RELATED
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Gap years are a chance for school-leavers to find themselves, figure out their career paths, or just take a break from study.
As students wait for their VCE results, more are opting to defer university study, citing earning money and a step away from the books as the main reasons.
Deferral rates across the region range from 40 to 90 per cent, data from South West Local Learning and Employment Network and the state government says.
Only about 60 per cent of school-leavers take up university offers straight away and most report affordability as the major issue.
The Department of Education’s On Track survey found moving away from home was the key factor for more than half of last year’s school-leavers who deferred tertiary study. The rate was much higher than the 22 per cent elsewhere in Victoria.
The number completing year 12 or equivalent who took gap years in Warrnambool increased to about 25 per cent this year – up five per cent from 2014 and about 15 per cent more than the state’s average.
The desire to start earning their own money motivated 90 per cent of Warrnambool students to take gap years, while 80 per cent of students added they wanted a break from study.
For Emily Rose, 18, a gap year was a chance to consider her options while gaining experience at Warrnambool City Council as a community development trainee.
“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do at uni,” she said.
”I thought I could take a year off to find myself a bit more. I’ve learnt so much this year.
“There’s so much pressure to get an amazing ATAR.”
Ms Rose, who will soon begin a Bachelor of Creative Arts at Deakin University, said the concept of a gap year had become a broad term.
She said it was now just a period of time spent determining the right career path.
“People could be on gap years for a few years to figure out what they want to do,” she said.
Brauer College careers advisor Iain Jackson said between 30 and 40 per cent of VCE students took gap years for financial reasons, with up to half of this year’s class contemplating a break.
"More and more I’m getting students coming back after finishing year 12 for advice after they have changed their mind and want some help in doing applications to university,” he said.
Deakin University language and learning advisor Linda Thies said gap years had been shown to benefit some students’ adjustment to study.
“It broadens their experience and when they come in as first years they’re more likely to engage and be involved in extra-curricular activities,” Dr Thies said.
“There are also far less students discontinuing in their first year compared to previous studies.
“Young people don’t necessarily know what their pathway is going to be, so there are courses offered that are not a direct path towards a particular career choice.”