Text c. The Academic Term

The academic year in Britain’s universities is usually divided into three terms, which usually run from the beginning of October to the middle of December, from the middle of January to the end of March, and from the middle of April to the end of June or the beginning of July.

There are a lot of different practices that use similar terminology. Many universities run ten-week autumn, spring and summer terms, but some use different names or a semester system. Many other universities run terms of uneven length, with the autumn term usually the longest.

Even within individual institutions practice can vary from year to year to accommodate factors such as the changing date of Easter. For example, Universities of Cambridge and Oxford run Michaelmas, Lent and Easter (eight-week terms). University of Birmingham runs Autumn, Spring and Summer Semesters (each eleven weeks). University of Leeds (a redbrick university) and the Robert Gordon University (1992) run 1st semester (September-January) and 2nd semester (January-May or February-June respectively).

Some universities also have a "reading week" in which no teaching takes place at all. At other universities "reading weeks" are not uniform and may be in different weeks in different faculties, departments or even seminar groups. Some reading weeks cover only seminars while lectures continue.

Notes:

run - зд. длиться

terms of uneven length – семестры разной продолжительности

even within individual institutions practice can vary from year to year – даже внутри отдельных учреждений практика может меняться год от года

Michaelmas [ˈmɪk(ə)lməs] - Михайлов день, День Архангела Михаила (празднуется католической церковью 29 сентября)

Lent – Великий пост

Easter [ˈi:stə] – Пасха

Read Text D. What can you say about the spread of higher education in Great Britain? Why is British education so popular among international students?

Text d. Students

The number of higher education students at universities and colleges in England has increased dramatically over the past 40 years and now totals more than 2 million.

Over half of these students are studying full-time. But many people study part-time at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The normal minimum age for an undergraduate to start a course is 18. But the student population includes large numbers of mature students (that is, those that are older than 21 on entry) and most postgraduate students are over 21 because they usually need to have done a degree-level qualification before their postgraduate course.

Higher education is part of ‘lifelong learning’, which extends through an adult’s working life and sometimes into retirement. Universities and colleges are now trying to widen participation to groups of people who are under-represented in higher education.

The higher education sector in the UK reaches way beyond national borders. Many staff and students are recruited from overseas, and international collaboration in research is very common.

Notes:

has increased dramatically – значительно возросло

student population – студенчество

lifelong learning – обучение на протяжении всей жизни

extends through an adult’s working life and sometimes into retirement – продолжается на протяжении зрелой трудовой жизни и иногда до выхода на пенсию

reaches way beyond – выходит за пределы