Do I take a gap year?

Your thoughts on this matter are much appreciated!

@SouthBridge24 It is really important how detailed you have been here, as it tells me that you are aware of your situation
I can get the feeling of waiting around and having to keep exploring options. I left sixth form and went to a different uni and left after 2 weeks, then ended up working in a school/sixth form for a year before reapplying to Newman University in Birmingham. But, I can only imagine the toughness of covid halting plans for you.

So, if I may, I will ask a couple questions to you as this is what I had to do and still do now. If you were going to go into clearing, what course and what university interests you? What areas of work and apprenticeships are you interested in?

It sounds like you have had a lot of time looking for things. I get how difficult that can be and how tough mentally that will be. But, you are doing really well to come on here and post this. You are actually trying to find something. You are not just sitting back
So be proud of yourself for that and keep finding what you truly believe in.

If you need to know more about anything or about my university then let me know.

Wes - Newman University Ambassador

Hey,

I have just finished Year 13 and hadn't applied for university earlier on in the year, this was because back then I didn't envisage a global pandemic and didn't feel like university was the right thing for me, but i feel like it was part nervousness and me being anxious of the thought of leaving home that put me off, however I want to mature and feel like this would be a great way. I am wondering since covid-19 and the economy going down the toilet if I should apply via clearing and not go to the best university for me potentially as I will not have had a tour or had much time to look into it all or whether I'm better off waiting until 2021 when things will hopefully be a little better and the first year experience may be better too!
Hello,

Hope you're well. I think taking a gap year will make you even more bored as it's hard to get employed in the current situation (keep trying though), I would say apply through clearing and do a course you're interested in (use unifrog to help narrow down choices: https://www.unifrog.org), baring in mind the current situation most classes would start online and then move to campus depending on government guidelines (what I believe most universities would do). So you wouldn't have to really worry about accommodation until you know you're going to be at campus, you could also find a uni close to you where you can commute for first year then move up in your second year or in the new year (which I did, 1 hr 30 commute each way wasn't too bad, wasn't sure if I would like to live in London). This will also help getting used to being away from home, it is nerve wrecking going to unknown places but once you're used to it you will be fine.

Going to uni will deffo keep you busy and you get a degree which open more job prospects, hopefully in the 3 years you do your degree things will be better and the economy will get better! You seem like a very intelligent and hardworking person finishing your work in January, so this might be a pathway to look at going into as you would do very well and enjoy the uni life. Also if you want to know more about the universities most of them are on the unibuddy platform where you can talk to students directly from that university to ask them everything you want to know (https://www.londonmet.ac.uk/contact-...nt-ambassador/ for our university).

I hope this helped, if you want to discuss further about what you want to do and making choices or if you have any questions, ask away i'm happy to help!

Signing off,
Abdull
2020 Graduate
London Metropolitan Student Ambassador.
In addition, if I go this year I will have to fork out the funds at the start for the course and accommodation as I will not get my student loan in time for the start.

I have also applied for degree apprenticeships and other part-time jobs but I've had no success as there seems to be so many people applying to these things now so it's making it super hard to actually get anything. The part-time jobs seem to be wanting people who have had experience before which I haven't had so I'm really just sitting at home doing nothing these days just watching job sites etc and want that to change but it's just getting difficult when hardly no opportunities are around at the moment.

P.S: I finished my coursework/exams in January 2020 and haven't done much since then because my school forced me to attend everyday so life got really boring for a couple months, lockdown saved my sanity as I could at least do other stuff at home rather than sit and twiddle my thumbs all day long at school while the others worked. So as you can see I really need to find something to keep myself occupied as I don't want to be sitting around for a year and a half or so at home.

Your thoughts on this matter are much appreciated!

Hey @Wes - Newman Uni thank you for your prompt reply! I am interested in the Computer Science courses which are less focused on the Programming aspect but more on the Networking and Cyber Security field. I have looked around at various Universities online for clearing spaces and found the University of Kent as the best one for me. I decided this based on a number of factors such as location, the fact that I know people who have been there before so I know a little bit of what to expect already and that the area is nice as I have visited Kent in the past. The main concern for me right now is the accommodation if I applied through clearing as I can imagine there won't be many if any halls with spaces still, so I could lose out on that part of the experience if I have to rent somewhere by myself.

The areas of work/apprenticeships I'm interested in are IT based ones, however if we are talking about part-time jobs or even full-time to help fill in the upcoming academic year then anything in retail and the sort will also work fine with me. I am also interested in the aviation industry however that one is really irrelevant for now as covid has ruined that area of work. Lastly, I have also considered becoming a train driver however I must be 21 to do that job so that ones not feasible right now either.

Thanks for reading once again, I look forward to your response! 😃

@SouthBridge24 Forgive the slow reply. Due to other work I have not been able to sit down on The Student room.
How have you got on with University of Kent? Have you found accommodation that suits? That is a hard position to be in. Did you contact the accommodation team at Kent?

They sound good options for work or apprenticeships. Do you feel that any of them are what you would prefer to going to Kent?

Again, sorry about the slowness. I hope you have found a resolution

Hey Wes,

No worries about the slowness! I've decided I am going to take a gap year in a sense as I don't want to rush into making my decision over the university, I instead want to go to different open days (virtually) and I've ordered prospectuses too. This way I will feel confident with the decision that I make during the application process for 2021. I have applied for quite a number of part-time and permanent jobs at places now that could help get me over for the year and even if I don't have success with attaining any jobs this year, I have cyber-security & networking courses that I can do online to get me ahead of the game for the degree I choose to take next year. In addition, I find taking these courses online are helping give me a better sense at which degree I want to study, as I'd simply hate to invest into the wrong degree for me. Furthermore, if I take a year out I have a chance to see if I can get any pull on the degree apprenticeship front too as getting the on-the-job experience I feel is such an invaluable experience!

Many thanks for all your time and efforts I have found it very useful indeed!