The gap year helps you to get more from school. It's too easy to waste it on part-time jobs, reports Louise Holden

When the first extensive survey of transition year was published, earlier this month, most newspapers were hung up on one finding: transition-year students get higher marks in the Leaving Certificate. There's nothing wrong with that, but a closer inspection of the study reveals that some students are getting more out of transition year than others. If you want to be one of those students, read on.

Sometimes the mission of the gap year can get lost between canoeing trips and running the school tuck shop. There are three main reasons for doing transition year. The first is to develop yourself. Exam years can quickly become a treadmill of classes, study, part-time work and sleep. It doesn't leave much room for the arts, for sport, for community work, for social action or for anything that develops you as a person rather than just as a brain.

The second point of transition year is to give you a chance to learn how to learn: how to research, to use technology, to try new skills and to gather information. These are the kinds of strengths you'll need in college and beyond.

The third reason for taking transition year is that you get 12 months to think about what you might like to do for the rest of your life.

The new study of the transition-year programme, by the Economic and Social Research Institute, shows that students who take transition year get about 40 more CAO points than students who don't. However, many people use the year to gain a great deal more than that.

Even though each transition-year programme is different, depending on your school, the work-experience module is common to all. Not everyone approaches work experience in the same way, says Emer Smyth, one of the researchers behind the study.

"There are two kinds of work-experience student," she explains. "One student will try and find a work-experience placement in a job that she is truly interested in as a career. Another student will pick up a 'part-time job' which she hopes will turn into a paid job after the experience is over."

Part-time work might be necessary to get you through the weekend, but it's only work experience if it reflects your career ambitions. If you have an ambition to work in a clothes shop, petrol station or other area of retailing after you leave school, then such a part-time position might be very useful. If you dream of being an architect or cameraman, however, then try to find a placement in construction or media.

When they interviewed transition-year students about the programme, the ESRI researchers came across two types of attitude. Some students saw transition year as a break from exams, a chance to relax and, at times, a bit of bore. Others realised it might be their last chance for a long time to explore non-academic activities. They threw themselves into transition year.

One student told them: "I had heard, 'Oh, transition year is a doss,' but you do more practical work, like projects. You are a lot more tired than in Junior Cert, because you are doing so much. You don't realise it until you look back."

Many students surveyed for the ESRI report were irritated that they were made to work on material that would never come up in an exam. "It's a doss year. You do nothing at all [ in terms of school work]," one student complained.

But the study suggests that transition-year students tend to do better than others in the Leaving Certificate. Why is that? "Transition-year teachers cover many aspects of a subject," says Smyth. "They may not be directly from the curriculum, but they are academic. They develop a student's ability and give him an advantage in exams. This is especially true of languages. Transition-year students also appear to do better in English and maths."

Another advantage for transition-year students is that they get extra time to explore their choices for Leaving Certificate. Choosing the right subjects for your interests and abilities is going to improve your performance. That's why it's so important to take the time in transition year to look at all the subjects on offer and find out more. "Most schools do not ask students to make their subject choices until towards the end of transition year, which is a positive development," says Smyth.

One negative aspect of transition year for some in the survey was their choice to use their extra time for part-time work. Many worked such long hours that they left little time to get the best from transition year. They also went on to work throughout fifth and sixth year. These students did not gain the kind of points advantage that their peers did.

The ESRI's findings seem to suggest that transition year works for most but not all students. Those who gain the most are those who approach the year determined to get the best from it.

What the report found