Taking a gap year

People who took gap years (to reapply to universities or delay applications to universities), what reasons did you do it for and was it worth it? What sort of things did you do?

I took a gap year because I wished to reapply to Medicine. I then fell just shy of the required grades and for a variety of reasons, I decided against resitting and applied to do Psychology instead. It was absolutely worth it. I was a care worker during my gap year and it taught me a great deal about humanity, kindness, and also about some injustices and how the world works. It also taught me the value of money, to the point I thanked my mum and dad for effectively wasting so much money on me when I was a kid. I also had fun, travelled a little around the UK with the money and did plenty of things I wanted to do, and spent a worry-free summer knowing I had my place guaranteed at a uni I liked!

Hi @Riann246 ,

I thought I'd answer this to give you my experience about my gap year and then applying to university.

I decided to take a gap year because I wanted a bit of a break from education after my A levels before I went to university and I think this helped me massively when I got to uni as I was ready to study and learn something new after a year out working. I also wanted to travel but my gap year fell in 2020/2021 when we were in lockdown! So I ended up being really glad I had had a gap year even though I wasn't able to do any travelling like I had originally planned to.

During my gap year I worked as a waitress to get some money saved up for uni which I was really glad about once I got to university as I had some savings to help me out. Despite wanting a break from education, I decided to do a part time college Course as I had quite a bit of free time and I was starting to doubt what I wanted to do at University. I originally wanted to study journalism so I did the course in journalism but it wasn't for me in the end so I changed my mind to studying business which I am really enjoying. So it did work out really well for me in the end.

I would recommend a gap year as mine taught me a lot about my learning style (preferring coursework to exams) and gave me chance to reflect on whether uni was actually for me and what I wanted to study. It gives you chance to think about these things without the pressure of A levels on top. I also spent lots of time with my family and friends which was nice as I had been really busy during year 13 so it was nice to relax a bit before going to university.

Good luck!
Lucy -SHU student ambassador

Hi, thanks for the reply! It's fortunate that you paused education during lockdown - I'm glad it turned out for the best for you. I'm also someone who prefers coursework to exams so I am considering it too. It's seems like the year only had benefits and no drawbacks! It's also great that it gave you some clarity on what course you wanted to pursue!

Hi @Riann246,

It was really useful and it did fall at a lucky time so this would be slightly different for you, however I would say the other benefits would still apply. I would also say if you prefer coursework to exams, make sure you look into this when deciding what uni to go to- this was one reason that I chose Hallam in the end and it does make your university experience a lot better if you choose a uni/course with coursework if this is what you prefer. You don't want to be stressed about your grade resting on exams if this isn't where you perform best!

I would say the only drawback I felt which I didn't mention before was feeling a bit left behind compared to my friends. I had a few friends who went to uni and I from watching their stories or talking to them I did sometimes feel left out. However, after freshers week this died down and I didn't really that left out as I was enjoying myself too and I knew that when I went I would have the same experience just a different year!

Also, I forgot to say the first time, if you are worried about being a different age to the your flat mates or course mates then don't worry! It doesn't matter at all and everyone is different ages so don't worry about this.

Hope this helps,
Lucy