Volunteering can bring about significant change – not only to the host communities, but also to the volunteers themselves, and potentially to the wider development sector. Much has been documented on the impacts of volunteering on host communities, but what about the resultant changes in the understanding and behaviour of returning volunteers and the longer-term impacts on their career paths and on the communities where they live and interact after their placement? VSO’s Impact Beyond Volunteering study sought to measure these impacts by looking at the pathways of change that volunteers experience during the act of volunteering and the combination of factors and drivers that lead to change on their return. It explores how this change translates into post-placement outcomes, and how these may contribute to broader development impacts. It also compares these changes and impacts between different types of volunteer and different volunteer schemes. The study asked returning VSO volunteers – from a large geographic area and long timeframe – to identify what changes in attitudes, understanding and beliefs happened to them while in placement and why – and whether any subsequent changes in behaviour and practice occurred on their return. By exploring how and why change happens, it seeks to establish linkages between pre-placement changes and post-placement actions. Although assessing any meaningful broader impact is limited, the study did identify impacts at different levels postplacement that can be attributed – in whole or in part – to the experience of volunteering. This summary presents the key findings of the study, which asked three interrelated questions: 1. What is the impact of volunteering for development on the understanding, attitudes and behaviours towards inequality and social justice of individual VSO volunteers? 2. After their placement do VSO volunteers do anything differently as a result of changed understanding, attitudes and behaviours towards inequality and social justice? 3. What impact do any changes in practice have and on whom? Differences and commonalities between volunteers were explored across different demographics – looking at factors such as age, gender, length of placement, time since placement, area of placement, corporate and non-corporate. It also identified enabling factors and barriers to change occurring during and after placement.