This goes for both your regular application form and, should you be so lucky, your shortlist application form.

• Make 'em laugh. If you can't think of an answer for something, put a joke down (e.g. Thomas Scott's 'famous ancestors': "No-one I know of, but I guess Scott of the Antarctic is there somewhere along the line...") Okay, so it's hardly Comedy Store material, but it shows that you can make stuff up.
• Never, ever put down "I don't know" or "None".
• Draft and spellcheck. Yes, it's laborious, but it's worth it. I think they throw out any badly spelled apliccation frms.
• Write clearly. Of course, you'd do that anyway, wouldn't you?
• Don't lie. You might get asked about it.