The number of students taking a gap-year before higher education has increased by 10 per cent in four years, as more students start working to raise funds for university, a study has found. The research by Barclays found that one in five students now takes a gap year, 17 per cent doing so to earn money for university. This compares with 4 per cent taking a gap year in 1994. The research also found that 80 per cent of school-leavers who do not take a gap year are working over the summer before university.