1. What’s it all about?
A Gap Year is usually a year taken out of education or employment after ‘A’ levels and before university. It often involves travel to different countries and some form of volunteering or charitable activity.
2. What can you do in your gap year?
- Get a paid job to help out with later studying costs.
- Take a working holiday at home helping on a conservation project or assisting in activities with children or disabled adults.
- Take a working holiday internationally in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Japan and South Africa.
- Sign up for an adventure or outward bound type course or take part in an expedition.
- Combine more than one element: work plus a study course; or travel plus volunteering.
3. Who are they for? Is it right for you?
Anyone can take a Gap year but it’s important to understand what it can offer and explore some of the challenges they involve.
- Build confidence - unless you spend the entire gap year commuting from home to a workplace you will experience living away from home, learning to look after yourself and coping with everyday situations on your own. This is an excellent way to build your self-confidence.
- Build Skills - deciding what to do with your year, working out a budget for travel, organising your itinerary, working as a team and trying to make sure you do not run out of money at the other end of the world - all these activities develop useful skills for later life.
- Help others – by choosing a charitable or volunteering gap year you can use this time to help others and make their lives better. This is a great thing to get on your CV when you come to apply for jobs.
- Chill out & relax – Taking time out after all those exams and before you head to Uni gives you a great opportunity to relax and re-charge.
- HAVE FUN! – need we say more?
Time - a gap year adds to the length of your higher education so it might not be great if you choose to study on a long course, such as to become a doctor or lawyer.
Continuity - some mathematics and science tutors advise against a gap year, believing that study should not be interrupted and that students might ‘go off the boil’: luckily they don’t all share this view so discuss it with your careers advisor and chosen Higher Education Institution first.
Costs - An extra year without wages and the cost of travelling to far flung places can be expensive so always budget first and make sure you can afford your Higher Education before your year out.
4. How to plan for a safe trip
To get the best out of the gap year, careful planning really does pay off. Ideally, you should have made your decisions well before completing your UCAS forms. To help you do this:
Attend a gap year fair. There’s a list of fairs on the Gap homepage. Here you can meet and talk with Gap providers and get some great advice.
- www.myfuturewise.org: If you are a member of the Futurewise careers guidance and advice service, you have access to a comprehensive gap year planner developed in association with gapadvice.org. Log in and navigate to Gap Year for more details.
- www.gapadvice.org can help you if you don’t have Futurewise
- www.gogapyear.com: the FCO’s website, especially good for safety tips
- www.gapyear.com: a huge resource of gap year information
- www.wwv.org.uk: volunteering database of opportunities worldwide
- www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/: Great for talking with people on their gap years now
- ‘Taking a Gap Year, by Susan Griffiths
- ‘The Gap Year Book’, from Lonely Planet
Talk it over. Discuss your ideas with as many people as you can; family, school careers staff, your friends or online with previous gappers.
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Use a specialist provider. A specialist Gap provider can take some of the headache out of planning your year out. They will know the locations, visa policies and usually have a structured placement scheme for you to join. A word of warning: There is no regulation of the gap year industry in the UK, so some important questions you should ask when choosing a provider are:
- Why are people from the UK needed on this programme?
- Where does my money go?
- Who has checked out the placement?
- What is expected of me?
- What sort of preparation will I be given?
- Can I talk with returned ‘gappers’?
- Who do I turn to if there is a problem?
You will also probably want to see evidence of:
- Terms & conditions
- Annual accounts
- A crisis & risk policy
- Public liability insurance
- An equal opportunities policy
- An ethical code
- Clue up on Safety.
- See the governments ‘Know Before You Go’ campaign at www.fco.gov.uk/travel
- Make sure you have the right vaccinations if you are going to far off places. Your GP or specialist providers such as Trailfinders can help you with these, get them well in advance.
- Understand the countries and cultures you are going to meet, go online to find out about them and learn some of the local language before your arrive, it’ll make you friends very quickly.
- Courses on gap year safety are also available. They cover areas such as personal and First Aid. See www.planetwise.net or www.objectivegapsafety.com for further information.
5. Financing your Gap year
It’s estimated that an average gap year can cost £3,500. You can of course do it for much less. For tips on fundraising have a look at: www.gapadvice.org/Young-People/Finance. Looking to find several £000s for your gap year can seem daunting. But many people cover their costs, without relying on money from friends and family:
- Work and save before you go and during your gap year
- Start budgeting early:
- cook food, rather than eat out
- cycle, rather than use public transport
- Open a gap account, earning interest
- Fundraise
- eg car boot sales, garage sales, parties, quizzes, sell things on eBay
- Apply for a grant
- from local charities eg Rotary Clubs, Lions, Round Table
- Select cheaper options:
- make comparisons; charges vary considerably
- If under 30, for part of the year use the 'Working Holiday Visa' schemes in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, South Africa to fund your travel
Taking a gap year can provide you with the most amazing experience in the world. You will meet new cultures, make new friends and come back with a whole range of new skills. Whatever you decide to do use it to help your future success and if you can improve the lives of others in the process that’s even better, have fun!
Phil Murray
Director
gapadvice.org
www.gapadvice.org
info@gapadvice.org
- Research, research, research!
- Budget, budget, budget!
- Talk to returned gappers
- Talk to people online in your chosen country or placement
- Be aware of local customs and cultures
- Plan for ‘break’ points in the year to re-charge
- Have a back up plan for money and important information
- Make sure you get all your vaccinations well in advance
- Be prepared for the unexpected
- Enjoy it
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