Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
11. Learning in the UK
You don't have to spend your gap-year travelling the globe if that doesn't appeal to you. The
point about taking a gap is to try out new experiences that leave you feeling refreshed and
stimulated, to learn something new and possibly come up with some new ideas about where
you want your life to head next.
So if you're frustrated that hardly anything you were taught at school seems relevant to your
life, why not use your gap-year to learn new skills that you choose yourself? You can make
them as useful as you want.
There are plenty of evening classes available at local colleges, though usually only in term
time, and, if you're thinking of training that doesn't involve university or are looking for
ways to expand your skill set as part of a change of career direction, check out the Learning
and Skills Council, which exists to promote lifelong learning, with the aim of young people
and adults having skills to match the best in the world. There's lots of information on what's
available, including financial help, on:
www.lsc.gov.uk
.
A gap is also a good opportunity to explore interests that may, up to now, have been hobbies;
here are some suggestions:
Archaeology
Do relics from the past fascinate you? Would you love to find one? You could get yourself on
an actual archaeological dig. One good place to start is with your local county council's ar-
chaeology department, which may know of local digs you could join. Nowadays, whenever
a major building development is going through the planning application process, permission
to build often includes a condition allowing for archaeological surveys to be done before any
work can begin; so another source of information could be the planning departments of local
district councils.
Art
If you're seriously interested in painting, sculpting or other artistic subjects, but don't know
if you want to carry it through to a full degree, there is the useful option of a one-year art
foundation course. These are available from a wide variety of art colleges.
A foundation course at art college doesn't count towards an art degree, in the sense that you
can then skip the first year of your three-year degree course, but it can help you find out
whether you are interested in becoming a practising artist, maybe an illustrator, an animator,
a graphic designer, or are more interested in things like art history, or perhaps working in a
gallery or a museum or in a field like interior design.
