Further Education Colleges

In fact, there are almost as many students at further education colleges as at university, and these colleges perform some very important functions.

Some pupils from school prefer not to stay there to do their A levels, but to move to a nearby FE college. Going there has two main attractions. First, there is a wider choice of A level subjects, including Law, Computing and Sociology; and second, there is a much freer, more adult atmosphere than at school.

Another group of pupils – those who are not happy with the academic study involved at A levels, who want to do a vocational course which leads quickly to a job. FE colleges offer all sorts of work-related courses, from Car Mechanics to Dental Nursing, which give students NVQs (National Vocational Qualifications).

Then there are those who leave school at the age of 16 and go straight into a job, but later on realize that they need higher qualifications. Quite a lot of people in their mid-20s or older come back into education at an FE college and take a one-year Access course; this gets them into university, where they are often more successful than younger students because they are more serious and focused.

FE colleges also offer English-language courses to foreign visitors; in some ways they are a better learning environment than specialized language schools, as the visitors mix with all the British students around them.

23. Speak on the topic “Higher education in Great Britain”.

24. Make a project about the system of higher education in the USA.