TAKING A GAP YEAR

There has been a very wide range of Gap Year opportunities available to students. Thousands of school leavers every year have deferred their entry to university in order to gain some experience of the wider world. Opportunities include: • A year in industry. • Paid employment. • Volunteering. • Acquiring a new language. • Going on an expedition. • Qualifying as a ski/sail instructor. • Enrolling on an Art History course.

Before deciding whether you are going to embark on one, it is worth considering the pros and cons. Please note that real advantages can only be gained if you spend your Gap Year productively. With the recent pandemic, the opportunities for GAP years have been severely curtailed, but we are hopeful that these will start to regrow soon.

Advantages

• Maturity Students arrive at university a year older and a year wiser. They have also matured greatly (if they have used the time productively) and have learnt to become independent and self-reliant. It is often easy to spot the Freshers who have taken a Gap Year, for not only do they look healthy; they are invariably more outgoing and confident. • Rested Students start their degree courses having had a break from the academic and examinations treadmill. They often appear fresher and ready for the academic challenges ahead. • Finances Students can, and do, spend part of their Gap Year making and saving money for university. This is becoming increasingly important. • Skills Students can, and do, gain new skills and valuable work experience during Gap Years, making them more attractive to potential employers.

Disadvantages

• Time Time is often cited as a concern regarding Gap Years particularly for students thinking of pursuing long degrees like Medicine. • Continuity Continuity has been known to be a problem in certain subjects like Mathematics and Science whereby students simply forget much of what they learnt in the Sixth Form and have to spend much of their first year at university catching up. • Distraction Distraction is something that worries some parents. The fear is that by taking a Gap Year, a student will want to opt out of university altogether (in our experience this rarely happens).

There is an abundance of organisations ready and willing to sign you up and part you from your money. It is therefore well worth planning and researching your options carefully to ensure that you embark on the right adventure for you and get value for money on the way.

It is worth asking yourself these key questions: • Do I want to travel abroad or stay in the UK? • Do I want to spend part of the year in the UK and part of it abroad? • Do I want to work as a volunteer or for a local wage? • Do I want to embark on a real challenge / adventure? • Do I want to be involved in conservation work? • Do I want to spend time in the Developing World? • Do I want to teach? • Do I want to learn a new language? • Do I want to learn a new skill? • How will I pay for it? • Have I informed my university that I will be deferring for a year? • Do I need to save some money for university? • Will I plan the year out myself or go through a reputable organisation? • Have I contacted the foreign office about safety issues? • Have I taken out full insurance? • Have I consulted my doctor regarding medical issues?

Useful contacts

There are many organisations that now cater for and organise Gap Years. Most relevant information and contacts are held in the careers library. An excellent starting point is ‘Opportunities in a Gap Year’ published by Careerscope (2005) (approx. £10: ISBN 0901936995).

The following websites might also prove useful starting points: • www.aventure.co.uk - Africa and Asia venture. • www.bunac.org - working adventures worldwide e.g. summer camps in the USA. • www.changingworlds.co.uk - voluntary and paid placements worldwide. • www.esu.org - English Speaking Union exchange scheme. • www.gapforce.org – overseas gap year programmes, summer programmes and volunteer abroad projects • www.gapyear.com – worldwide jobs and advice on travel • www.i-to-i.com - specialising in TEFL courses. • www.interrail.eu - unlimited rail travel across 30 European countries. • www.notgoingtouni.co.uk – gap year and voluntary programmes from NGTU partners • www.oysterworldwide.com – paid work programmes overseas • www.pgl.co.uk/gapyear - work on adventure holiday courses in UK and overseas. • www.projects-abroad.co.uk - teaching and projects abroad. • www.skilegap.com - train and work as a ski instructor in Canada.