Gap years and deferred entry

[PrincessOfPreschool]

DC are in Y13. I realised I know nothing about gap years in case this is something they decide on later on or want to reapply the following year with grades in hand.

• Do you negotiate a deferred entry after you have an offer or after results day?

• If you want to reapply to university through UCAS the following year when you're not at school, who fills in all the school bits, references etc?

Thanks so much. I think one of my children may want or need a break before heading off to Uni so just wondering about the process.

DD decided on a gap year after she had her offers in but before she made her final choice - she contacted them individually (her final 2) to check she could defer and they said it was fine, so she changed those two to the following year. However I think doing it earlier (when you actually apply) is better as there is always the chance they might say no (I’d imagine subjects like maths at high ranking unis may not be so keen, for example) so it’s easier to apply for deferred entry from the off.

you can do it after you have your results (eg wait til you have grades in hand) but there is always the gamble the actual grades may be much lower than predicted, so you are less likely to receive good offers. DD was advised against this for this reason - also I think going back into school to get their help with references etc is more of a hassle once they have left and they have a current year 13 cohort to sort out. However, if DC really don’t know what they want to do, this is probably a better option than applying this year just for ease but perhaps applying to the wrong course through panicking.

good luck - either way it should work out ok, it’s just working out which route makes the most sense for your particular situation.

They need to tick the box 28 entry rather than 27 entry. That's it. Schools don't like it and generally advise against it as anyone going the following year won't be reflected in their xx% of students went on to higher education stats. I personally think it's an excellent idea. You'll know where you're going for a whole year. No last minute clearing decisions. Growing up for an extra year. Earning money so you have a few thousand pounds of financial cushion when you go the following year. Lots of plusses. Some people apply for immediately after their a levels and then attempt to defer. Some are successful, some aren't.

Thank you. I think they both think they are going to uni next year and are applying as such but I'm anticipating that my DD in particular may decide she'd like a gap year and wasn't sure how this works.

Deferral is retty standard - just tick the box on the UCAS form for whichever year of entry you want.

However, if you are offered a place, but don't make your predicted grades, you might not have your place confirmed, as a department/university may think they can pick up better qualified applicants in the following year.

So it will depend on demand, subject by subject. It's worth your DC asking about this at Open Days - but make sure they ask a member of the lecturing staff, not Admissions admins or students. If I were asked this, I would have to say that confirmation of a deferred place without the required grades (ie a 'relaxed' offer) Couldn't be guaranteed. BUt that if the applicant is a good fit in other respects, it could be OK.

That's the only uncertainty with deferral. Otherwise, it's a very good idea for a young person to step off the educational treadmill and decompress a bit.

However, if you are offered a place, but don't make your predicted grades, you might not have your place confirmed

@WadsworthyI'm assuming most kids don't get unconditional offers so aren't you dependent on getting your offer grades anyway? Are you saying that if you meet the offer grades that year, it may not count as they may have higher offers for the same subject in the following year - and so your original offer/ grades met won't be accepted anymore.

Mine didn’t apply to university at the normal time. After A levels she worked and travelled and applied last minute on the closing date the following year. She had contacted her old school, which filled in the necessary sections for her.

My eldest applied for a deferred entry. My youngest applied the year after A levels with her school as it she'd still been in 6th form .

Say your offer is AAB.
The University will on results day decide a minimum they’ll take for students who miss grades - it might be BBB in this example.
So if you get BBB for 2027 start, your place would be confirmed.
If you’ve applied for 2028 start, they may not want to take any dropped grades because they haven’t decided what their recruitment position is for then.
Where I work we rejected any deferrals who’d missed their offer because the institutional strategy is focused on higher tariff next year.
One way around this would be to apply, hopefully get your place confirmed and then request deferral after this.
Clearing places can’t generally be deferred.

DS is also yr13 and probably taking gap year (actually probably won’t go to uni but we don’t want to close off the option completely yet).

We’ve been advised to do the ucas personal statement, and get teacher references this year. Then he’s got everything ready if he needs references in the future and he can tweak the personal statement as appropriate.

@AelinAG explains.

We might relax grades for applicants coming in that recruitment year, depending on overall results and demand. But we are unlikely to confirm a deferred place with those relaxed grades, as the situation changes each year.

Thank you. I didn't realise they may relax grades on results day. I thought you absolutely have to meet the offer grade. That's really interesting to know.

A few things that haven't come up yet and are easier to sort out now than later.

If she ends up reapplying the year after A levels rather than deferring, ask the school now whether they support former students with UCAS applications and what their internal deadline is. Many do, but they tend to want it early in the autumn term, well before the January UCAS deadline, because they are busy with the new Year 13s. If the school won't help, someone who has left school can apply to UCAS independently and choose their own referee, who needs to know them in an academic or work capacity (a former teacher or an employer), not a family member. Getting a reference written this year, as a pp suggested, is sensible, but it will need updating with her actual grades.

If she applies for deferred entry, the year itself gets more attention than people expect. The new personal statement has a question about what you've done outside education to prepare and why it's useful, and for a deferred applicant the planned year is the natural answer. It doesn't need to be exotic. A job with some responsibility, a steady volunteering commitment, or saving towards first year all read perfectly well. What reads badly is "travelling" with nothing behind it.

Student finance is applied for in the spring before the course starts, so for a deferred place that's the spring of the gap year, not this year. The household income assessment uses a past tax year, so a year's delay shifts which year's income gets looked at. Worth knowing if anyone's income is likely to change.

Last thing, it's worth her keeping a UCAS option for 2027 on the list even if she's leaning towards a year off. Asking to defer a confirmed place after results day is usually a simple email, as AelinAG described, whereas getting a deferred offer changed to an earlier start depends entirely on whether the university has space.

Both my two DC applied for deferred entry and both were awarded offers on that basis - it didn't disadvantage them.

They both much enjoyed their year out - coincidentally both ended up living / working in France and grew up hugely. I'd highly recommend it.

My daughter is currently on a gap year. She applied for the course, accommodation and funding as if she were going to uni this September. She had an unconditional offer so checked that it would remain for the following year and then just had to confirm with uni by, I think, 1st September that she wanted to defer, they organised the accommodation and she had simply filled in a form for the student loan to defer that too. As others have said though you have to be clear that the course may not be running the year after or the grades may be different.

Thank you for the great info. @IlovewillowWhen did your daughter decide she wanted to defer? When did she contact the uni? (Results day or before?).

Not all departments every year do it, particularly now we can pick up better qualified applicants via Clearing.

But I would recommend a gap year for all students. It gets them off the education/exam/assessment treadmill, and they can start to reflect as a more in control young adult what they really want.