Neil: Hello. This is 6 Minute English
and I'm Neil. And joining me
to do this is Georgina.
Georgina: Hello.
Neil: 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?
Georgina: I did.
Neil: 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.
Georgina: Yes, and this is what
we call a 'gap year'.
Neil: 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?
Georgina: Ready and waiting, Neil!
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?
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.
Neil: 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.
Georgina: 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...
Meg: I knew I wanted to go to university,
but... I decided I'll do it after a year out, and
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.
Tom: 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.
Neil: 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.
Georgina: 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!
Neil: 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.
Georgina: 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.
Neil: 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...
Chris Rea: 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.
Neil: 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.
Georgina: 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.
Neil: 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 do you say, Georgina?
Georgina: I said veterinary science.
Was I correct?
Neil: 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.
Georgina: That's more than
an English teacher
I suspect, but that's not going to stop us
recapping today's vocabulary.
Neil: 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.
Georgina: 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.
Neil: And when something is productive -
it describes something that leads
to a good or useful outcome.
Georgina: 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.
Neil: An alien concept is an idea that is
strange and not familiar.
Georgina: 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.
Neil: Thank you, Georgina, for that
practical run through of our vocabulary.
So that's all from 6 Minute English
for now. Goodbye!
Georgina: Bye!