Gap years fall out of favour as students opt to work instead

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But these days it is more likely to mean 12 months of work to finance their forthcoming university studies, a bank survey suggests.

Last year's hike in university tuition fees to £3,000 a year is putting paid to many school leavers' travels.

The cost of a three-year degree, including fees and living expenses, is now estimated to be £35,000.

NatWest polled almost 3,500 school-leavers, current students and graduates. It found

that 24 per cent of those who finished sixth form this summer are planning a gap year before going on to higher education.

But 54 per cent of these - more than 50,000 across the country - plan to use the time to earn cash rather than travelling the world.

Some students said they might include some travelling in their year off but stressed that they did not want to end up with no cash at the end of it.

They hope to offset some of the cost of university with grants, bursaries, parental help and part-time or even full-time work but many still expect to graduate thousands of pounds in debt.

School-leavers were also found to be more worried about the financial cost of three years at university than they were about securing top grades.

More than half - 55 per cent - said they were not financially prepared for university while 17 per cent believed it would take them ten years to pay back their debts.

Meanwhile, a third of graduates admit they would have thought twice about going to university if they had known the scale of their debts on leaving. Previous surveys have suggested parents are gearing up to offer more financial help to their children.

A poll earlier this month showed nearly two thirds would divert cash from their salaries to put their children through university and help prevent them being saddled with debt as they begin their careers.

One in ten would consider remortgaging the house or selling the car.

Ministers recently pledged to increase student grant support to more families, with two-thirds of students now eligible for at least a partial grant.