Hiya,

I am a current 3rd year bio undergrad looking at applying for PhDs at the moment. But I'm having the issue that I have no idea what to write in my personal statement/ cover letter as I have little/ no research experience.
I had an internship lined up for this summer but obviously COVID got that cancelled, so I'm now pretty stuck.

Those of you doing PhDs did you have/ were you expected to have much research experience before you started?

It wasn't expected but I had two full summers of research experience and also had a year of industrial experience as part of my degree and that was pure research within a company.
It also helped that I did my PhD with my undergraduate mentor.

You don't typically need research experience in the UK but it won't harm you if you have some. I can't speak for other countries.