Is it must to apply for university during admissions time?

Is this a smart thing to do?
I really don't want to apply for university in year 13 next year. Though I don't have results yet as I haven't done the exams, I feel as if I would like to find somewhere at the end of year 13 once I receive my proper A level results. AS has been terrible so far honestly. What would someone do if they did not apply for university during admissions time? Would they have to take a gap year or enter through clearing? I don't understand how this system works anymore.
In AS I know I may get three B grades but I know it isn't enough. I'm trying to sort my complicated life out.

In order to enter clearing, you must have an active Ucas application, so you will need to have made one in advance. There is nothing to stop you applying for the first time through clearing other than that, but I think you will find it very stressful, since places go very quickly and you will have to make decisions in a matter of hours, which is not really a sound basis on which to make a decision which will cost you £40,000+ and three years of your life. In addition, you won't have the full range of courses to go for, either.

You can have your cake and eat it, though. Make an application in the normal way next year and see what offers you get. If you don't get anything you like, you can then go through Extra, and if that doesn't work, then clearing. If it still doesn't work out how you'd like, then take a gap year and start again.

Thank you for explaining. May I ask- what is 'Extra'?

Extra opens in February, after the deadline for equal consideration for all courses except Oxbridge, medicine, dentistry and vet med, which is Jan 15th. If you have no offers by February, and that could be either because you were rejected from everywhere or you declined those offers you were made, then you can add an extra choice from the list of courses in Extra. These are courses which universities have been unable to fill for one reason or another. You add one at a time and should get a response within 3 weeks. You can keep on doing this until you hit lucky.

Ok, I think I understand. Thanks. My school doesn't explain these things- they make it seem as if I have only one route to take which I may miss. I want to do engineering but I don't mind the course I take at university. I'm interested in it but I'm not passionate about it at this moment. My passions lie in the performing arts area however I just want a job, a degree or something to support me in terms financially and to gain some knowledge.

It really doesn't sound as if you are ready to go to university and if that is the case, I'd strongly advise against it at the moment. It really doesn't matter at what age you go to university - people go at all periods of their lives. What does matter is that you don't waste your shot at it and get into debt whilst being miserable and doing badly at it. Student finance allows you one grace year before you would have to finance yourself for a year. If you drifted into engineering, stuck it out as far as the start of the second year and then dropped out, you'd have to fund yourself for the first year of any other degree you took up, so it really isn't worth doing something just for the sake of it. Engineering isn't a walk in the park for those who don't really care much about doing it. Take a year out and get a job, then you can save up some money and have a good think about what you really want to do in life.

Ah I really think I am not. The truth is I just want to enter singing/performing and dance. I don't want to go and study something I am not passionate about but I will be disappointing my father. He explained that I wouldn't have a job if I went to study drama at university. He also emphasises that education is power, he went to university and did fine arts but couldn't really use his degree so he is so strict on us. I wouldn't mind doing those courses but once I graduate, I would be focused on becoming a singer rather than living my profession as an engineer or lawyer. The thing is, I could be good at anything I put my mind too but I would be a failure if I did not pursue my dream job. Education here says it's worthless. I did resistant materials at GCSE and actually enjoyed the whole process, it was stressful but I had fun and got a good grade which is why I thought maybe engineering is for me. I also love to create things, I would love to invent new gadgets, make ideas in my head a reality and solve problems. Though, as singing is number one for me, it's holding me back from processing in school a little. So I have interests but no passions, my father says this could change but I do not know.

I would be miserable if I did not achieve my number one dream job.
But my father believes I would become dumb, incomplete and used in that industry if I do not have a back up plan or knowledge to support me.

I told him that when I am passionate about engineering only, I would go back to university later and actually use the degree. He says it would be 'moving backwards' wasting years of my life as the average 'human being has 80 years'. He also says that I would need to bring something new to the table, I would need to add my knowledge to the industry. He seems so informed but I don't know anymore. I love him so much and I don't want to be jobless, a disappointment and homeless.

Parental pressure is done for the best of reasons and often has the worst of outcomes. It's very easy for people to say ignore your parents, but it's harder to do in reality. I have to say though, as the mother of two sons in their 20s, that what matters to me is that my children should be happy, and I suspect the same is true of your father. Unfortunately, trying to relive his life through you is not going to make you happy. My advice is to take the time out and establish yourself as an independent adult who can make their own decisions, but this is not an easy option and tends to be one which few kids make, with the result that a lot of people drop out of courses their parents want them to do. No easy answers, I'm afraid.

Sigh, this is going to be very difficult. I need to have a hard think about everything. As you said, there aren't any easy answers and this makes me very uncomfortable. My friends and everyone else would be going to university while I'll be here still deciding. That's one thing he definitely does not want. I'll finish AS and A2 then maybe take a gap year.
I can't leave education now, I enjoy some of the subjects. Are the any courses that I could take that surrounds the field of entertainment in this country? All of my opportunities are abroad in the US but my father doesn't want me to go there for a reason I do not know of. I want to go regardless but saw the expenses and realised I would need a scholarship.


Thank you so much for your advice, I really appreciate it. I'm crying a bit up at the moment because I realised how confused I am. My life has no direction at the moment. I'm going to be 18 very soon and the truth is I'm afraid of the adult world.
If I am honest, I have been very privileged. Some may describe it as spoilt but I'm grateful for my parents. I haven't experienced real hardship before, I haven't really had to deal with making decisions with dealing with the outcomes as my parents would always fix things if anything went wrong, I've never worked for something and I don't have the slightest clue on payments, loans and debits. I've heard of them but never have I actually experienced them which apparently at 17 about to be 18 in a few months is bad. I have friends who are currently working part-time, preparing for the adult world gradually, who have had to do so and so.

I'm scared that this is a big indication that I am not ready to be an adult. Sometimes I wish I didn't have passions that were based outside of school. Sigh, I'm just tired of everything. Making decisions which I know nothing on and endless research on possible outcomes. It's making me almost depressed. I hate this stage in my life, I know time will pass but I'm scared of everything, the future and making mistakes.

There is nothing to be ashamed of in not being a grown up at 17, especially if your parents, for the best of motives, have sheltered you from what it means to be an adult. It's what parents are programmed to do, and if I can put in a word for them here, it is probably quite difficult for them at this point to let go, because they are afraid in case they haven't done a good enough job to keep you from harm. However, you are going to be an adult soon, although in education terms it's a cloudy picture - universities won't discuss you or anything about you with your parents, whereas student loan companies expect your parents to be still funding you, which seems to me to be trying to have it all ways.

I'd try to get round some of the problems by having concrete plans for a gap year, which is what will serve you well from the universities' perspective as well. Aim to spend a year doing something worthwhile - earning money to support yourself is perfectly justified, but so are various volunteer programmes and the like. Don't just drift into doing nothing as that will go down like a lead balloon. Prove you are capable, which you are, of coping with life a bit more by yourself than you have up to now, and you will have a better chance of making him see you can make sensible decisions yourself.

As for studying in America, that's a whole different ballgame and you might be advised to have a look at the Studying In North America forum on TSR to see what the potential pitfalls are. There are opportunities for working abroad in the US as a student, so maybe that would be a start. I've no idea if Camp America is still going, but there'll be something similar if not. Take a look, and formulate a plan your father will be proud of you for.

I couldn't thank you enough
The thing is, I've had many people tell me that taking a gap year isn't worth it to them as I'd still have a lot of money to owe but at this point I'm considering it. Hopefully I would be more reassured on what and where to go onto from there.