5 reasons why your teen should take a gap year

When I turned 18, gap years were all the rage. Don’t know what to do at uni? Take a gap year. Got the means to go and explore the world? Gap year. Didn’t get on the course you wanted? Gap year.

20 years later, gap-year trends in the UK over the last five years (2020–2025) have surged again, with UCAS reporting that 6.4% of successful university applicants deferred their offers in 2025.

The Covid-19 lockdowns were when we first saw a surge in popularity of gap years, as many students didn’t want to pay tuition for online remote learning instead of a face-to-face university experience, beginning the normalisation of taking a year out before uni. Today, more young people are taking a year off before uni to work and build financial stability, or to finance the ‘trip of a lifetime’.

It was formative for everything I went on to do in my life, including further study, career, and church ministry

Chris Rea, early careers expert at Graduate Prospects, says: ‘A gap year may be a break, but it’s the perfect opportunity for students to explore personal interests, gain life experience, broaden horizons and get ahead in their career. The jobs market is particularly competitive at the moment, so a gap year can be a good move if students aren’t sure what to do, want to earn money, or need to strengthen their CV. If they’re uncertain about what they want to do next, gap years offer space and time to reflect and get to know yourself a little better.’

I agree with Rea, I think gap years are a great idea. I took a gap year after sixth form because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do and didn’t want to lock myself into a course I wasn’t 100% sold on. My parents didn’t pressure me to go to uni, but they did support me if I wanted to go. Their priority, however, was that I seek God on what to do with my life.

I am an advocate for my children taking a year out to serve God and do something different before further study

I got decent A-level results and decided I could apply a year later if I wanted to. I was also leading my church’s youth ministry, and I had such a heart for that work that I was reluctant to leave it behind. I planned to keep working at my local bookshop and cafe, keep serving God at my church, and just see what happened.

God had other plans, and during the summer after I turned 18 and graduated from sixth form, a friend invited me to a short-term surf-mission trip in Cornwall, which led to an invitation to join their gap year programme in London. I was terrified to go, but I had a strong sense God wanted me to. I had no savings, but that year, my grandma passed away, leaving me the exact sum that was enough to go- so off I went!

there are a variety of ways for young people to get stuck in, make mistakes, and try things out, helping them develop and grow in their unique gifts

I moved to London with a small team, doing mission through the creative arts and with youth, and I LOVED it. It was a transformative year for my faith. I learned to lead and serve, developed my spiritual gifts, learned to preach, grew in my passion for evangelism, and saw God perform many miracles. It was formative for everything I went on to do in my life, including further study, career, and church ministry.

Now, as a forty-year-old mum of three boys aged 6, 9, and 11, I am an advocate for my children taking a year out to serve God and do something different before further study.

Here are my top 5 reasons why I’m in favour of the Christian gap year

1. Life skills: The opportunities for gaining life skills are endless on a good Christian gap year. Young people have to submit to authority and serve in teams with people who are different from themselves. Skills such as understanding secondary theological principles, disagreeing well, resolving conflict, and compromising are among the many personal skills gained in ministry gap years. Then there is the housekeeping, budgeting, managing their own money, traveling, and packing that comes with a Christian gap year, all of which are hugely valuable practical life skills that will go on to prepare young people for life in the world.
2. Christian friends: Another life-changing benefit of Christian gap years is the way young Christian adults meet other Christians who share their faith and values. Connecting with new people the same age who love Jesus as they do can offer a taste of the beauty and breadth of the Body of Christ. Young people often make deeper friendships with Christian young people they meet on a gap year than they have ever experienced at school or college, particularly if they grew up in a church with few or no other youth. These friendships share a special bond and can be so meaningful, lasting a lifetime.
3. Learning to love Christian service: One of the most valuable aspects of a gap year is the expectation that teenagers serve others, especially those in greatest need. By learning to serve others, we learn to love well. Whether it’s projects in developing countries or volunteering with children, the elderly, or other people in need closer to home, hands-on experience in Christian service teaches young people humility, compassion, and what it means to be the hands and feet of Jesus. This can grow into a godly passion that lasts for the rest of their lives.
4. A chance to develop spiritual gifts: A quality Christian gap year provides a safe space for young people to ‘have a go’ at different things within a ministry context. With the right training and support, teenagers can learn and practice their spiritual gifts and better understand how God has wired them. From servant leadership to evangelism to kids’ work to worship, there are a variety of ways for young people to get stuck in, make mistakes, and try things out, helping them develop and grow in their unique gifts.
5. Space to explore life’s big questions for themselves: There comes a point where we have to own our faith for ourselves and when we get out from under mum and dad’s roof, this can be when the magic happens. The teenage years are an essential time of self-reflection and discovery. On a Christian gap year, young people have time and space to reflect on their beliefs. Living in a new environment will push them to think beyond what they already know, giving them a fresh perspective and stretching them outside of their comfort zone. Pondering life’s big questions, such as ‘what is the purpose of my life?’ and ‘If God is good, why is there evil and suffering in the world?’ can be uncomfortable, but it will help young people establish strong and necessary foundations for their own faith.
   

Things to consider:

Sending our kids on a Christian gap year is a huge responsibility we shouldn’t take lightly as parents. We should approach it with much prayer, research, and WITH our children, not for them. An 18-year-old is a young adult, and any gap year programme will only work for them if they are 100% ‘in’ themselves.

A Christian gap year is also a significant financial commitment. Consider children’s savings accounts, or young people working for six months to pay for a six-month or shorter programme.

Read more:

7 ways to help your teen start university with Jesus at the centre

How the job description for Christian parents changes when their young adult goes off to university

When you’re looking for Christian gap years, ask for testimonials or look at organisations where you know someone who has already served with them.

Be prepared that wobbles are normal, and there might be a few ‘I want to come home now, mum/dad,’ phone calls during a gap year. There might also be moments of regret when they catch up with friends who started university without them. This is where we push them towards Jesus and trust Him to do what we cannot- reassure our young adults that He has got them.