Gap years are something that many young people consider after school, before they begin at university. There’s no reason, however, that you can’t take a gap year after school and then begin an Apprenticeship. If you’ve decided that uni isn’t for you and that you’d like to find a position as an apprentice, you could take a gap year when you finish school, and then begin your search for an Apprenticeship vacancy. This is the clear difference between a gap year before uni and a gap year before an Apprenticeship. With universities you can apply for deferred entry – applying and securing a place to start your course after your gap year. This isn’t possible with Apprenticeships – vacancies that employers are advertising are for job roles that they need to fill now, not in a year’s time. Therefore, if you want to take a gap year first, you’ll then need to start searching for Apprenticeship vacancies during or towards the end of your gap year.

A gap year after school and before applying for an Apprenticeship can be a great opportunity to take a break before you begin full-time work and can also be a great opportunity to gain skills and experience that you can put on your CV and discuss at Apprenticeship interviews.