Hello. This is 6 Minute English and I’m Neil. |
And joining me to do this is Georgina. |
Hello. |
Now, Georgina, I know you went to university to study for a degree but before you moved from college to university, did you take a year off? |
I did. |
Well, you’re not alone. |
Many students choose to take a break from their studies to travel or gain work experience before moving on to university. |
Yes, and this is what we call a ‘gap year’. |
And … in this programme we’re talking about taking a gap year and why doing this has become more important than ever. |
But first, as always, I need to challenge you and our listeners, Georgina, to answer a question. |
Are you ready? |
Ready and waiting, Neil! |
According to the Institute of Fiscal Studies, which subject studied at university will lead to the highest average earnings five years after graduating? |
Is it… a) Law, b) Veterinary science, or c) Medicine and dentistry? |
What do you think, Georgina? |
Well, all are subjects that involve lots of studying |
– but as a guess, I think those studying veterinary science end up working as vets and earning the most money – so it’s b), I think. |
OK. Well, we’ll find out if you’re right at the end of the programme. |
Let’s get back to talking about gap years – as the name suggests, it’s a break or gap in between your studies – we might also call it a year out. |
It’s not a new concept – meaning idea – and there are a number of reasons why someone may choose to take one. |
That’s right. The BBC’s Smart Consumer podcast looked at this and heard from two students – one, Meg, took a gap year and the other, Tom, didn’t. |
Let’s hear from them now… |
I knew I wanted to go to university, but... I decided I’ll do it after a year out. |
That way I can wait till I get my official results and apply to university with those rather than getting predicted grades and then, you know, potentially being surprised and not being able to follow the path I wanted. |
I just always had in the back my mind that I’d spend a year doing something productive and something that would just be good fun. |
It’s not something that I really knew about to be honest, I think, until I started university. |
It was a bit of an alien concept to me. It’s something I’ve never thought about. |
It would have been far too expensive and it’s not something that would have been able to rely on my parents or family members for. |
Two different experiences there. |
So Meg said she had ‘in the back of my mind’ doing a gap year. |
That means she had the idea but didn’t think about it frequently – it was stored deep in her memory. |
And she had the idea of doing something productive – that means leading to a good or useful outcome – and, of course, having fun at the same time! |
She also wanted to do something while she waited for her exam results to come in, |
rather than applying for a university place based on predicted results which may turn out to be wrong. |
If something is predicted, it’s an estimation of what is likely to happen in the future based on current information. |
Now, Tom had a different experience. |
He wasn’t really aware of the gap year and described it as an alien concept – so an idea that is strange and not familiar. |
Tom also mentioned a gap year would have been too expensive – but according to Chris Rea from the organisation Prospects, it needn’t cost a lot of money. |
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours programme, he says it’s about gaining skills and being more employable… |
I think the experience of the gap year has become actually much more practical, |
partly as I say to do with university participation increasing, |
but also because of the demands on developing skills, specifically employability skills. |
Actually from an employer’s point of view, certainly, any form of experience and skills acquisition that you’ve undertaken is valuable. |
According to Chris Rea, the focus these days is for a gap year to be more practical |
– this adjective describes the learning of real skills which can be usefully applied. |
Yes, and these are skills that help you compete for a place at university and ultimately make you more employable - they help you get a job. |
Right, but which job might earn you the most money Georgina? |
Earlier I asked you, according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies, which subject studied at university will lead to the highest average earnings, five years after graduating? |
Is it… a) Law, b) Veterinary science, or c) Medicine and dentistry? |
What did you say, Georgina? |
I said veterinary science. Was I correct? |
Sadly you weren’t. The correct answer is c) Medicine and dentistry. |
According to research in the UK, graduates of medicine and dentistry earn an average of £46,700. |
That’s more than an English teacher I suspect, but that’s not going to stop us recapping today’s vocabulary. |
OK. So, we’ve been talking about a gap year |
– that’s a year between leaving school and starting university that is usually spent travelling or working. |
When we say something is at the back of my mind, we mean an idea we don’t think about frequently but keep stored deep in our memory. |
And when something is productive – it describes something that leads to a good or useful outcome. |
Next, we mentioned the word predicted. |
If something is predicted, it’s an estimation of what is likely to happen in the future based on current information. |
An alien concept is an idea that is strange and not familiar. |
And when you’re doing something practical, you’re doing something that is real and useful because you learn skills that can be used in the future. |
Thank you, Georgina, for that practical run through of our vocabulary. |
So that’s all from 6 Minute English for now. |
Goodbye! |
Bye! |