Two Countries divided by a Common Language

Clearly the person who decided on this prompt is American. It’s the only place, as far as I am aware, where university is referred to as college. In the UK, there are Sixth form colleges which are more relaxed versions of schools. In these colleges, students are often taking more practical subjects somewhat similar to the old technical colleges of the post war period. There are also some Public Schools in the UK which are referred to as colleges, most famously Eton. In another example of the divide between the UK and the US, Public Schools are the name we give to our private education institutions!

When it comes to Higher Education, we used to have very much a two tier system. When I studied for my Economics degree, I did so at Staffordshire Polytechnic. The Polytechnic system was a very good way to broaden access to Higher Education in the UK in the late 60s onwards. They took students with lower A Level results or mature students like myself (mature referring to those who had spent at least five years out of education, definitely not behaviour in my case!) who universities would not even look at. Nowadays, all the old polytechnics are referred to as universities, including Staffordshire University in Stoke on Trent. It has removed the official division between the two, but students, teachers and parents are aware of which universities are long standing and which changed their name in the 90s and 2000s. I think it’s perhaps gone too far in the UK with 50% or so of school leavers being accepted into higher education and a relaxation of standards shall we say! However, the way that the Polytechnic system democratised education was very important and my journey through life would have been utterly different without it. The degree was the reason I was able to become a teacher and go to Japan, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia and Australia and the reason my opportunities were expanded beyond working in an office.