Volunteer with Pod and enhance your UCAS personal statement

When you apply for university or college place you need to complete a UCAS application which includes a personal statement. It can sometimes be hard to write your UCAS personal statement as you don’t know what to say to stand out or what things to include. 

For 2026 applications the personal statement has changed from a single long essay format and it will now be in 3 specific sections, each having a direct question to answer. This new structure allows applicants to have a clearer focus to outline achievements, talents, motivations and experiences. 

A strong personal statement allows you to stand out from the crowd so that your chosen universities and colleges can learn more about you and see why you would a great addition to their course!

What are the new UCAS personal statement questions? 

1. Why do you want to study this course or subject?
2. How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course of subject?
3. What else have you done to prepare outside of education and why are these experiences useful? 

There is a minimum count of 350 characters for each question and maximum overall character limit of 4,000 (including spaces) for the 3 questions combined.

For question 3, UCAS suggest “volunteering” as one of the potential areas you can focus on. A Pod Volunteer trip will give you lots of impactful examples to use! 

How can volunteering overseas help with question 3 of your UCAS personal statement?

Joining a Pod trip as a volunteer allows you to:

• Help a charitable cause overseas and show you are a force for good!
• Live and work outside of your comfort zone in a challenging new environment
• Show your commitment to learning new skills, which may also be relevant to your course (conservation, data research, animal care)
• Develop confidence and teamwork by working alongside volunteers of different ages and nationalities
• Demonstrate a position of responsibility
• Develop essential qualities such as resilience, empathy and time-keeping
• Grow independence through solo travel and overcoming cultural and language challenges
• Explore local sites during your free time which could be connected to your course (temples, historic interest sites, markets, national parks) 
• Complete your DofE Gold Residential award whilst volunteering on your Pod trip! 

All these new skills and experiences help you to show why you’d make a great student! 

From protecting turtles in Greece, helping rescued wildlife in Thailand to monitoring the Big 5 in South Africa we have many exciting trips which you can join!

Take your first step to make countless memories, new friends and new skills to help your UCAS personal statement by finding out all about our trip options around the world here: www.podvolunteer.org/projects