Applying for Linguistics 2025

I'm planning on applying for linguistics this year and deferring for 2025/26 entry as I want to take a gap year. I'm currently interested in York, York St John, Manchester, Leeds, LIS, and Bangor, and my current predicted grades are A*A*A*A.

When applying, should I email the individual universities to confirm if a gap year would be acceptable or is that not required? I've been recommended by my college to write what my gap year plans are in my personal statement, but I would rather not do this as I've already written my personal statement and I don't have the space, should I try and rework this in or would it be okay if I leave it out?

I was also wondering if there are any linguistics resources anyone could offer as I would love to do some further reading as I am really fascinated by linguistics.

Additionally, regarding the York Linguistics courses, how competitive is it to get onto the MSci course, and should I include anything particularly different in my personal statement to increase my chances of getting onto it? I'm currently thinking of applying for both the BA and the MSci, how different are the courses (other than the course length) and is applying for two courses at the same university even encouraged or should I only apply to one or the other?

Thank you so much

Hi!
I have just finished my first year at York St John studying English Language and Linguistics and can confidently say I have loved it.
I would recommend getting in contact, whether that's email or a phone call, with each university regarding your gap year as different universities have different policies and I find it is always best to be as clear as possible. Im sure mist universities will appreciate the effort. It is definitely ok to leave your gap year out of your personal statement, especially if you feel it is already a strong statement, however maybe ask your collage more specifically what they would take out to make room for gap year information and decide from there.
In terms of linguistics resources I would recommend reading some of the classic work that you have likely studied in college such as David Crystal in more detail (you can find copies of his books in most physical and online libraries). Additionally, the website 'Future Learn' has some interesting courses in very specific areas of linguistic research.

Hope this is helpful, feel free to reply with any more questions!
Faye