forced to take a gap year

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Do extra A Levels if it helps your degree. The ones for CS usually are: maths, FM, and CS. Physics is nice, but it's not as helpful.

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Do something on your bucket list.

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Get level 3 professional IT qualifications to aid you for work after graduation (note if they have an expiry date e.g. 3 years)

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Travel

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Do qualifications up to level 3 to help you get part time work outside of IT, catering, care, warehousing, and supermarket e.g. finance, lifeguard, law, construction, logistics, bookkeeping. personal trainer

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Go and work/volunteer in the sector that you want to later get a job in after your degree

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Write (book, play, novel, whatever)

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Vlog your experiences - travel maybe?

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Start a side business - check to see if your university would allow you to continue running your business during uni

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Learn a language - particularly consider language immersion courses where you travel as well as learn

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Travel abroad to volunteer (consider saving up £2k to do this)

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Work abroad e.g. hospitality, construction, translation, etc.

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See relatives and extended families

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Anything on your bucket list

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Go on an experience day

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Pick up new skills - especially if it brings in a lot of income and is in high demand for the next 5-10 years

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Paint/anything arty (especially if you need a portfolio of some sort)

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Compose music

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Go on a day experience - see Virgin, Red Letter Days, etc.

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Take etiquette lessons - it's rare to see someone do this

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Design a game, website, app, whatever IT related (especially if you need a portfolio of some sort)

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Create a course

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Learn to dance (in whatever style you want)

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Eat particular types of foods (or a food bucket list) from all parts of the world

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Learn to cook

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Learn to sell and market

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Learn how to get a job

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Read certain books in literature and nonfiction that are highly prized/considered classics

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Watch movies that are acclaimed and are in the top 100

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Try to help turn a homeless person's life around (through a charity - it can be dangerous)

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Volunteer at a theatre

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Work on a cruiseliner (won't be able to leave the ship for X months, but you get quite a bit of money - don't waste it all)

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Volunteer at the university that you want to study at as a research assistant

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Become a life coach

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Make a low budget film

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Learn a sport

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Learn public speaking

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Learn data science/analysis

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Learn an instrument - not necessarily master it; that will take years

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Become the fittest that you ever been (not thinnest) - at least clean up your diet

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Grow your own food - e.g. allotment if you don't have the space in your garden

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Build a shed

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Assemble a computer

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Tutor people

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Do X for charity e.g. marathon, cycle, walk, whatever

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Make your own wine/cheese

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Learn to manage your finances and investments

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Confront any fears or mental issues that you might have

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Learn to drive if you haven't already

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Learn how to program and then work on a few IT projects

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Sports coaching - I had friends who have certificates for football, basketball, etc. You will need to be at least level 2 in order to coach in a sport

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Start your professional accounting qualification (depending on the accounting body, you might get a standalone qualification after completing X number of papers) e.g. ACCA, CIMA, ACA; consider AAT Level 3 if you are not going to do an accounting degree or want a full on accounting qualification yet

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SCAE, tea sommelier, cheese connoiseur, wine sommelier, beer sommelier/cicerone, sake sommelier, whiskey amabasador, mixology - anything else related to drinking and food

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Chef qualification from a brand name institution e.g. Cordon Bleu

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CILEx for law at Level 3

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Marketing e.g. IDM, CIM, IPA at Level 3

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CIPD Level 3 for HR

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Licenses - fancy driving a motorcycle, lorry, forklift, bus?

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Bartending certificates - some bartending schools will allow you to work with them upon completing their course e.g. European Bartending School (which also has bars across the world)

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Something related to health and wellbeing e.g. reflexology

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Anything in construction and trades at your local adult college (you should be able to start at Level 3)

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Language Certificates - recognised by the country they originate from e.g. DALF or Frantastique if you have already done A Level French

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Counselling Level 3

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Life coaching qualifications

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Teaching English as a Foreign Language – recommend CELTA or Trinity CertTESOL

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Do note for any qualification Level 3 or under recognised under the NVQ framework you would need to likely fund for yourself, unless you decide to take out and Advanced Learner's Loan. If you take courses at Level 4 or higher, you might not be able to fund certain years in your degree e.g. Level 4 will negate funding for Year 1 of your degree, 5 for Year 2, etc.