‘It encourages a lot of self-exploration that a lot of young people miss’: Gap year advisor highlights positives of taking a year off

A gap year after finishing school greatly benefits a person’s ability to work.

That’s the view of Saxon Phipps, founder of digital resource Year 13, which acts as an tool for students in the months after finishing school to help provide options for their post-schooling life.

Mr Phipps told Tom Elliott a vast majority of people who take gap years saw immediate benefits when looking for employment.

“When we may look at it as a time where (recent school levers) they’re meeting people and having too many ales, there’s also a lot of person development still going on,” he said.

“Of the 30 per cent (that take a gap year after school), 77 per cent said it improved their employment and working abilities, 85 per cent said it benefited their personal development, 84 per cent said it developed their independence and 73 per cent said it dramatically improved their social skills.”

“It encourages a lot of self-exploration that a lot of young people miss through those last years of high school.”

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