I'd like to start a thread for those whose dc have decided on a gap year.

Six Gap Year stories, from working in a cardiology theatre, teaching in Japan to being an admissions assistant and travelling the whole of NZ. Maybe some inspiration will arise.

DS had an awful yr 12. I was diagnosed with breast cancer two weeks before the start of term and two months after I had finished treatment my DH, his dad, had quite a big stroke. He struggled to concentrate so study was patchy. Then his grandfather died just before he started yr13. His DG had had a catastrophic stroke during the pandemic and was bedridden and unable to communicate for 18mnths before he died.
We had a family discussion at the end of yr12 and encouraged him to take a gap year. He had been unable to attend any open days and just had little interest in anything but getting through the day.
He finally got his act together and passed his A levels with BBB, he managed to improve by 2 grades on his mock results but had been predicted BBB at the end of yr12.
He was capable of much more but we were delighted that he did so well under the circumstances. Having to cope with the potential loss of both parents was tough.

A significant number of the year above have dropped out and are starting again elsewhere. Some are friends of his and he has already predicted that this may happen to some in his year who have had to change direction rapidly after the results.

I had a long reassuring chat with the tutor who deals with YCAS at school and the application process is changing this year in a way DS will benefit.
He needs some surgery on his shoulder, sports injury, so hopefully we can get all that fixed and rehabilitated before he goes next year. He too is uncertain about courses so we will be doing loads of open days.
Both my sisters had gap years, one to retake, the other achieved much better grades than predicted so was able to apply for dentistry which she had always wanted to do. They were both better prepared for uni and had no trouble settling back down into academia.

My DS2 just finished his A-levels but has not applied to university as he has planned a gap year. He suffers from a very rare health condition and I wanted to make sure he was able to manage and control it before he went off. He is working full-time as a waiter, earning quite good money and also hopes to do some volunteering and work experience related to his chosen course before he applies. This cohort had little opportunity to do work experience due to covid so his personal statement is looking a little sparse! Once he gets all his uni application stuff sorted he plans to go travelling which I am very envious of. He has already matured so much by working and I think by this time next year he will be in a much better position to go to uni. When there was all the hype in the run up to results day, I was thinking we'd made the wrong decision because if his grades were lower than his predictions, he'd find it harder to get offers for next year. Luckily he did brilliantly but I did have some sleepless nights!

My DS applied and deferred and is about to start uni now, after a super-successful gap year in which he has matured and grown in confidence a lot. I would favour applying in year 13 if he knows what he wants to do, because it is nice not having to disrupt a gap year with that process and knowing from the start where you will be in a year; who knows what the new process is really going to be like, the first year of anything is a bit unpredictable; if you drop a grade or two they may well take you as a firm applicant if you have an interesting gap year planned and explained on the form (whereas if he applies with a strong cohort he might not get an offer with those grades).

Also a last minute decision not to do a gap year can be accommodated if you have already applied.

but if he doesn’t know what he wants to do then keep it open and apply in sept 24.

@Angrymum22 im really sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I wish you all the best for a full recovery.

There really are so few discussions on MN about DC that have finished A Levels but are not going to Uni.

DS1 hated his A Levels with a passion, got 3 Es in his mocks, and a diagnosis of severe dyslexia 2 months before his finals. He really grafted during revision and got BCD on results day. I am extremely proud of him.

He definitely has no interest in Uni. He thinks an Apprenticeship in Gas and Heating might be a good option for him, but finding these opportunities commutable from where we live is so difficult.

He has fallen on his feet with an Internship in a Technical PR Consultancy in London which he is doing for 2 months. I think they will offer him a permanent job at the end and allow him to defer it so he can go travelling. I think he would be insane not to accept it (Junior Account Executive in a leading global firm at 19 anyone?) but he is not a fan of sitting in front of a screen all day.

So no idea really, but I hope he finds something he enjoys.

One of mine started his degree at his first choice uni...one week in he was texting me saying he'd made a huge mistake and wanted to leave. Hated the course, said it was mind numbingly boring and no way could he stay.

Managed to support him and encouraged him to give it more time, but by Christmas he was depressed, his mind was made up and he came home for the holidays. Had a few weeks talking things through/having some R&R and decided to apply for his second choice uni but different degree.

He then joined a temping agency, worked full time in a wide variety of jobs for 6 months (brilliant experiences for his cv) then went on a month long holiday with his mate.

