Appling for PhD - no extracurricular experiences

[Samphire44]

I completed my masters over 20 years ago and have been working since. A PhD studentship has come up which aligns to my current work and I would like to apply however there is one box which asks to detail 'extracurricular experiences - volunteering or leadership roles' in 600 words

To be honest I have been so busy with work and family that I have not had time for extracurricular activities outside this and am wondering what I can put here. Does anyone have any ideas? I could detail leadership in my current job role but I think I have already covered this elsewhere.

Things may be completely different in your field but in mine I would expect PhD applicants to have had some fairly in depth conversations with their potential supervisors before completing a formal application. So any questions, difficulties or stumbling blocks would be dealt with prior to the point of actually applying. Is that not possible for you?

Thanks for your response. Yes I am in the process of setting this up (waiting to hear back from supervisor) but I wasn't sure about raising this in a conversation and wanted to go in prepared.

Most candidates for a PhD position will be applying straight from an undergrad/masters degree, or having graduated only recently. So this question is aimed at them really, giving them a chance to outline leadership experience they may have gained through their extracurriculars whilst at uni (as they won't have 20 years work experience to draw on).

So don't worry that not having much to put in this box means you're underqualified - it's kind of the opposite!

I would just write something like "My varied work experience has provided me with extensive opportunities to take on leadership roles - please see question X for more details."