Higher Education in the UK

Entrance to British universities is via a strict selection process based on an interview. After the interview a potential student is offered a place on the basis of exam results. If the student does not get the grades specified in the offer, a place cannot be taken up. Some universities, such as Oxford and Cambridge, have an entrance exam before the interview stage.

Specialisation - Students usually specialise in one subject, for example, French or History, and they study only that subject with maybe a related subsidiary subject for all three years at college. The system of selective interview is designed to assess a student's aptitude in that subject area. For all British citizens a place at university brings with it a grant from their Local Education authority. The grants cover tuition fees and some of the living expenses. The amount depends on the parents' income. If the parents do not earn much money, their children will receive a full grant which will cover all their expenses.

Students don't usually have a job during term time because the lessons, called lectures, seminars, classes or tutorials (small groups), are full lime. However, many students now have to work in the evenings to supplement their grants.

Holidays are longer than school holidays - from two to three months in the summer.

Students do a wide range of summer jobs and holiday jobs at Christmas or Easter. Students cannot usually repeat a year. Failing exams is very serious.

The social life is excellent with a lot of clubs, parties, concerts, bars ...

Most 18 and 19 year-olds in Britain are fairly independent people, and when the time comes to pick a college they usually choose one as far away from home as possible. So, many students in northern and Scottish universities come from the south of England and vice versa. It is very unusual for university students to live at home. Although parents may be a little sad to see this happen, they usually approve of the move, and see it as a necessary part of becoming an adult.

Anyway, the three university terms are only ten weeks each, and during vacation times families are reunited.

Freshers

When they first arrive at college, first year university students are called 'freshers'. A fresher's life can be exciting but terrifying for the first week.

Often freshers will live in a Hall of Residence on or near the college campus, although they may move out into a rented room in their second or third year, or share a house with friends. Many freshers will feel very homesick for the first week or so, but living in hall soon helps them to make new friends.

On the day that lectures start, groups of freshers are often seen walking around huge campuses, maps in hand and a worried look on their faces. They are learning how difficult it is to change from a school community to one of many thousands. They also learn a new way of studying. As well as lectures, there are regular seminars, at which one of a small group of students (probably not more than ten) reads a paper he or she has written. The paper is then discussed by the tutor and the rest of the group. Once or twice a term, students will have a tutorial. This means that they see a tutor alone to discuss their work and their progress. In Oxford and Cambridge, and some other universities, the study system is based entirely around such tutorials which take place once a week. Attending lectures is optional for 'Oxbridge' students.

After three or four years (depending on the type of course and the university) these students will take their finals. Most of them (over 90 per cent) will get a first, second or third class degree and be able to put BA (Bachelor of Arts) or BSc (Bachelor of Science) after their name. It will have been well earned!

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Date: 2016-03-03; view: 1380