He started his degree that September, a much more mature and relaxed young man. Loved it from the get go, got a first as well as several academic awards, did a fabulous year in industry and is now in the middle of a phd (that he was awarded a scholarship for at a top uni) that's going really well. He's said several times he thinks all A level students should take a year out!

@JourneyToThePlacentaOfTheEarth DD1 always knew she wanted a gap year and was planning to apply post A-level, but the school advised her to apply in Y13 for deferred entry instead, as she’d have nothing to lose. The advantage of that is that a) it means you don’t have to be faffing about with uni applications the following autumn when you want to be getting stuck into your gap year and b) it’s good practice just in case things don’t go to plan and you have to reapply next year.

In the event DD didn’t get any offers first time round (vet med), and as she didn’t want to change course, had to reapply in any case. She found it a lot less stressful second time around, because she was more clued up on what to expect and wasn’t trying to do her A-levels at the same time, and got two offers!

She spent her gap year doing a load of things - RSPCA, research work at UCL, lambing, city farm (and now hard graft at McDonald’s just to earn a bit more cash) - but she’s not really interested in travelling like many of them do. She’s lucky that several of her friends have gone to uni locally (or are also on gap year) so she could still see them.

Now she’s really looking forward to going to uni. I just hope it won’t be too much of a shock for her after a year of not doing much academically!

@BiancaBlank thanks so much for your really helpful post. Makes perfect sense!🙂

DD is just coming to the end of her gap year. It was necessary as she needed some major surgery and it was easier to schedule into a year out. It also meant she could apply to uni grades in hand and knowing how the medical issues had impacted her exams - lying on the floor in pain is not conducive to doing your best and the one thing about the UK system that needs a serious overhaul is special consideration as she was only eligible for 3% for being unable to complete that paper and it pulled her down from an A to a D.

It has been a positive experience as she had time to rest and recover after the op and do an EPQ (in which she got an A) to prove that the D wasn't representative of her performance in that subject. SHe was also able to devote plenty of time to contacting admissions tutors to explain her circumstances and ask for advice before she applied and ended up with 3 unconditional offers from RG unis that are highly rated for her subject.

She's had a quiet year as travelling wasn't really an option due to the surgery but she's done some fun volunteering, met some lovely new friends via a social club and earned money in a variety of ways ( principally from churning her wardrobe on Depop...) She's now really looking forward to starting uni next month.

My son was offered his first choice uniform sept but he is requesting to defer for one year so he can volunteer travel and earn some money before starting uni. I think he would benefit from being a bit more mature and grow in confidence in himself .

My Dd's deferred for a year, after getting into her first choice despite not meeting the original grade offer.
She's been struggling with anxiety, an eating disorder & drug use since halfway through year 12, and received an ASD diagnosis in January. I was always concerned that if she got through A levels in one piece she wouldn't be in a good state to be able to cope with uni straight away, and thankfully she's also come round to that opinion. She's looking for part time work locally and wants to get into a healthier routine and explore the ramifications of the ASD diagnosis (everything has been pushed to one side this year to plough through A levels at all costs). Then maybe try and get some experience related to her chosen career later in the year.
I did an unplanned gap year myself as I changed my mind about the sort of course I wanted to do, withdrew my applications in Yr 13 and reapplied for totally different courses once I had my results. Which was definitely the right thing to do, so I've always advised Dd not to worry about taking it slowly!

Kibbutz!!!
brilliant fun, almost died from alcohol poisoning several times but made life long friends and had adventures to last me the rest of my life almost! And gave me the confidence to go backpacking for 2 years after Uni which really was the making of me.

@FionaJT - your DD sounds similar to mine, who also has anxiety and an eating disorder (and I suspect ASD) but I can honestly say this gap year has been the absolute making of her. She got a part time job in hospitality, made new friends through that and is a completely different person to what she was this time last year. She's off to university in a couple of weeks and I feel that she's ready for it now - last year her mental health was really bad and I was so worried about her going but although there will always be that niggle for me, it's a lot less than it was 12 months ago. I hope all goes well for your daughter.

Following!
DS did better than predicted in A levels (ABB) but no idea what he wants to do with them, or in fact, generally.

DD2 missed her firm grades, took a gap year with a long term temp job for a bank. She reapplied to same uni but different course and got a place for this year. Over the year she has earned a fair bit and had a brain break but is bored so feels ready to go to uni.