it is right to have a back up plan. there were too many people given places whn i applied so they asked if i was happy to defer it for a year, which i agreed to as that way i was more likely to get in than refusing to defer and maybe not get accepted. i wish i had had a better back up plan though, as i wanted to get a job to save some money but that hasnt happened due to a lack of jobs and my lack of experiance so i just volunteered at my local hospital for 6 months.
i would look into being an au pair or experiance doing something abroad, but in the field of what you want to do at uni. expain that its just a back up and will give you extra experiance that may be handy when you go to uni, as there are a lack of places and it doesnt mean you dont think youll get in, you just want a back up should the worst happen. either that or look into it while you apply and wait to hear from them and just dont tell your parents, then if you dont get in you can tell them what youve planned to do instead.