Exceptional Gap Semester Experiences
Ages 18–22
Ireland with an optional extended tour of Scotland
14th February 2027 & 26th September 2027
Group size: Maximum 14 students per intake
Independence: Treated like an adult with plenty of free time to explore and travel
Support: Staff available 24/7 for guidance and safety
Accommodation: Town-centre apartment in Portrush, hostel accommodation for Scotland travel
Develop personal and professionals skills including communication, planning, photography, video editing, team work and working independently
Our Bespoke Gap Year Programme gives you the same eight weeks living, travelling and making friends in Ireland, but with an educational project designed around you and your interests.
You’ll live, travel and socialise with everyone else. The difference is that during project time, you’ll have your own educational programme.
Complete your bespoke educational programme while living, travelling and experiencing everyday life in Ireland.
Do everything in the 8-week programme, then join us for three more weeks travelling through Scotland.
More than 90% of our students choose to stay for Scotland.
Same first eight weeks. You simply decide whether you want to add Scotland.
It starts with a video call with Ricky.
Tell him what you’re interested in, what you’d like to learn and what you’d love to spend part of your gap year exploring. Then we’ll see what we can create.
We’ve spent years building relationships throughout Northern Ireland, giving us access to local professionals, artists, organisations, tutors and communities across a huge range of subjects.
If we think we can build a worthwhile educational programme around your interests, Ricky will come back to you with some ideas and start putting it together.
Spencer came from Atlanta with an interest in becoming a tattoo artist.
We connected him with a local tattoo artist and built an educational programme covering:
Spencer even received his own tattoo machine as part of the programme so he could continue practising and developing his skills.
He wasn’t tattooing customers or working in the studio. He was there to learn.
We’ve also developed opportunities around arts, crafts and other creative interests, working with local artists and makers across the area.
That could mean:
Wesley, also from Oregon, was interested in audio engineering.
We arranged an educational programme with an audio engineering studio in Belfast where he could:
The studio wasn’t employing Wesley or asking him to work for them. They were delivering part of his educational programme.
Elliot came to us from Oregon wanting to develop his sports photography, so we built his educational project around exactly that.
His programme included:
Rather than spending eight weeks learning photography in a classroom, Elliot had different sports, locations and conditions to practise in.
Sam came from Florida with an interest in politics, history and social studies, so her project looked completely different.
We introduced her to people from different communities and backgrounds across Northern Ireland, including in Belfast, Derry and Portrush.
Sam:
Her project gave her the opportunity to meet people, ask questions and come to her own conclusions.
Spend eight weeks based in Portrush on the North Coast of Ireland on a gap year programme combining tourism, social media, photography, filmmaking, travel and independent living.
You’ll learn new skills through two educational projects while getting out and exploring Ireland rather than spending your gap semester sitting in a classroom.
You don’t need:
What helps?
Curiosity and a willingness to try things.
That could mean getting better photos from the phone already in your pocket, picking up a 4K camera for the first time, gaining your drone flying qualification, editing your first video, travelling somewhere in Europe with friends, cooking dinner for your apartment mates or simply becoming more comfortable doing things for yourself.
During your eight weeks in Ireland, you’ll get four nights to plan your own trip somewhere in Europe with friends.
You could choose Amsterdam, Paris, London, Lisbon, Barcelona, Berlin — or somewhere completely different.
You’ll:
Choose the 11-week option and you’ll join us for another three weeks travelling through Scotland, taking your gap year from Ireland to Glasgow, Kelburn Castle, the Scottish Highlands and Edinburgh.
More than 90% of our students choose to stay for Scotland.
Our first stop is Glasgow, where you'll stay in a city-centre hostel, sharing the space with young travellers from around the world. Enjoy live music, museum, parks and highland cows!
Yes, you will actually sleep in a castle, the home of Lord Glasgow and his family. A rare once in a lifetime opportunity.
You'll stay in a city-centre hostel, with a mix of things we do together and plenty of freedom to enjoy the city with friends from the programme and young travellers you meet along the way.
We head into the mountains and explore the Scottish Highlands, meet a free-ranging herd of reindeer and have time to slow down and enjoy being somewhere completely different
● 14 February 2027 — Limited to 14 students
● 26 September 2027 — Limited to 14 students
Choose your path — an 8-week stay in Ireland or an 11-week experience in Ireland & Scotland — and return home with independence, confidence, friendships, and stories that last a lifetime.