Part 2. Higher Education in Great Britain Topical Vocabulary

• polytechnics

• special colleges (e.g. the Agricultural Colleges, Colleges of Art and Music …)

• redbrick universities

• new universities

• common rooms

• halls of residence

• vocational courses

• tutorials/tutorial system

• the student: lecturer ratio

• a grant from the local council

• to pay fees for tuition

• to cover fees and living expenses

• further education

• adult education (vocational – concerning a person’s job) or recreational (purely for pleasure)

• to give a series of lectures

• to do full-time courses

• part-time education

• the Open University

• to apply to a college

• co-educational colleges

• to confer degrees

• to get a degree in …

• Bachelor of Arts or Science (involves at least three years of full-time study) / BA or BS

• Master of Arts or Science (needs two further years of study)

• a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

• University terms: October – December, January – March, April – June; total: thirty weeks

• to have the course recognized as a degree-level course

• the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) looks thoroughly at the structure and content of the course

• syllabus (syllabi)

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• to issue prospectuses describing the courses

• to accept applicants

• entry

• fellow (“don” colloquially)

• extra-mural departments

• to get to grips into the subject

• to develop programmes

• to apply theory in practice

• exposure to current thinking in both academic and professional circles

• access to a range of services such as library facilities, market information and events such as seminars, conferences and lectures

• to ensure the highest possible standards in …

• MA in Marketing Management

• to gain an additional qualification

• to achieve two relevant qualifications in one go

• commitment to quality

• to have a superb reputation in the field of

• the computing and library facilities

1. Read the text “Education after School”and answer these fact finding questions. Questions

1. In a MORI opinion poll 1987 almost half the respondents said that they would send their children to private-sector schools if they could afford to. What is the role of the private sector in education as a whole?

2. More generally, do you favour the use of a selective process to divide children at age eleven or later, between separate schools, or separate classes, according to ability? Or should they all be kept together?

3. Relatively few children of manual workers receive higher-level education. What prospect is there of changing this?

4. In response to the Education Reform Act of 1988 some local education authorities appointed new teams of people to deal with different aspects of educational management, at rates of pay about twice that of the basic-rate maximum for classroom teachers. Is this likely to improve the quality and effectiveness of the authorities' schools?

5. Meanwhile, individual schools were given a new right to opt out of local authority control altogether – and so to be outside the control of the new 'managers'. Is this a good idea?

6. In 1988 schools in the state system were told that they must include a period for religious worship in each day's timetable, so that once a week each pupil would attend a worship session in a large group in a hall; on the other days the worship should be in the classroom. The law of 1944 already provided for something of the kind, but had for a long time been disregarded. What do you think about this revival for the 1990s?

7. In 1989 the Government produced a scheme for a change in the system of financial help to students in higher education. The money value of the grant would in future not be increased to take account of inflation but students will be able to receive loans from state funds to make up the difference. Each student's repayment of a loan would depend on the student's earnings. Taking account of the cost of administering this scheme, is it a good idea? Or would it be better to continue with grants big enough to cover the total cost of studying?