UK Target, Strong 1st, BB MO & Boutique IB exp. -> 0 Offers. Gap Year vs Masters Strategy?

Hi everyone,

Long-time lurker, first-time poster. I’m a final-year student at a UK target looking for a reality check on my current summer/grad recruitment cycle (eligible for summers via masters).

Profile

Education: UK Target, Finance degree. On track for a strong 1st (top of cohort in several modules).

Experience:

Summer 1: BB Middle Office (accepted for brand name).

Summer 2: Regional Boutique IB (to get relevant deal experience).

Extracurriculars: Leadership roles in societies, part-time jobs, fitness endeavours

The Situation

Year 2 (Summer Analyst Cycle): ~200 apps. Reached AC at an LMM (cut on fit, reality is probably wasn't good enough) and interviewed at an EB.

Year 3 (Summer/Grad Scheme Cycle): ~150 apps. Strategy was to aim for ~40 with quality, but widened the net later due to poor results.

Results: Much worse yield than my internship cycle despite more interviews (IWs are mostly non-IB, very wide scope, which has made targeted prep difficult)Auto-rejected by BBs/EBs (didn't even get online tests/HireVues this time).

Landed a few LMM/MM interviews.

MM #1 & #2: Rejected (Didn't mention a specific firm value for an unrelated question/screened out due to being final year after giving an interview despite IW being 'fantastic').

MM #3: Reached AC, but anticipating rejection due to strong competition from top Master's students (LBS/Oxford) and timing conflicts with other ACs.

Some other non-IB IWs: Screened out due to being final year/not being good enough (was not targeting this latter role, didn't expect to get this far)

The Problems: I am struggling to even get past the screening/test stage at places where I was 'more competitive' last year. I feel I’ve regressed in screening results despite having a stronger CV (now with IB experiences, BB name despite MO, strong results and extracurriculars) and top test results. Main headwind is the lack of IB interviews and ACs (only had one IB AC where timing conflicts made prep hard).

My Proposed Plan

Wait for remaining Summer apps + Grad apps.

Networking for Summer internships (mixed success so far).

Plan B: Take a gap year -> Off-cycle internships (not sure how hard would be to secure relative to summers/grads) + cold emailing boutiques -> Apply for Top Masters (LBS/HEC/Oxford) w/ more time to prep for GMAT-> Re-recruit for internship & FT roles in IB.

Questions

Why am I getting auto-dinged by firms that gave me HVs last year? Test results are top-notch, and personality/fit is the same from what I can assess.

How do I get more IB interviews? Don't see any big weakness in my profile/tests/HVs where available. Networking seldom leads to referrals. Experience is decent. Competition is super stiff?

Is the gap year + off-cycle route viable in the current UK market, or is it too risky to leave uni without a secured role? OC + some more boutique IB/PE roles would be the plan.

Given my profile (Target + 1st), is a Master's (Oxford/LBS/HEC) real leverage, or am I hitting diminishing returns?

Thanks for the help.