October 2026. They follow the categories on the Cambridge Department of Computer Science and Technology super-curricular page (a program, a hardware build with a Raspberry Pi, a cryptography challenge, a researched article) and use public datasets and puzzles only. A student choosing one should still pick the question that genuinely interests them.

Brief 1, worked through

What does a finished personal statement project look like?

Here is our brief 1 carried to the end, with numbers we measured ourselves on 31 October 2026. The point is not the primes; it is that the student ends with a result they can explain in a sentence and defend for ten minutes.

Our prime-counting experiment: basic steps taken by each method (measured by us, 31 October 2026)
NPrimes up to NTrial division stepsSieve crossings-outRatio
10,0001,229117,52716,981about 7 to 1
100,0009,5922,745,694193,078about 14 to 1
1,000,00078,49867,740,4042,122,048about 32 to 1

What the numbers say

Each time N grows tenfold, trial division does roughly 23 to 25 times as much work, while the sieve does about 11 times as much. Trial division tests each number against divisors up to its square root, so its total grows faster than N; the sieve crosses out each composite a few times, growing only slightly faster than N.

That observation leads straight to the next question: what is the growth rate of each? A student who goes on to read about why the sieve's work is close to N log log N has moved from a coding exercise to the edge of number theory, which is the "pattern and logic" Cambridge says strong statements show.

What the student writes down

Not a paragraph for UCAS. A log: the question, the first version, the surprise (trial division at a million took far longer than expected), the measurement, what they read next, and what they would try now, such as a segmented sieve to save memory.

Months later, the student writes their own sentences from that log. Because every claim in them came from something they did, there is nothing to exaggerate and nothing they cannot explain if asked.

  1. Write the question first. One line, in the log, before any code.
  2. Build the simplest version that answers it. For brief 1, that is two short functions and a counter.
  3. Measure, then check the measurement. Both methods must agree on the prime count; ours give 78,498 below a million, the known value.
  4. Read one source about what you found. Note its title and the one idea you took from it.
  5. Change one thing and measure again. A second version, compared with the first, is a project; one version is an exercise.
  6. Stop and keep the log. The code goes in a public repository with a short README; the log stays with the student.

The experiment, counts and ratios are ours, run in Python on 31 October 2026; the prime counts are standard values and the step counts depend on exactly how steps are counted. This is a model of a project, not text for a personal statement.

Your own words

Can someone else write or edit my personal statement?

No, and UCAS checks. Applicants now declare that the statement has not been copied or provided from another source, including AI software, and UCAS runs similarity checks on every statement. Imperial names the system: Copycatch. That is why we mentor projects and never touch the text.

What UCAS and Imperial say about copied and AI-written statements (read 31 October 2026)
SourceWhat it says
UCASYou "now have to declare that your personal statement hasn't been copied or provided from another source, including artificial intelligence software"
UCASThe UCAS Verification Team checks "patterns of similarity in personal statements", and universities may be notified of similar elements
UCASSubmitting AI-generated text as your own "could be considered cheating" and "Anything not in your words could get flagged as fraud"
UCASAcceptable uses of AI include ideas, structure and checking, not producing the text
Imperial"UCAS runs all personal statements through its similarity detection system, Copycatch, to compare them with previous statements."

What we do

We teach the programming, mathematics and machine learning a project needs. We help a student choose a question they care about, size it so it can be finished, measure the result properly and keep an honest log.

If a student wants to talk through what they learned, we ask questions the way an interviewer might. Answering them out loud is good preparation for the statement and for any interview that follows.

What we never do

We do not write, draft, edit, rewrite, shorten or "polish" any answer in a personal statement, and we do not supply example statements. We do not build a project for a student to present as their own.

A teacher at school, who writes the reference and knows the student, is the right person to read a draft. Every word of the statement should be the student's.

Quotations from UCAS Using AI and ChatGPT with your personal statement and Imperial's personal statement page, read 31 October 2026.

From Year 12 to the UCAS deadline

Four stages for a project worth writing about

Our suggested timing for a student applying in the autumn of Year 13. The project finishes before the writing starts, so the statement describes something complete.

