Exceptional Gap Semester Experiences
Ages 18–22
Ireland with an optional extended tour of Scotland
27 September 2026 & 14th February 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 professional skills including communication, planning, photography, video editing, team work and working independently
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.
Complete the full Tourism & Social Media Marketing gap year programme in Ireland, including both educational projects, travel around Ireland and your independent European trip.
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.
Your main project is developed in collaboration with Tourism Northern Ireland.
You’ll receive an educational project brief and then:
Your second educational project brings things closer to home.
Each group explores a local organisation, attraction or tourism experience around Portrush and the Causeway Coast. The subject changes between programmes, so each group gets something different.
You’ll:
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.