Skilful statements

SIR – The demise of the Ucas personal statement in its current form will diminish us all (“Universities to scrap personal statements”, report, January 13). For generations of sixth-form pupils the struggle to sum themselves up and sell themselves succinctly in 47 lines has been painful but beneficial.

We know anecdotally that the impact of the personal statement is often very marginal, and sometimes non-existent, when hard decisions about offers are made, but that is not the point: coherent self-promotion, which is not arrogance, is an important life skill that all good schools should seek to develop in their pupils.

Like its predecessors, the current series of The Apprentice will doubtless conclude with the public vivisection of the hapless finalists as they seek hopelessly to defend the spurious claims that they have made in their utterly unconvincing CVS and business plans. At least some of their pain could have been averted if they had been obliged to compose a Ucas personal statement in their formative years. Richard Russell

Headmaster, Colfe’s School London SE12