Our project timeline
WhenStageFinished when
Year 12, spring term1. Choose a questionOne line in a log, and a brief small enough to finish
Year 12, Easter to June2. Build the first versionIt runs and answers the question roughly
Year 12, summer holiday3. Measure, read, improveA second version compared with the first, and one source read
Year 13, September4. Stop and write, aloneThe log is complete; the statement is drafted by the student and read by a teacher

If it is already September of Year 13

Pick the smallest brief, such as brief 1 or brief 3, and finish it in three or four weeks. A small finished project is honest; a large unfinished one is hard to write about.

Applicants with the 15 October deadline for Oxford or Cambridge have less time than others and should be strict about scope.

If you are in Year 11 or early Year 12

Start with puzzles: the Cambridge department suggests Project Euler, Advent of Code and the Bebras challenge. They build fluency without the pressure of a project.

An EPQ in computing is another route, and UCAS lists the EPQ as evidence for question 2. The project must then follow the EPQ rules for the student's own work.

The full list

What we teach a computer science applicant

Grouped by what the project needs: the code, the mathematics, and the competitions that sit beside it.

I

Building the project

Python and machine learning

CSP / B / 01

Python for teens

The language most of the six briefs use.

Open the syllabus

CSP / B / 02

AI and machine learning

For the classifier brief and beyond.

Open the syllabus

CSP / B / 03

Data science for teens

Cleaning and plotting what a project measures.

Open the syllabus
II

The theory behind it

A Level and mathematics

CSP / T / 02

A Level Further Maths

Highly recommended by Cambridge Computer Science.

Open the syllabus

CSP / T / 03

TMUA preparation

The test Cambridge and others set for CS.

Open the syllabus
III

Alongside the project

Competitions and problem solving

CSP / C / 01

Algorithms and data structures

Why one method beats another.

Open the syllabus

CSP / C / 03

Cyber security for teens

The Cipher Challenge side of computing.

Open the syllabus

How mentoring runs

Live project mentoring through Year 12

Weekdays or weekends, flexible: choose your batch, or for a very personalised plan choose 1-on-1 at your convenience, weekend mornings or weekdays.

Weekday evenings

Teaching: the code and theory a brief needs.

Weekend mornings

Build sessions, with a teacher on hand.

1-on-1

One student, one project, a weekly check of the log.

Question first

No code until the question is written down in one line.

Student types

The student writes every line of code; teachers explain and point.

Measured results

Each project ends with a number the student produced and checked.

Groups of 15 to 20

Students demo work in progress and field each other's questions.

The log is theirs

We read the build log for gaps; we never read or edit a statement.

No offer promised

A project is evidence, not a guarantee, and we promise no place.

Student work

Projects our students have built

Coding, maths and machine-learning work our students have chosen to publish. Browse more in the student labs.

NutriLife AI nutrition coach project screenshot

AI and ML

NutriLife

An AI nutrition coach that reads what you eat and works you toward a target.

by Bhavya · Open it

Misti AI chatbot for maths and coding screenshot

AI and ML

Misti

A chatbot that answers mathematics and programming questions, built and deployed by a student.

by Harshit · Open it

GuardianX AI internet safety assistant screenshot

AI and ML

GuardianX

An assistant that helps a young person recognise unsafe situations online.

by Vivaan · Open it

SkyCast weather forecast application screenshot

Web app

SkyCast

A weather forecasting site with live conditions for any location.

by Krish

Fees

Fees

Applying through UCAS has its own fee, paid to UCAS. Our mentoring is a separate monthly fee with nothing to join; most project students stay for one to two terms in Year 12.

Free first class

USD 0

no card required

  • A free first class
  • Choose a question for your project together
  • No card details
Book it

Group batch

USD 100

a month, billed in US dollars

  • Groups of 15 to 20
  • Weekly build sessions
  • Work in progress shown and questioned
  • Monthly, stop when the project is done
Start here

One to one

USD 150

a month, billed in US dollars

  • One student, one mentor
  • A weekly look at the build log
  • For a project with a near deadline
Enquire

What families say

Rated 4.9 across 547 Google reviews

Unedited reviews from families on our Google business profile.

★★★★★

"The one step solution for my son. Modern Age Coders make learning coding so simple that kids love it. The teachers explain complex concepts clearly with practical exercises and interactive content."

Ria Mukherjee

Parent

★★★★★

"Modern Age Coders has been a game-changer for me. I struggled to grasp IT concepts and coding before joining, but their classes transformed everything. I can now confidently write complex programs with ease."

