Further education in Britain

　　The term 'Further Education' is the name given, in Britain, to a very broad and diverse range of post-scho ol education. Some is full-time, some is part-time and some is half-and-half with periods at college alternati ng with periods at work. (These are called 'sandwich' c ourses). There is also a vast and varied provision of e vening classes. For many older people, evening study wa s the only way they could pursue their education and th ey still think of the institution that provided it as ' Night School'.

　　Nowadays, however, the opportunities for Further Ed ucation at all levels and for all ages are manifold (多种 的). The courses provided range from the most elementary , directly vocationally-orientated kind, to those at de gree level of beyond. They are provided in a widely dif fering set of institutions. The majority of the lower l evel courses, relating mainly to apprenticeship (学徒) sc hemes and qualifications, are provided in Colleges of F urther Education or Technical Colleges. Middle level co urses are also offered in Technical Colleges with those having a good share of more advanced work being called 'Colleges of Technology'. The great bulk of advanced st udies and degree level work is undertaken in the Polyte chnics (理工学院). But there are a number of specialised co lleges such as the London College of Printing and the N ational College of Agricultural Engineering. Very few o f the broad divisions here are clear cut; there is much overlapping.

　　One of the major areas of 'overlap' that has occure d during the past ten years or so has been between the school system and Further Education. There has been a g rowing provision of 'Sixth Form' level studies in Colle ges of Further Education and Technical Colleges during this period and almost all of the 'non-advanced' techni cal colleges now offer a broad spread of subjects for t he GCE Advanced Level ('A' level) examinations. Many si xth form students seem to prefer the more adult atmosph ere of the Technical College to that of the school. A f ew Local Education Authorities have decided, partly bec ause of this existing trend and partly for reasons of e conomy, that all the post-sixteen education in certain areas —both technical and academic —should be amalgamat ed (合并) in one establishment; such amalgamated institut ions are called 'Tertiary Colleges'.

　　Whatever the type of establishment and its range of educational provision, most of the local inhabitants wi ll probably refer to it as 'the Tech'. The Tech has pla yed an important part in British educational history an d its role will be no less important in the future.

　　by M. D. Mackenzie