Deferring for a year

[eatthatfrog]

Hi
DD who is dyslexic (only just received support in Y 13) out of blue has mentioned tonight that she’s thinking of deferring as she would like a break before 4 yes of intense study for PHysician associate I have said it will be very hard to go back after a break and know she has support highlighted through DSA she should proceed. She also mentioned initial clinical is reduced
If she did defer she’d work and study ALevel biology to fill gaps
Are any of your dc think it of deferring?

I teach physician associate students, although not on a 4-year undergraduate programme like the one your daughter is doing.

I don't see why a break from study should be a bad thing. Part of the problem with the transition from school to university is that students find it hard to break out of the GCSE/A-Level memorise-and-forget mode of "learning". Of course, if someone spends a gap year just lazing around or having fun it will be of no benefit when they return to study, but if they use it to develop themselves personally, e.g. through working, volunteering and independent study, it can be very positive.

I don't think doing biology A-Level will be helpful if she's already met the conditions for her PA degree. This is partly because A-Levels are so focused on learning how to answer exam questions rather than learning, and partly because most A-Level biology curriculums don't include very much that's directly relevant to medicine. Some online Open University modules might be more useful, or simply writing herself a list of topics and studying them independently. These options aren't so easy when you're not registered at a university, as textbooks can be expensive (although she probably wouldn't need the most up-to-date editions at this point), but there's quite a lot of free material on the web, and searching for resources and identifying whether they are reliable is a key skill for university study.

I think everyone should take a year out before Uni to work and learn about the world. It’s such a huge leap from school to uni. I think she’s being really sensible actually, especially at the moment when we don’t really know how universities will be in the coming year.

DD took a gap year before her biomedical sciences degree, and it hasn't affected her learning at all. She has just finished her second year and is currently working at a first. She is in the top 25% of her cohort.

She has CFS and suffers from brian fog and panic attacks so it hasn't been easy for her.

I remember asking DD's chemistry teacher when she was in year 13 if taking a gap year would have a negative effect and he said no, as most students forget everything anyway.

I think the only degrees where taking a gap year could be detrimental are ones that are maths or heavily maths based.