So you’ve reached October in your final year of secondary education, and decided that you can’t stomach another year of education right away. Or, to put a more positive spin on things, you’ve decided that the attractions of a gap year are much more attractive than staying put on the education conveyor belt. You’ve undoubtedly made a fine choice that will pay off in the form of excitement, adventure, new friends and new skills.

One question remains, however. Do you put in a university application for this year, asking for deferred entry, or do you hold fire, complete an application at the start of the next UCAS cycle, before then going on to enjoy your gap year?

It’s a question that divides opinion, and there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, unfortunately. But let’s look at the pros and cons of the two options, and in doing so we can maybe see which of the two options would best fit your circumstances.

By applying now you are effectively committing yourself to a specific course and university for late 2015. Whether you see this as a good and inspiring or bad and nerve-wracking thing depends on a couple of different things. If you know for definite what course you want to do and where you want to do it, you have nothing to lose by going for deferred entry, and moreover by being organised and going for the deferred-entry approach you are getting all your post gap year options sorted, meaning that your time is freed up to concentrate on organising a fantastic gap year.

However, this doesn’t mean that deferred entry is right for everyone. Here are some circumstances that might mean it isn’t right for you:

– You believe that the grades you will get will be better than the predicted ones you have been given, which will limit your chances of success if you apply for the course you want to do this year.

– You don’t yet know for definite what course you want to do or where to study, and feel you need more time to make your decision.

– You don’t have any set plans for your gap year, and therefore wouldn’t be able to say on the personal statement this year exactly why you are applying for deferred entry.

If any of these three situations apply to you, then there is certainly something to be said for waiting for your gap year to begin before you apply. However, there still a couple of downsides to this approach that need to be kept in mind, and in particular:

– If you apply once you’ve left school it can be difficult to get the full attention of your old teachers, who will be spending a lot of their time helping out their current students.

– You may have to delay starting any overseas elements of a gap year, perhaps as late as the new year, if the course you are applying for is likely to involve an interview.

– In the event that you do apply during your gap year before going abroad and don’t get any offers, it’ll be more difficult to deal with things like UCAS Extra from another country.

Those, in a nutshell, are the key considerations you’ll need to make before making your decision. But whichever route you choose, rest assured that if you put in the right effort you’ll be able to both have a great gap year and then head off to university after it.