On your gap year, do you want to volunteer, do a work placement, learn a language or pick up a new skill? Which organisation should you go to? What questions should you ask? Above all, how can you make the most of this golden opportunity?
As this year’s gappers start plotting their time away, we select some of the most helpful sites at their disposal.
FOR INFORMATION AND REFERENCE
YEAR OUT GROUP
yearoutgroup.org
An excellent resource, Year Out Group provides an extensive list of organisations that offer gap year options like living abroad on a cultural exchange, participating in an expedition and signing up to overseas courses. There are also guidelines on what to ask the organisations and, crucially, how to investigate costs.
FOR VOLUNTEERING
ORIGINAL VOLUNTEERS
www.originalvolunteers.co.uk
Log onto the site to explore over 100 volunteer projects in 18 countries across Africa, Asia and South America. Opportunities include working with children, building projects, conservation projects, sports volunteering and working with animals. Projects start from £35 per week, including accommodation.
LATITUDE GLOBAL VOLUNTEERING
lattitude.org.uk
Lattitude Global Volunteering is an international youth development charity offering volunteering and gap year placements for 17- to 25-year-olds across the world. Use the site to browse by destination or project. The site features volunteer stories, information for parents and details on how to apply for volunteer projects.
FOR WORK PLACEMENTS & JOBS
THE YEAR IN INDUSTRY
www.etrust.org.uk/the-year-in-industry
The Year in Industry (YINI) works by placing gap-year students on high-quality work placements in engineering, science, IT, e-commerce, business, marketing, finance and logistics at companies such as Shell, Rolls-Royce, QinetiQ, British Energy, L'Oreal and AstraZeneca. Students will be supported throughout their placement via a year-long mentoring service and on-site visits from the YINI team.
GAP WORK
www.gapwork.com
This comprehensive and easy-to-browse website offers independent information about finding jobs and volunteer work both in the UK and abroad. Browse sections on summer jobs, winter ski jobs and temporary jobs, as well as sections on au pair jobs and study abroad.
FOR LANGUAGE & CULTURE
ART HISTORY ABROAD
www.arthistoryabroad.com
Art History Abroad runs a highly regarded gap-year course, which runs four times a year in January, April, August and November. This course is based on tutorials of ten or fewer and takes students aged around 18-25 to the great art centres of Italy, including private visits to places like the Basilica of St Mark’s, Venice.
CESA LANGUAGES
cesalanguages.com
CESA Languages runs a series of gap-year language courses offering students the opportunity to learn Spanish in Spain or Latin America, French in France or Guadeloupe, Japanese in Japan, Arabic in Morocco, Russian in Russia and many other languages besides. Courses vary in length according to the complexity of the language.
FOR SPECIALIST SKILLS & ACTIVITIES
FLYING FISH
www.flyingfishonline.com
Flying Fish runs a variety of courses that train gappers to work as yacht skippers and as sailing, diving, surfing, windsurfing and ski and snowboard instructors. Taking advantage of some of the best training locations in the world, watersports courses are run in the UK, Australia and Greece, while snow sports instructor training takes place in Canada and France.
YAMNUSKA MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES
yamnuska.com
Home to some of Canada’s best mountain guides and instructors, Yamnuska specialises in mountaineering, rock climbing, ski touring, trekking and avalanche education for beginners and experts alike. Its three-month mountain skills and leadership semester is famous across the world.
Updated August 2018