Taking a year out before starting college

When you’re in your final year of school, you will hear a lot of talk about going to college. It is important to remember that you do not have to go to college immediately.

You may be thinking about taking a year out (sometimes called a ‘gap year’) from education after finishing your Leaving Certificate.

You might take a year out because you:

• Want a break after the stress of your mocks and Leaving Certificate exams
• Have family commitments
• Have health issues
• Need more time to figure out exactly what you would like to do after school
• You feel you are not ready for college
• You are not sure about the course you have been offered and you think you might reapply for college next year

How do I decide if I want to take a year out?

When deciding to take a year out, it is important that you make your own decision and that you are not influenced by what your friends are doing. You need to consider the advantages and disadvantages of taking a year out and talk to family and friends. You should know why you want to take a year out and have a plan for how you’re going to spend the year.

You should also think about things like:

• Is your college place secured for next year, or can you defer your college place?
• Does the idea of starting or finishing college a year after your friends bother you?
• Can you financially afford to take a year out?
• Do you have enough time to plan what you want to do for the year?

What you choose to do on your year out is up to you, but it’s important to have a plan so that you spend your time productively and make the most of it. For example, you might decide to:

• Work and save money for college
• Travel
• Volunteer
• Do a Post-Leaving Certificate (PLC) or Further Education and Training (FET) course

Working while taking a year out

You may decide you want to work for the year. This will let you have some financial freedom and independence while getting work and life experience.

Working during your year out can be useful because you can:

• Save the money you earn to help fund your college education the following year
• Learn how to take responsibility in a job and build useful skills, like working as part of a team
• Get work experience for your CV
• Try to work in an area you are interested in and want to learn more about

Whatever job you choose to do, it’s important to be aware of your employment rights and conditions. You can read about finding a job and preparing a CV.

You can also contact your local Youth Information Centre for help with your CV and cover letter. These are located around Ireland and offer a free, confidential information service to young people up to age 25.

Travelling while taking a year out

You might decide to go travelling for the year.

Travelling leads to growth in your personal development. You’ll meet amazing people, your mindset will change, and it might even lead you to an entirely different career path.

You could work abroad to fund the travel, and if you do, you need to be aware of employment laws in the countries you’re visiting so you know if you’re legally able to work there.

If you don’t work, you will need to be even more mindful of the costs involved, and you should plan for how you’re going to manage your money during the trip. Saving money before you go is important, and you will need to budget for expenses like food, rent and other daily needs.

You do not need to travel for the full year. You could spend part of the year working to save money to fund your trip.

Volunteering while taking a year out

You could choose to spend the time doing voluntary work, either in Ireland or abroad, which would build experience of working with others while giving back to something you feel is important.

When deciding whether to volunteer, it is important to consider how much time you can give (volunteering is unpaid). For certain roles, you will need to be Garda vetted.

Where can I find volunteer opportunities?

There are many ways to volunteer.

You can:

• Register online with Volunteer Ireland to search for opportunities near you, or to find international volunteer opportunities
• Contact your local Volunteer Centre, which can help you find a suitable role and offer support and advice about volunteering

You can read more about:

• Volunteering in Ireland and volunteering abroad on Spunout.ie
• Volunteer services on Gov.ie

Starting a Post Leaving Certificate or Further Education and Training course

You can defer your third-level place and do a one-year Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) or Further Education and Training (FET) course.

You may decide to do this:

• If you want to do some further study before progressing to third-level education, or
• To try out a related course at PLC or FET level to see if it suits you

However, you can’t defer one third-level course and accept an offer for another third-level course.

If you have been offered your preferred college course in the CAO but decide you want to take a year out, you will need to write to the college offering you the place to ask if you can defer your course and explain why you wish to defer.

Deferring just means you put off accepting your offer of a place, usually for one year, and your college holds the place for you.

It’s important to remember that to claim your deferred place, you will need to reapply through the CAO (see ‘Taking up a deferred college place’ below).

If you want to defer an offer you have received, do not accept your offer. Instead, you should email the Admissions Office of the college offering the course and let them know you would like to defer. You will need to explain why you are deferring.

You do not contact the CAO about deferring an offer.

It’s important that you put ‘DEFERRED ENTRY’ in the subject line of your email and that you include:

• Your name as it appears on your CAO application
• Your CAO application number
• The course code for the course you’ve been offered that you want to defer

You must do this at least 2 days before the reply date set in your offer notice. You should also check the website of the college to see if they have a deferral policy that you can refer to.

If you receive a letter from your college granting the deferral, it is important you keep this as it will have information about how you take up the deferred place next year (see ‘Taking up a deferred college place’ below).

Can a college say no to a deferral request?

While colleges will usually try to accommodate requests to defer, there is no guarantee that they will let you defer. Colleges may limit the number of places which can be deferred because they need to make sure they have enough college places for students applying the following year.

Deferral requests are considered on a case-by-case basis and some colleges will only defer places in certain circumstances.

If the college rejects your deferral request, you can still accept your current offer once you do this by the reply date.

Taking up a deferred college place

You will need to reapply through the CAO the next year to claim your deferred college place.

To do this, you will need to:

1. Apply through the CAO portal, like you did the first time, and complete the application form – you will need to submit your personal information again and provide any documents you included in your original application (unless your college has told you otherwise).
2. Choose your deferred course as your first and only preference (if you select any additional courses, you will forfeit your deferral and will be relying on your points again to secure your course place).
3. Tick the ‘Deferred applicant’ box in the Course Choices section of the application form.
4. Pay the application fee.

You should read the letter your college sent you granting the deferral carefully and follow any instructions related to taking up your deferred place.

What you do after your year out ends depends on you and what you’d like to do next.

If you’ve deferred your college place and still want to accept that offer, you can do that.

You are not obliged to take up the place that you defer. If, for whatever reason, you change your mind in the intervening year, you can apply for the new course(s) you are interested in in your new CAO application and simply forego your deferred place.

If you’re working somewhere that you like but still want to accept your deferred college place, you can ask your employer about working part-time to fit around your college schedule where possible.

Or, if you decide you would rather continue working, or you decide you no longer want to do the course, you don’t have to take up the deferred college place.

The idea of taking a year out is to help you figure out your options, so by the end of that year, you will hopefully have a good idea of what your next move will be.

Read more about gap years and how to prepare for a year out on Spunout.ie.