Virtuous English AcademyEducation & Learning — A2 English Vocabulary
This A2 vocabulary list gathers 30 elementary English words about education & learning — school, university and studying skills. Every word comes with a simple definition, its British-English pronunciation and a natural example sentence, so you learn each one in real context. When you are ready, open the flashcards to practise and remember them for good.
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Using education & learning words in English
Much of this list is specific to British education, and the words do not map cleanly onto other systems. Revise does not mean what its Latin cousins mean in other European languages. A professor in Britain is a senior rank rather than any teacher. Pupil and student divide by age. And at university drops the article that almost every learner wants to put back in.
What to watch out for
Revise means study, not rewrite
In British English, revise means to go back over material before an exam: I am revising for my history exam. The noun is revision. It does not mean to change or correct a text, which is the meaning its cognates carry in French, Spanish and several other languages, and which American English also uses. If you mean improving a draft, the English word you want is edit or rewrite.
At university, at school — no article
When you are talking about being a student rather than about the building, British English drops the article: She is at university, He is still at school, I go to university in Leeds. The article returns as soon as you mean the physical place: I left my bag at the university. Americans say in school for the same idea, which is why you will see both forms online.
Pupil, student, professor: British ranks
A pupil is a child at school; a student is at university or in adult education, though student is spreading to schools too. A lecture is a talk at university, while a lesson is at school. And a professor in Britain holds the most senior academic post — most university teachers are lecturers or tutors, so calling any teacher professor sounds distinctly American.
Words learners mix up
Three tables covering the three things a student has to name accurately: the number at the top of the page, the four verbs that describe what happens in a classroom, and the words for what you come out with at the end.
The number at the top of your work
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| grade | The letter or level given for a piece of work or a whole course: a grade B. British schools also say a mark. | She got the top grade in the class. |
| score | The number of points, usually out of a total: a score of 78 out of 100. Also the verb. | My score was much better this time. |
| test | A short assessment, often weekly and inside class. An exam is longer, formal and usually at the end of a course. | We have a vocabulary test every Friday. |
| pass | To reach the required standard. Its opposite is fail, and the level you need is the pass mark. | You need forty per cent to pass. |
British English uses mark where American English says grade for a single piece of work, and reserves grade for the overall letter — which is why the same essay can have a mark of 68 and a grade of B. Note also that American grade has a third meaning, a year of school: fourth grade. British schools count in years instead.
The four classroom verbs
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| learn | What the student does. The knowledge comes towards you, and you learn from a person or a book. | I learned most of it from my textbook. |
| teach | What the teacher does. The knowledge goes away from you, and you teach a subject to somebody. | She teaches maths to twelve-year-olds. |
| explain | To make something clear. The person always takes to: explain it to me, never explain me. | Could you explain that to me again? |
| correct | Verb and adjective in one shape: to fix an error, and free of errors. Stress on the second syllable in both. | The teacher corrected my spelling. |
The learn and teach pair works exactly like borrow and lend, decided by which way the thing travels, and a great many languages manage both with a single verb. The explain pattern is a separate and very stubborn error: English will not put a person straight after this verb, so can you explain me this has to become can you explain this to me.
What you come out with
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| knowledge | What you know. Uncountable, so no a knowledge and no plural — except in the fixed phrase a good knowledge of. | He has a good knowledge of British history. |
| education | The whole process of being taught, over years. Uncountable, and it takes an only with an adjective: a good education. | She had a very good education. |
| degree | The qualification a university gives after three or four years. Countable: a degree in physics. | He finished his degree last summer. |
| diploma | A shorter qualification, usually below degree level and often vocational. | She took a diploma in graphic design. |
The two uncountable nouns are where the errors sit: I have many knowledges and I want to take an education both need rebuilding — I know a lot about… and I want to study…. And note the preposition, which is in for the subject of a degree and from for the university: a degree in law from Manchester.
Collocations that sound natural
Study phrases are unusually rigid in English, and the verb in front of the noun is almost never the one a translation would suggest. These six cover an ordinary term of work.
notes
take notesmake notesgo over your noteslecture notes
Both take and make are correct; write notes is not idiomatic. The word is plural here, so my notes are, and a single note means a short written message instead.
essay
write an essayhand in an essayan essay on Shakespearea 500-word essay
You submit it by handing it in, and the topic takes on or about. The length goes in front with a hyphen and no plural: a 500-word essay.
progress
make progressgood progressprogress in Englisha progress report
The verb is make, and the noun is uncountable — no progresses, and no a progress. The whole phrase is what you say at a parents’ evening.
degree
do a degreeget a degreea degree in historyan undergraduate degree
British students do or study for a degree; Americans usually get or earn one. All four are understood everywhere.
mistake
a silly mistakea spelling mistakecorrect a mistakeby mistake
By mistake means accidentally and is the opposite of on purpose: I took your book by mistake. It is a fixed phrase with no article.
subject
my favourite subjecta difficult subjectdrop a subjectthe subject of the essay
The word covers both a school subject and the topic of a piece of writing. To drop a subject is to stop studying it, which British students do at sixteen.
Where each word belongs
Five words that belong to the British system specifically — one of them so much so that the American version is pronounced differently as well as used differently.
- termBritish · school yearBritish schools divide the year into three terms, with holidays between them; American schools and most universities use two semesters. The word has a second meaning too — a technical word or expression, as in a grammar term.
- schedulePronunciation splitBritish speakers say SHED-yool and Americans SKED-jool, and both are entirely standard. For school hours British English usually prefers timetable altogether, keeping schedule for work and travel.
- textbookOne word · with a twinThe book a course is built around. British teachers often say coursebook for the same thing. As an adjective it means perfect of its type: a textbook example.
- behaveNeutral · reflexive with childrenOn its own it describes how somebody acts: he behaved strangely. With children it becomes an instruction and takes a reflexive pronoun: behave yourself. The noun is behaviour, with the British u.
- universityBritish · <em>uni</em> in speechStudents say uni in ordinary conversation — I am at uni in Bristol — and the full word in writing. Americans say college for the same thing, while a British college is usually a place for sixteen to eighteen-year-olds.
Sentences to try
Four frames covering the British system. Change the subjects and years so they describe your own studies.
- I am revising for my degree exams.
- My favourite subject at school was geography.
- She takes notes in every lecture.
- He is studying law at university.
Questions about education & learning vocabulary
What does "revise" mean in British English?
It means to study material you have already covered, usually in preparation for an exam: I have three weeks to revise. The noun is revision, and revision notes are what you make. This is a real difference from American English and from the Latin languages, where the same root means to review or correct a text. If a British teacher tells you to revise chapter four, they want you to learn it again, not to change it.
Do I say "at university" or "at the university"?
Say at university with no article when you mean being a student there: My daughter is at university in Manchester. British English drops the article with institutions when you are talking about the role rather than the building — the same happens with at school, in hospital and in prison. Put the back when you mean the physical place: The concert is at the university. American English says in college for the student sense.
What is the difference between a pupil and a student?
In British English a pupil is a child at primary or secondary school, while a student is at university, college or in adult education. The line has been blurring for years and many British schools now call their older children students too, so you will hear both. Americans use student for every age. Related pairs divide the same way: children have lessons at school, university students attend lectures and seminars.