Lengua

Gap Year: Life in the UK
Do students in your country go directly to university or college after school or do they have a break first? Taking a gap year between school and uni is quite common in theUK, and there are lots of different ways to spend your time.

What is a gap year?
A ‘gap year’ is a period of time, usually an academic year, when a student takes a break from formal education. Itis often spent travelling or working.

Why?
People used to think that taking a gap year was negative. In the past you took a gap year if you had to retake exams or had problems between finishingschool and starting higher education and then starting a career. But now, universities positively encourage a gap year, and employers are happy to give jobs to students who take a gap year. A year outbetween school or college and higher education or employment, or between higher education and a job, can give young people useful learning experiences, help them pick up new skills and make them moreindependent. Employers and universities want to see evidence of enterprise, maturity and commitment both in and outside formal education.

When?
Young people in formal education usually take a gapyear when they are about eighteen years old, before going to university. They can also be taken at a different time, for example, by someone who wants to break up their degree course or to do somethingdifferent before a postgraduate course.

Where and what?
Many gap year students choose to do voluntary work. This could include teaching in the mountains in Nepal, a conservation project inMadagascar, an expedition in Costa Rica or an internship in Japan. There are plenty of gap year volunteer work options to choose from. There is also voluntary work closer to home for British students - bothgeographically and culturally - including the UK, Europe and North America. Popular gap year activities for young people looking for adventure include surfing in Hawaii, wake boarding in Italy,...