J, not ALL uni's have holidays within school holidays. Last year my summer break was in september after the summer break for schools. Most reasonable unis have their holidays to coincide with the schools shall we say.

There are many reasons why someone would drop out. in my uni failing exams is the top of the list, others decide its not for them or have an illness or life outside midwifery makes it impossible to do midwifery at that time and so deferring for a year or a few months occurs. We have had a couple join our cohort from the year ahead of us after time out.