Burnt out, don't know what to do

finished my last a-level exam yesterday and I think I did decent, but I honestly feel like I am gonna implode if I go straight into uni next year. even if I get the grades for my firm uni (uni of nottingham), I don't think I will get the motivation to keep going with education unless I take a little break. I might change my mind on results day but I want to form a plan B asap...

obviously I'm thinking of a gap year, but could anyone let me know what the process of deferral is? can I do it straight through UCAs on results day or will I have to ring up the university to defer? and does anyone know if university of nottingham even offer deferrals?
obviously in my gap year I am planning to find relevant work experience + get a job etc. but it just all looks so uncertain to me right now, don't know why the hell we're meant to decide all this at the ripe age of 18 years old
if anyone was in the same situation as me in previous years, I would really appreciate any advice you guys have!! thank youu

Hi, I’m glad you’re done now and am sure you’ve done amazing!

I’ve just done my GCSEs so won’t know any of this but just wanted to wish you all the best for your future regardless of what you do! (Do make sure you look after yourself and indulge in the things you love, spending time in nature and reading may also be useful ways to relax!)

aww thank you so much, you're so sweet!! I hope you do great in your GCSEs too and everything else in the future (hope you don't end up like me!!)

finished my last a-level exam yesterday and I think I did decent, but I honestly feel like I am gonna implode if I go straight into uni next year. even if I get the grades for my firm uni (uni of nottingham), I don't think I will get the motivation to keep going with education unless I take a little break. I might change my mind on results day but I want to form a plan B asap...

obviously I'm thinking of a gap year, but could anyone let me know what the process of deferral is? can I do it straight through UCAs on results day or will I have to ring up the university to defer? and does anyone know if university of nottingham even offer deferrals?
obviously in my gap year I am planning to find relevant work experience + get a job etc. but it just all looks so uncertain to me right now, don't know why the hell we're meant to decide all this at the ripe age of 18 years old
if anyone was in the same situation as me in previous years, I would really appreciate any advice you guys have!! thank youu

finished my last a-level exam yesterday and I think I did decent, but I honestly feel like I am gonna implode if I go straight into uni next year. even if I get the grades for my firm uni (uni of nottingham), I don't think I will get the motivation to keep going with education unless I take a little break. I might change my mind on results day but I want to form a plan B asap...

obviously I'm thinking of a gap year, but could anyone let me know what the process of deferral is? can I do it straight through UCAs on results day or will I have to ring up the university to defer? and does anyone know if university of nottingham even offer deferrals?
obviously in my gap year I am planning to find relevant work experience + get a job etc. but it just all looks so uncertain to me right now, don't know why the hell we're meant to decide all this at the ripe age of 18 years old
if anyone was in the same situation as me in previous years, I would really appreciate any advice you guys have!! thank youu

Thanks a lot! But hey don’t say that, burning out is a completely normal thing!

In fact, I feel burned out too after my exams and I’ve spent nearly the whole week just lazing around doing nothing at all (well a bit of cathartic release when throwing away my revision material into the recycling bin . And I’ve come to realise it’s not “self indulgent” nor “selfish” but restorative and rejuvenating.

So I hope that you too can also just take time off (even if it’s the whole summer!) doing stuff that makes you happy or absolutely nothing at all so that you’re recharged. The education system does us no favours but we should all stick together, I’d be interested in knowing about your summer and next steps and am here to talk to about anything if ever you need!

I was in more or less the same situation as you a few years ago - I just felt completely overwhelmed by the whole prospect of going. My firm was UCL, but I kept questioning why I chose it, and even started to wonder if going to university at all was the right path. I had it hanging over me all summer and then got my A Level results, met the offer and knew immediately that I just wasn't ready to go yet.

I deferred the offer by simply emailing the department admin office, who had already sent me a module choice form. At the time I thought it must have been a weird request for them to get so late, but I honestly think it's not so uncommon for people to defer in August. In any case, they were all geared up to process the request and approved it about a week after I emailed. I don't recall if there was a function on UCAS to request a deferral - I'm pretty sure I checked and there wasn't, but they may have added one. All universities consider deferral requests (even Oxbridge), so there should be no problem at Nottingham.

I took a gap year, got a little admin job (which was ok though not exactly very stimulating!), and spent time looking at other routes into jobs I might like that didn't require a degree. In the end, I found that all the careers that offered non-degree entry paths (like apprenticeships) were not that appealing to me anyway. And by that time, I realised I actually missed the academic environment.

Honestly I think it was one of the best decisions I've made because it really fired me up to take the degree seriously, and has given me a year's worth of proper work experience that just looks much better on a CV than running student societies. Obviously it's a completely personal decision and you may feel differently in two months, but I think it's good that you're considering it rather than just blindly going off to uni as so many people seem to do!

I would wait and see how you feel after your alevel results day. At that point you had a few weeks off. Right now every alevel student is feeling burnout, my daughter included, so its natural to think no more education right now.
Definitely see what you can do during your plan B leading up to your results and then come results day you will be in a better fram of mind to decide what to do.

thank you so much for answering my questions so concisely - you've honestly helped me a lot with the information you've given me. it's so relieving to know that people are actually in the same boat as me and that it's worked out for them in the end.

I really want to do more research about it to make sure I know about all the different pathways available to me - do you have any suggestions on what sites I should go to for that?