Travel gave me something in common with the people I became friends with in university. Somehow we were a bit different,” she says.Indeed, the increasing popularity of the gap year has made travel into a valuable conversational currency on campus. “I’d always had this image of South America as this exotic and mysterious place. My gap year gave me the chance to find out.”Despite spending her birthday in the freezer room of a vineyard in Chile, she was not disappointed. “After a spell working in Santiago, just for the experience, I spent three months back-packing through Chile, Bolivia and Argentina, visiting Lake Titicaca, desert ghost towns and even a witches’ market.

“Taking a year out allows you to better tailor your application simply because you know your results,” she says. Many, like Ben, will end up with a spare 12 months on their hands. For these people there is always the prospect of taking a gap year and travelling, along with many of the 20,000 others who have deferred entry until 1998.After receiving her results, Rhiannon Batton found herself over-qualified for the places she had applied to. Those who don’t make their grades and apply through clearing will find themselves up against as many as 80,000 extra applicants, rushing to qualify for the last fee-free year of higher education. “Thinking about the people we met and the adventures we had, even the bad ones, always brings a smile to my face.

Looking back, taking a breather from education was a wise move. I felt refreshed and ready for the challenge, although admittedly I’ve been struck with wanderlust ever since.”
Next Thursday thousands of 18-year-olds will receive their A-level results. “I was at a bit of a loose end when I first got my results, but deciding on the trip to America was one of the best decisions I ever made,” he says. I don’t like regretting anything but I just wish I hadn’t clung on for quite so long.”. Ben Avison failed to get the place he wanted studying English at Edinburgh University. Despondent, he deferred applying for a year and found a temporary job. The pounds 2,000 he saved paid for a three-month tour of the US and Mexico with two friends.

As Eva says, “Two years after the divorce, I think I’m actually in a much better state than my partner In the end I felt liberated – I don’t think he did. I never realised how much better it would be outside the relationship. They won’t take responsibility for those emotions.”Which is partly why male, not female, depression can be a far greater threat to any marriage “Traditionally, depression is seen as a women’s illness. There is still an expectation that men have to be the strong providers and when they can’t do that, women can find it difficult to handle,” says Knowles.