GAP STUDENTS

Each year, we welcome four overseas students who are taking a year out before university. Like most independent schools, our GAP year starts when we come back after Christmas, (around the first week of January) and ends when we break up in mid-December. 

What countries do we recruit from? 
We often recruit from Australia, New Zealand or South Africa, but we are always open to applications from any country that has immigration agreements with the UK allowing young people to work GAP year’s here. 

Do we recruit female GAPs, even though we are an all-boys school? 
Yes! We tend to recruit two male and two female GAPS so that our GAP team can offer a diverse leadership model to our boys. 

What type of person are we looking for? 
GAP placements vary a great deal across schools.  Here at Pilgrims’ our GAPs are primarily involved with sports coaching and boarding duties. 

Sports 
As an all-boys school, our three main sports are football, rugby and cricket. We play one each term. Football is played from September to Christmas, rugby from Christmas to Easter and the cricket stumps come out from Easter until the summer break in July. The more playing and coaching experience you have across these three core sports, the stronger your application would potentially be. 

Do we need you to be proficient in all three sports? 
Whilst experience in all three would be fantastic, other applications that we would consider strong would be:

•  An applicant who is proficient in two of the three sports, with a passion for other sports or activities that fit our wider school programme (rowing, golf, sailing, swimming, hockey, drama, music, outdoor adventure etc)
• An applicant who is only proficient in one of the three sports but has played that one to  a high standard and perhaps has coaching experience in another sport. 

There is no magic formula, but playing time in all three sports, in a school team or socially, tends to be the first thing look for on a CV. 

Boarding 
As a boarding school, with boys from the UK and abroad, GAPs help in our two boarding houses. We look after up to 100 boys aged between 8 and 13 so you have to be kind and compassionate and genuinely care about others.  You’ll be seen as leaders and mentors by the boys, inspiring them to be the best version of themselves.  Boarding is a 24-hour a day operation, so a couple of times a week you’ll have to wake the boys up for school and help at bed times. 

Other Duties 
Our GAPs also help other staff around the school, from the front office staff to Pre-Prep teachers, from helping with after-school clubs to supervising in the music department and Forest School.  Typically, there are about 14 different jobs on a GAP’s rota.  

School Events and Trips 
GAPS are genuinely welcomed as part of the staff, so alongside the day-to-day duties, you’ll also take part in special events in the school calendar.  Whether it be putting on a sketch at the Christmas Talent Show, helping behind the scenes of a school play, travelling with a year group on a language trip to France or getting muddy on a camping week to Devon, each term and season of the year will bring with it opportunities to be involved with school life.

GAPs are sometimes expected to dress formally for traditional events such as school concerts, the Remembrance service or our end of year Prize Giving so of course you’ll be in our annual school photo taken in the summer. 

GAP life outside of school 
Winchester is a great location for a GAP when not on duty. Just an hour from central London by train, one hour from Heathrow by car and 13 minutes from Southampton Airport (which has a wide range of European destinations). GAPs usually make the most of their time off with travel, plus you get discounted rail fares.   
In roughly a 340-day GAP year, around 130 days consist of time off (main school holidays, half-term breaks or Exeat weekends (when even our full-time boarders go home).  We’re here to help chat through your travel plans to help you make the most of the best destinations nearby and the most cost-effective routes.   

In the summer GAPS often tour Europe, covering over a dozen foreign countries between mid-July and late August.  And our location means a 36 hour city break in a capital city in Europe is totally doable.  

When does recruitment start? 
Recruitment starts up to a year in advance, with CVs arriving from students in their final year of school each December/January for a GAP start the following January.

Applicants are usually then invited to participate in a 45-minute informal, fact-finding call to begin with. If, after this call, the applicant is interested in working their GAP year at Pilgrims’, they are asked to complete an application form. They are then usually invited to participate in a formal interview, which again takes place online by video call. Successful candidates will usually be offered a place shortly after their interview. The recruitment process usually takes place on a first come-first serve basis; meaning as soon as we identify four candidates that meet our criteria and have accepted our offer, we close the recruitment process for that year. Only if there are problems with the recruitment checks or VISA processes would we reopen the process.

Is it still worth contacting us, even if the recruitment has closed? 
Yes, you never know what might happen so email us with your CV. We also have close connections with other schools that use GAPs, so we may also be able to find you a GAP role at a school close by. 

How do I contact Pilgrims’ about a GAP year? 
The best person to email is Paul Jennings, our GAP co-ordinator. His email address is pjennings@pilgrims-school.co.uk