Education – B2 English Vocabulary

Education – B2 English Vocabulary

In this Pre-advanced Vocabulary Lesson about Education, you will learn common words and phrases related to the educational system, the roles and titles of individuals involved, and the various aspects of studying and learning. Check the pictures, definitions and example sentences below to understand these terms better.

People

A 1 headteacher (UK) or principal (US) is a person who runs a school and is responsible for all its staff and pupils.

• The principal gave a speech at the graduation ceremony.

A 2 lecturer is a person who teaches at a college or university on a part-time or freelance basis.

• Our lecturer in Sociology is very engaging.

A 3 professor is an experienced lecturer who teaches full-time at a university, and an 4 academic is someone with a degree who teaches or does research at a university or college.

• The professor published a groundbreaking paper.
• She became an academic after completing her PhD.

A 5 graduate is a person who has completed a degree at a university or college and has received a certificate, and an 6 undergraduate is a person who has not yet completed their first university degree.

• After four years of study, he became a graduate with honors.
• As an undergraduate, she majored in Biology.

A 7 postgraduate is a person who is engaged in further studies after completing a first degree.

• She decided to become a postgraduate student to specialize in her field.

A 8 researcher is someone who studies a particular topic carefully and tries to discover facts about it, and a 9 private tutor is a person who gives students supplementary lessons individually or in small groups.

• The researcher spent months in the library for her project.
• He hired a private tutor to improve his math skills.

A 10 bookworm is a person who enjoys reading and studying, so they can usually be found immersed in a book, while a 11 dropout is a person who leaves school, college, or university before graduating or completing a degree.

• She’s a real bookworm, always buried in her studies.
• Despite being a dropout, he found success in the tech industry.

Your 12 peers are people studying at the same level as you at a school, college, or university.

• Working in groups with her peers helped her understand the material better.

Studies

A bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, and a doctorate are all certifications connected to higher education. A 1 bachelor’s degree (BA/BSc) is an undergraduate qualification that one receives after completing a course of study at a college or university. A 2 master’s degree (MA/MSc) is a post-graduate degree demonstrating expertise in a particular field. To do a master’s degree, one must first complete a bachelor’s degree. A 3 doctorate (PhD) is like a master’s degree but more advanced, and it is the highest type of degree that one can receive from a university.

• She earned her bachelor’s degree in four years.
• He is studying for his master’s degree in Engineering.
• Achieving a doctorate requires dedication and research.

Your 4 qualifications usually refer to the degrees, training courses, or other official certifications that qualify you to do certain jobs.

• Her qualifications made her an ideal candidate for the job.

An 5 internship is a short-term position in which a student works to gain experience in a job related to their studies, and an 6 apprenticeship is a position in which someone works for a skilled person for a fixed period of time to learn their skill and gain experience.

• The internship at the law firm provided valuable experience.
• His apprenticeship as an electrician was a step towards his career.

7 Coursework is written or practical work that a student does during a particular course of study that contributes to their final grade, while an 8 assignment is a specific piece of work that a student is assigned to do during a course of study.

• She spent the weekend working on her coursework for history class.
• The professor gave an assignment on modern poetry.

9 Project work is a set of tasks that a student must complete within a certain time frame to achieve a particular objective, and 10 research is the careful investigation of something that one carries out to find more information about it.

• Her project work on renewable energy won an award.
• Conducting research is essential for a thesis.

All university and college studies follow a 11 curriculum, which is the overall plan for what students will learn during their time there, including subjects, skills, goals, methods, and more. Then, for each subject, there is a 12 syllabus, which is the specific plan for each individual class.

• The curriculum was updated to include more digital literacy.
• She checked the syllabus to see what chapters to read.

Verbs

When you 1 graduate from school or university, you successfully complete a course of study, usually after several years, and if you 2 major in something, you have a specific subject as your main area of study.

• He graduated with honors in Physics.
• She chose to major in Environmental Science.

If you 3 keep up with school or coursework, you manage to progress at the same rate as others in your class or course, whereas if you 4 fall behind, you fail to make progress as fast as your peers.

• She struggles to keep up with the coursework.
• She fell behind in math and sought extra tutoring.

If you 5 take part in something (a play, competition, or sporting event), you participate in it, and if you 6 attend classes, lectures, or seminars, you are present in them. On the other hand, if you 7 play truant or you skip class you fail to attend classes or lectures without providing an explanation.

• She was excited to take part in the science fair.
• Regularly attending lectures is crucial for understanding the subject matter.
• She played truant and missed an important exam.
• He keeps skipping classes and missing important lectures.

When you 8 procrastinate, you delay doing something you don’t want to do for as long as you can.

• Most college students procrastinate and and complete their assignments at the last minute.

If you 9 take out or apply for a student loan, you apply to borrow money from the government to cover the costs of your studies, and if you 10 win or get a scholarship, you win free tuition from a school or university because of your abilities.

• She took out a student loan to finance her university education.
• Winning a scholarship reduced her financial burden significantly.

When you 11 do work experience, you do short-term, unpaid work in a position related to your field of study to gain experience.

• The work experience she did at the local hospital was invaluable for her medical career.

If you 12 excel in something, like a subject or skill, you are very good at it.

• He always excelled in languages at school.

After completing the exercises in this lesson on Education, you can use the unit’s Vocabulary Flashcards to revise and help you memorize the terms.