First degree courses in the UK

The UK has an excellent reputation for higher education and research. It offers a lot of opportunities to both national and international students at undergraduate and postgraduate level.

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Degrees

The degrees vary according to the practice of each university. First degrees after leaving school are often called undergraduate. Arts, social science and pure science degrees normally last 3 years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland because

they are designed to follow a very specialized school-leaving qualification. In Scotland, they take 4 years of study because Scottish students do less specialized school-leaving examination. First degree courses that include professional training take longer. Some courses in business studies, engineering, science and technology are one year longer to allow students to undertake practical training. These are known as sandwich courses and include periods of work experience in industry and commerce.

Traditionally a university graduate will be awarded the degree of Bachelor

of Arts, Science, Engineering, Medicine etc. Later he may continue to take

graduate or postgraduate courses.

There is a second higher educational qualification in the UK, known as the

Higher National Diploma or HND. It lasts a year less than a degree course – either

two full-time or three years as a sandwich course. HNDs are vocational (or job related), so a student will not find them in purely academic subjects as history or philosophy. They are available in, for example, science subjects, engineering, business studies, hospitality and tourism management.

Teaching

UK universities and colleges use a range of teaching methods:

Lectures – given to large groups of students, sometimes up to 200. In Oxford popular lecturers can attract audiences from several faculties, while others may find themselves speaking to two or three loyal students, or maybe to no one at all.

Seminars – discussions between one member of staff and a small group of students on a previously arranged topic, which everyone has prepared. Often, one student reads out an essay or seminar paper, then everyone joins in the discussion.

Tutorials – one-to-one discussions or between a member of staff and two or three students; normally take place once a week. Students write essays for the tutor which serve the basis for the discussion and argument. At the end of the hour the students go away with a new essay title and a list of books that might be helpful in preparing for the essay.

Assessment

Students’ work may be assessed in several different ways. Most universities

and colleges still use some form of written examination. These can last up to three hours, in which time a student has to answer three or four questions in essay form. Examinations may be held each year or may come all together at the end of the course (in which case they’re known as “finals”). Very few institutions, however, rely only on finals.

Continuous assessment is an increasingly popular method of assessment,

based on the marks a student receives either in all their coursework or in a

number of selected essays and projects.

Many first degree honours courses require students to undertake research and write a dissertation, which is an extended essay on a subject of the student’s

choice. Dissertations usually replace two or more examination papers.

(Adapted from http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/)

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