Institutions

Place	Explanation
A faculty	Part of a university which specializes in the teaching of one subject, e.g. 'the Law Faculty"
A college	Part of a university in British English which students belong to for social activities
A college of further education	An alternative to university. Where you normally study something vocational
A polytechnic	An alternative word for university in some cultures; sometimes one step below university
Law school	where you study law after you graduate and before you start practising law
Medical school	The name of the medical faculty in many universities

Forms of learning

Learning process	Explanation
Lecture	The students make notes and listen to the lecturer. There may be a question and answer session at the end.
Seminar	Often led by a student on a particular topic. Normally, the idea is everyone gets the chance to talk. Often follows a lecture
Tutorial	Sometimes teaching one-to-one with a tutor and sometimes the same as a seminal

notes and common mistakes

• a lecturer gives or delivers a lecture and is sometimes used as a rank of university teacher

• a tutor is in charge of a seminar or tutorial

• we don't use "class" or "lesson" in university education (although Americans do use "class")

Finance

Word	Example
Scholarship	She won a scholarship for her dissertation.
Grant	Because she came from a poor background, she was given a grant by local government
Loan	Almost all British undergraduates now have student loans that they need to repay when they start earning

notes

• a scholarship is won for academic merit

• typically a grant is awarded either for a particular project or to allow a student to follow a course

Types of writing

Form of writing	Explanation
Thesis	The paper you write at the end of your PhD
Dissertation	The paper you write at the end of your master's (and some first degree courses)
Assignment	This is the university equivalent of homework

Some informal "university" verbs - useful in speaking

Verb	Examples
Do	I'm doing law at Bristol University
Study	I'm studying maths at Beijing University
Major	I'm majoring In English
Be	I'm at the LSE.
Go	He's going to university next year
Leave	I left university 20 years ago.
Finish	I'm going to finish my course next year

• To fail means that you did not pass your test. Failure is the noun form. '40% of students failed the test. The other 60% passed.'

• Retake means to take an exam you  failed in the past for a second time. As a noun retakes mean the exams which are held again for students who did not pass them the first time around. 'Retakes will be held in February for all those students who did not get 40% on the last test.'' Don't worry you will be able to retake this exam if you don't pass.' To revise means to study before a test. Revision is the noun form. 'I'm going to stay in tonight and revise for Monday's test.'

• Semester / Term are used to mean the periods of the school year. The school year is usually divided into three terms / semesters: Spring, Autumn and Winter. 'At this school each semester is 12 weeks long.' Admission to colleges and universities

• To admit — to allow entry; to give entrance or access

• To be admitted to a university, to be accepted by a university

• Admission — the act or process of admitting

• To apply for admission She applied for admission to Moscow University.

• Applicant/a candidate

• Apprenticeship – training in an art or a trade

• To major – to specialize in (a particular academic field)

• A major – the main field of study in which a university student specializes

• To minor – to have a secondary specialization in (a particular academic field)

• A minor – the secondary field of study in which a student specializes

• B.A. – Bachelor of Arts, an undergraduate degree in a humanities-related subject

• B.S. – Bachelor of Science, an undergraduate degree in a science-related subject

• Master’s – the graduate degree after a bachelor's and before a Ph.D. There are also different kinds of master's, including M.A. (Master of Arts), M.S. (Master of Science), M.B.A. (Master in Business Administration), etc.

• Ph.D. – doctorate, highest graduate degree