Raleigh International

Taking a gap year is much more than a CV skills boost and the chief of UCAS has got it wrong about the ‘golden age of the gap year' being over, a newspaper has reported.

Writing in the Times, Charles Starmer-Smith has challenged UCAS head Mary Curnock-Cook saying that even though students are fighting for university places, a gap year doesn't have to be all about bolstering a CV. He argues that a voluntary placement, and the structure it affords your year off, can be hugely rewarding if it is taken for the right reasons. But, he continues, it is just as important to break free from the institutional shackles, to take a step back and learn to fend for yourself for a while.

His comments follow reports of a gap year boom and the news that Raleigh is also experiencing a whopping 63% rise in graduate applications to its expeditions this year, compared the last.

One of Raleigh's participants Nicholas Oldroyd found that it was the general experience that helped him find a job when he returned to the UK. He said: "As important as they are on expedition, skills such as survival, medical and radio weren't the most important lessons that Raleigh taught me. It was actually the frame of mind, my sense of purpose and achievement and my attitude that anything is possible - that is what has really helped. Working together with people of all nationalities and knowing that your limit is always that little further in front was a great experience".