Pros and Cons of this For Gap Year

[lindaandrews]

I need some advice. So, I’m on a gap year right now and I just got 3A*s in my A-levels. I took a gap year not to travel and not because I didn’t get into any university I wanted but simply because I wanted to rest. However, I’m getting a bit bored now.

I have always been very academic and I didn’t find my A-levels to be very difficult so would you recommend that I spend the next few months revising 2 or 3 A-levels subjects full-time and taking the exams in the summer? The subjects I am referring to are like psychology and economics which are not difficult to master like maths because it’s more a case of just memorising large bundles of information and blurting it out during the exam and forgetting everything afterwards; but they are still respectable. I’m sure I could do this.

It would cost money to sit the exams privately but imagine if I got an extra 3As - that way I’d end up with 6As in total (3 from last year and 3 from this year!).

Wouldn’t that be impressive?

Likewise, I could also just do 4/5 extra random GCSE subjects instead (with less content) and try getting 8s or 9s in them.

No. It’s completely pointless and you have to declare all results. So you could go from a clean sweep of 3 x AStar to 3 x AStar and 3 x Cs which doesn’t look impressive at all it looks odd and badly advised.

get a job and go to university with significantly less debt. They will benefit your life and career far more.

Having said all that if you are wanting to do maths at university then it’s important that you keep up the maths this year. As I’m sure you will have been advised most of the good universities don’t like gap years with maths because you get out of practice.

A gap year "to rest" seems pointless and will be questioned by admissions tutors at decent universities.

I taught myself a couple of A-levels in my gap year and got A in them (no A* in those days) I learned Statistics and Economics which were subjects unavailable at my school but useful for my degree. Having these a-levels made my first year at uni easier.

I have a daughter who had a gap year and she worked until July and started uni with a good wedge of money. She bought a new MacBook and iPad for her studies. She enjoyed the break from studying and started uni ready to go because she was refreshed.

This would concern me too. Suggests burn out, before you have even started a degree.

have you got a deferred place?

What are you doing next year?

Why did you need a rest? Get a job, do volunteering, short courses…..

Money, money, money. Get earning and saving. Can you book something interesting to do in the spring? Language course, volunteering? But, yes, I'd get some dollar in the bank.

Is there no way you could travel or do something abroad? Maybe be an au pair for a few months, learn the local language?

Waste of time.

Travel
Volunteer
Go and get a job

Do something interesting.

Have you applied for September 25 admission?

Employers want people who are academic and have work experience so it would make more sense to get a job that will also give you a few quid. Try a temping agency if you're not sure what you want to do, it will be great for you to see how different businesses work. If you want to keep learning consider a language and/or TEFL then go abroad for a month or two to expand your horizons. Lucky you!

Oh and to add, this might come as a shock but the point of learning is not to pass exams! There's zero benefit of cramming for a test you don't need to pass with the intention of forgetting everything instantly. Plus, you might not do as well as you think you would, and if you needed a rest after school maybe you'd need more rest after more exams?

A Levels are a great basis for further learning, now it's time to start learning how to apply what you know and grow.

No you would be better off travelling, getting a part time job to save up for uni, learning a language, passing driving test (if not already done).

What do you plan to study? It would be good to get some work experience in that area too. I think employers want experience as well as the qualification.

Taking 3 extra A levels could impact your place as you would only have 7-8 months to prepare for a 2 year course. So you might get 3 A* if you had the full time available but with less time & presumably no teacher to present the content then you might end up with B or C grades.

Suggest that surfing the net and posting on MN at 2am isn't the best use of a gap year. Might need lest rest if you cut that down?

i agree with others. I am going to give you the advice I wish I had been given at your age: being academically successful at school does not transfer automatically to being successful in the rest of your life. If you’re good at passing exams, it can be tempting to keep doing that because it makes you feel good and people congratulate you. But to get on in life you need to be able to work in a team, you need to be able to cope with boredom and failure and carry on going, you need to be able to be creative and resourceful. The skills you developed to pass exams are only a tiny part of what you need for the rest of your life.

i would strongly recommend volunteering somewhere or getting a job.

as an employer, I would not be impressed by someone who had done 6 a levels. I am much more impressed by the people who have done work experience and who I know can get on with people.

Completely pointless. What subject do you hope to study and career afterwards? Getting work experience or internship, volunteering, taking related moocs and reading will all be more beneficial, or even a job to get ahead financially. Presumably you have applied for 2025 intake now?

Am I right in inferring that you were overwhelmed at the prospect of uni this year, so chose to rest? The fact that you are considering extra A'levels, also makes me think that you like to stay in your comfort zone. I agree with the other posters above that what you need to do is get out of your comfort zone and find a job or do some worthwhile volunteering which will add to your CV and broaden your horizons. While a statistics A'level p/t, does make sense, you need to do more than extra study. I would not recommend psychology as most of the exam is about applying what you know to case studies, not reguritating facts, and it is one of the most popular subjects so does not make you stand out.

Excellent advice.

What did you daughter work as?

Have you got a place at uni ?
Surely you'll need money ? What are you living on now ?
Get a job.

Why don’t you get a job?

Volunteer or find a job overseas and gain a language. This will give you resilience, broaden your cultural horizons and indeed could give you a career boost.

Or gain a skill. DD interned (washed pots) at a cookery school for four months.

Go and get a job - consider something like maths tutoring or an internship or job in the field you want to get into. My DP’s DS is doing computer science at university. He has a part time job in Curry’s selling computers. It’s been the making of him. He’s engaging with members of the public, developing his knowledge the latest hardware and software, and gets a good staff discount when he wants to buy a new piece of kit (he probably does this a bit too often). He’s also reasonably well paid and its good for his CV.

Get an extra skill such as a coaching or lifeguarding qualification. Take up a sport. Don’t waste the year.

Contradictory post. You found 'A' levels easy but needed a year off to rest?

You are now bored and think you'll do a couple of 'easy' A levels to fill the time?

Employers want individuals that are well rounded, motivated, engaging, show initiative etc etc. Academics are important but won't get you far without other qualities, skills and interests. And no 3 million A stars at A level isn't impressive. A levels are a stepping stone.

Being bored at 18/19 is worrying. Look around you, look at what the world has to offer, improve yourself, earn some money, volunteer, travel, learn a new skill.