Can You Use ChatGPT or AI to Write a Supporting Statement?

The short answer: you can use AI to help, but you shouldn’t let it write your statement for you. Here’s where the line is, what UK employers are saying, and how to use it without hurting your chances.

A lot of people now open ChatGPT, paste in the job advert, and ask it to write their supporting statement. I understand why. The supporting statement is the hardest part of most applications, and a blank page is daunting. But I’ve also read enough applications to know that an AI-written statement is usually easy to spot, and it rarely gets people shortlisted.

What UK employers are saying

Many employers now publish guidance on AI in their job packs, especially NHS trusts, universities and colleges. The messages are remarkably similar:

• Using AI to help is usually fine. Planning your structure, checking you’ve covered the person specification, and fixing spelling and grammar are widely accepted.
• Pasting in AI text is not. NHS guidance on Trac says applicants shouldn’t copy AI-generated text straight into their application, and some trusts say they may reject applications they believe are AI-written.
• Everything must be true and yours. Employers are clear that your application must reflect your own skills and experience. Exaggerating or inventing experience can lose you the job, even after an offer.
• Some ask you to be open about it. Cardiff Metropolitan University, for example, asks applicants to be transparent about any AI use.

Recruiters are also noticing. Recent surveys of UK employers found many say AI-written applications are making it harder to find the right person, which means they are reading more carefully for the real thing.

Always check the job pack. If an employer has its own AI rules, those are the ones that count.

Why AI-written statements fall short

• They sound like everyone else’s. If fifty applicants ask the same tool about the same job, the panel reads the same statement fifty times.
• They have no real examples. AI doesn’t know about the parent you reassured at pick-up or the rota you sorted out. Real, specific examples are what earn marks.
• They can make things up. AI tools sometimes invent qualifications, responsibilities or results that sound plausible. If it’s in your statement, you are responsible for it.
• Interviews expose them. Interview questions are usually based on the same person specification. If you can’t talk about what your statement says, the panel will notice.
• Privacy. Don’t paste your CV, references, other people’s details or anything confidential from a current employer into a free AI tool.

Good ways to use AI

• Let it interview you. Instead of asking it to write, ask it to ask you questions. See the example below.
• Check your coverage. Paste in the person specification and your own draft, and ask which criteria you haven’t clearly shown.
• Tidy up. Ask it to point out spelling mistakes and long sentences, then fix them yourself.
• Get under the word limit. Ask where you’re repeating yourself.
• Practise for interview. Ask for likely interview questions based on the person specification, and practise answering out loud.

A prompt that helps instead of writing for you

“I’m applying for a [job title] role. One essential criterion is: [paste the criterion]. Don’t write anything for me. Ask me questions one at a time to help me remember a real example from my own experience that shows this. Then tell me if my example covers Situation, Task, Action and Result.”

You still write the paragraph, in your own words. The AI just helps you find the example.

Phrases that make a statement sound AI-written

If your draft is full of these, rewrite it in plainer words:

• “I am passionate about…” with nothing to show why
• “in today’s fast-paced environment”
• “I am a dynamic, motivated and dedicated individual”
• “I am confident that my skills make me an ideal candidate”
• “Furthermore”, “Moreover” and “In conclusion” at the start of every paragraph
• Long paragraphs with no names, places, numbers or real events

The best test is simple: read it out loud. If it doesn’t sound like you, it won’t sound like you to the panel either.

Before you press submit

• Every example is something that really happened to you.
• You can talk about every sentence at interview.
• You’ve covered every essential criterion, in the same order as the person specification.
• You’ve followed any AI rules in the job pack.
• It sounds like you when you read it out loud.

New to supporting statements? Start with my step-by-step guide on how to write a supporting statement, or see examples for a teaching assistant or nursery practitioner role.

Want a real person instead?

I help people turn their own experience into a clear, strong supporting statement. We talk it through together, I write it with you against the person specification, and every word is based on what you’ve really done, so you can talk about it confidently at interview.