Does taking a Gap Year affect your chance of getting into Oxford or Cambridge?

By Russell Greenhill

Founder & CEO @ Greenhill Academics

Oxford Master’s Graduate • 4+ Years Tutoring Experience

Is it acceptable to take a gap year if you want to go to Oxbridge?

If you have taken a gap year or are planning on taking one, you’re probably feeling uncertain about how universities will treat your application. You know that there is a well-trodden path that takes undergraduates directly from school to their first-choice university, which you have now stepped off, and there is no clear path back.

You want to increase your chances of going to Oxford or Cambridge. To help inform you, Lucy has offered to tell you about her journey to study Theology at Cambridge after taking a gap year. She goes into detail about which of her fears were real, and which turned out to be overthought. She tells you what she did to give her the edge in her application to increase her odds of success.

Lucy’s story about getting into Cambridge to study Theology after her gap year

Lucy is a Greenhill Academics tutor for exams and university admissions to Oxford and Cambridge Universities. She ranked consistently high at school, however, in her final year she had extenuating circumstances that forced her to take a gap year because she achieved lower grades than she was capable of the first time. It was a tumultuous time that forced her to take some time off with the intention of coming back after one year with her results from resitting her exams.

There were some key things that Lucy did during her gap year to get her into Cambridge. These things led to her retaking her exams to achieve A*AA and an A* on her EPQ. She felt very lost, and she reveals the secret that helped her gain a place at Cambridge to study Theology, Religion, and Philosophy of Religion.

“When I was applying to Cambridge after my gap year, I thought there was absolutely no chance of getting in. I was competing against applicants who are legitimate geniuses who have never missed a grade in their life. I had no resources and had to find everything myself.” Lucy, Greenhill Academics Tutor.

You will find the resources in this blog to avoid being as lost as Lucy was in your undergraduate application to Oxford and Cambridge and increase your odds of succeeding in gaining your place after taking your gap year.

What are the key things you need to address to get accepted to Oxford and Cambridge after a gap year?

You need to know the following information

1. Is it acceptable to apply to Oxbridge Programmes after a gap year? 
2. How do I frame my profile to include my non-academic experiences that may not be directly relevant to the subject?
3. Who should I have as my reference on my Oxbridge application?
4. Can I reapply if I’ve already been rejected?

We provide evidenced, informed advice guided by official Oxford and Cambridge policy to help you avoid the discomfort of rejection from these target institutions.

Do Oxbridge universities penalise you for taking a gap year?

The universities give clear policies on undergraduate entry after a gap year and the answer is a clear no. Oxford and Cambridge do not penalise you for taking a gap year.

Firstly, they define two relevant terms: deferred entry and mature student.

• Deferred entry means that you have applied to the university, gotten accepted, and asked to defer the place one year before you are expected to start attending your course.
• Mature student means that you are older than 21 years old when you start your course.

In both cases, the university does not discriminate against applicants who wish to defer or are joining after a period away from formal education. One or both of these may apply to you for your application. It’s reassuring to know that the universities explicitly say that they will not disadvantage your application if either applies.

Further, the universities explicitly state that they do not bias against taking a gap year before undergraduate study. In all cases, the application process is exactly the same, gap year or not. The application process goes through the same channels, work has to be submitted, tests completed, and interviews attended.

Some sources suggest that applicants should frame personal statements and interviews around their experience. This makes sense since a strong applicant is aware of how the experience frames their motivation for the course and adds to their expertise.

How to include your gap year in your application to Oxford and Cambridge

If you’re anything like Lucy, you are a bit nervous about how to explain why you took a gap year. However, the first thing you should do is own your decision to take a gap year. Lucy did several things really well that enabled her to succeed in her application to Cambridge:

1. She had a clear reason to take a gap year
2. She stayed productive
3. She framed everything clearly on her application
4. She achieved everything needed for her course
5. She performed well in her interview

At each stage of the application she either included a bit about what she did on her gap year and how it helped her prepare for the course or was prepared to talk about it. For example, she spent much of the time preparing for her exam resits, which were a natural preparation for her personal statement and interview.

It’s important to frame your experiences as preparing you for the course. It is often a positive thing that you have a bit more exposure prior to the course and it can therefore make you a better candidate.

In all cases for undergraduates, the application process is exactly the same whether or not you have taken a gap year. The applicant must submit the required work, complete entrance tests, and attend interviews, just like everyone else.

Who should you have as a reference if you have done a gap year?

We recommend that you get a referee who has seen you study at school, wherever possible. If you have lost connection with your school after several years or if you think that this reference is not relevant anymore, it is also acceptable to use a reference from an employer.

Under no circumstances should you get family members or friends to be your reference as this will almost certainly lead to a rejection.

Can you reapply after a gap year after getting rejected previously?

The official Cambridge policy states that you can reapply the following year, however they suggest not applying more than three times.

Further, Oxford states in its official policy that it welcomes applications after a previous rejection and that it takes each application on its own merit. Every applicant must go through the same process again, including the submission of correct tests and written work. Oxford suggests requesting and actioning any feedback given from previous applications.

So does taking a gap year affect your chances of going to Oxford or Cambridge?

Our evidence shows that there is no bias against those who have taken gap years. As part of our ongoing research, we collect profiles of successful applicants to Oxford and Cambridge. For transparency, the majority of successful applicants have flawless profiles, straight from school. However, there are profiles that suggest that the Oxford and Cambridge policies are accurate.

Lucy, who studied Theology, Religion and Philosophy of Religion at Cambridge, is an example of someone who got accepted after applying in her gap year.

“At no point during my application did I feel penalised because I had taken a gap year. It was never a disadvantage, at least not one I encountered.”
— Lucy, Cambridge Theology Graduate (2023)

Lucy had personal reasons to take a gap year, during which she retook her A-Levels getting disappointing results her first time. She applied through the normal UCAS channel during her gap year with her new predicted grades and got accepted.

To put her grades in context, she ended up with 10 As and A*s at GCSE, and A*AA at A levels, with an EPQ grade of A*. 

You can see that there are no exceptions (or ones that we’ve seen) to grade misses. In the interactions I’ve had with graduates from these institutions, I’ve never met anyone who didn’t meet the grade requirements for their course and was an ‘exception’. You must be academically capable.

How to increase your chances of getting into Oxford and Cambridge

We’ve learned that the process is fully achievable based on the university policy and Lucy’s first-hand evidence. The next step is to create an action plan designed for those who are returning to university after a gap year.

At Greenhill Academics, we have a repeatable and proven programme that has led to many applicants increasing their chances of getting into Oxford and Cambridge. We call this the PROGRESS programme, which ensures you hit every point in your application to increase your chances of getting accepted. This is shared here for the first time.