Samriddha Mondal

Student

★★★★★

"One of the most wonderful education centres out there. Education is not limited to school syllabus but focuses on skill development."

Vansh Agarwal

Student

★★★★★

"My child Dhairya is really enjoying the Modern Age Coders classes. This is his first online class and he eagerly looks forward to it. I can already see his improvement, and the teachers are very cooperative."

Sonam Oswal

Parent of Dhairya

★★★★★

"Modern Age Coders have wonderful teachers who teach in a clear, easy and practical way. The teacher boosts students' confidence and inspires them to learn without hesitation."

Sonu Goyal

Parent

★★★★★

"I highly recommend this computer coding class! The teachers are incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about coding."

Ritu Kedia

Parent

Personal statement questions

What computer science applicants and parents ask

What are the three UCAS personal statement questions?

Why do you want to study this course or subject; how have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare; and what else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful. UCAS says they share one 4,000-character limit.

How long is the UCAS personal statement?

Up to 4,000 characters including spaces, across all three answers, with at least 350 characters for each. Imperial confirms the same structure for 2027 entry.

What should I write about in a computer science personal statement?

Cambridge asks for mostly academic detail and says it is interested in your thoughts. A project you built, measured and can explain, or a topic you researched, gives you something specific to say in your own words.

What can I do if I have no computer science experience?

Start small. Cambridge's Computer Science department suggests programming puzzles such as Project Euler and Advent of Code, and says a simple command-line program is a great example of independent work.

Can I use ChatGPT to write my personal statement?

Not to produce the text. UCAS says applicants declare the statement was not copied or provided by another source, including AI software, and that anything not in your words could be flagged as fraud.

Does UCAS check personal statements for copying?

Yes. UCAS says its Verification Team checks for patterns of similarity, and Imperial says every statement goes through the Copycatch similarity system. Copying from example statements is a real risk.

Do extracurricular activities matter for computer science?

Subject-related ones matter most. Cambridge says non-academic activities should take up no more than 20% of the section they appear in, and that a few activities in detail beat a list.

Will you write or check my personal statement?

No. We mentor the project itself and the computing and mathematics behind it. A school teacher is the right person to read a draft, and every word should be yours.

What days are mentoring sessions?

Weekdays or weekends, flexible: choose your batch, or for a very personalised plan choose 1-on-1 at your convenience, weekend mornings or weekdays.

Are you connected with UCAS or any university?

No. Modern Age Coders is an independent online school, not connected with UCAS, Cambridge, Imperial or any other university, and we promise no offer.

Related pages

More for computer science applicants

The wider picture on activities, the A Level, and competitions that give a project company.

Computer science extracurriculars

How UK and US admissions weigh activities, ranked.

Passion project ideas

Fourteen more projects, and what finished means.

A Level Computer Science NEA

The assessed project, and the rules for your own work.

AQA Computer Science 7517

The AQA A Level, paper by paper.

British Informatics Olympiad

A national competition UCAS-style evidence can point to.

UK Olympiad in AI

For students whose project is machine learning.

Related pages in this guide

Part of the guide: UK university admissions: maths tests and computing applications

Computer science applications

Admissions tests and interviews

More guides: UK maths exam boards and specification codes · UK maths year by year, Reception to Year 11 · UK selective school maths tests: 7+, 11+, 13+ and 16+ · UK maths enrichment, competitions and able pupils

Start here

Book a free project class

Tell us which courses you are applying for and what you have built so far, even if the answer is nothing. In the free class we pick a question for a first project with you and plan the smallest version that would answer it.

You can also look at our full course list, or read how we teach before you book.

WhatsApp us · +91 91233 66161 · connect@modernagecoders.com

Mentors teach from India on a timetable set in UK time. For a quick reply from a UK number, WhatsApp is usually quickest.

Nothing to pay, no card; we write back once to fix a time.

Want a class sooner? Book a priority demo

A priority demo is a full class of about 45 to 60 minutes. After the class the mentor sends a written skill report and a personal learning roadmap on WhatsApp. If you enrol, the demo fee is adjusted against your first month's fee. Share your demo Order ID with us on WhatsApp and we take it off.

Book a priority demo

Keep exploring Modern Age Coders

Related courses and guides

Learn more

Free resources

From the blog

Start here

Free classPriority demoCall us