Lu: Hello again, and welcome back to Britain under the microscope. 歡迎你又回到閑話英倫。Hello Anlan.
An: Hello everybody.
Lu: Last time we talked about schools in England.
An: Emhm.
Lu: And now can we graduate from schools and go to universities?
An: Absolutely.
Lu: In today's episode, let's talk about English universities or British universities.
An: So, the same as school episode, we're gonna be mostly focused on universities in England. That's because a lot of Scottish universities they have a slightly different system.
Lu: No problem. Last time, we mentioned after secondary school, when you're 16, you pass the GCSE, and then you can go to a Sixth-form or college大學預科，and then what happens?
An: Then when you're around 18, then you'll do your A levels.
Lu: Ah, A level. I think for people who are interested in the English school system or want to go to a British university, you probably know A level. A level有點像英國的這個高考吧。
An: Yeah, a little bit similar.
Lu: If it's for university application, then what are the subjects being tested in A level?
An: Well, A level, you can choose which subjects you want to be tested on.
Lu: Oh.
An: So there's no compulsory courses. There's no compulsory subject like there's for GCSE, where you have to learn English or math and science. For A levels, you can choose whichever subjects you're interested in.
Lu: So you choose a few subjects.
An: Yeah!
Lu: So how many did you choose?
An: I did three in the end. I did German, history and ancient history as well.
Lu: History and ancient history, and German, wow, so you went for a history degree then?
An: Yea, my undergraduate degree was in classics.
Lu: Ah, classics. So Latin and ancient Greek.
An: Yeah!
Lu: Wow, impressive!
An: Thanks!
Lu: What's the university like for undergraduate program, is it 3 years or 4 years?
An: It's generally 3 years. Mm, language courses are normally 4 years because you have to do a study overseas program as well. But more often than not, it's about 3 years.
Lu: Mm, and after the undergraduate studies, you have postgraduate, 我們說研究生，and postgraduate programs in the UK are generally much shorter than in China.
An: A master's degree is generally about a year.
Lu: What about doctoral?.
An: Doctor is about 3-4 years.
Lu: So it's still generally ok, it's generally shorter in the UK. So how do people in England apply for universities? Can they apply for different universities at the same time?
An: Yea, they can choose a selection of universities and you're applying for undergraduate degree through something we call UCAS.
Lu: UCAS.
An: So universities and colleges admission services.
Lu: And everyone has to go through that.
An: Generally yeah, you go straight through that, you choose a number of interested universities, and they would choose to accept you for an interview.
Lu: Mm, and do you have to decide what major you wanna focus on when you apply for universities?
An: Absolutely. That's because in England we don't have the major or minor system. That's more American universities.
Lu: Ah, by the way, major and minor是主修專業和輔修的專業。
An: Yeah, so in the UK, you choose what you want to study from the very beginning.
Lu: What if you find out you don't like it, can you switch?
An: You can change the degree, but it's quite complicated.
Lu: Sounds like it's very difficult to do it.
An: It'll be quite difficult to do it.
Lu: And how do you get into universities? You have A level, obviously, but that's for everyone, that's not linked with universities. Do they also have separate exams?
An: Not really, no. More often than not, universities are more relied on interviews. So for example, one university saw my grades, and they saw my personal statement. And they decided whether or not they wanted me to go along to the interview. So in the UK, in England, a lot of writes on the interview.
Lu: So it's just, almost like a job interview.
An: Similar, quite similar.

Lu: It's a make or break. And what do they ask you in those interviews?
An: That's quite … it's been a few years since I last went to university. But they mostly ask me about my interests, about why I wanted to study this subject, and also, a lot of general knowledge as well about the subject. So it was somewhat like a test as well.
Lu: Ah, just not written test. Now let's talk about getting into universities. After you get into university, what's the life like?
An: Well, the university starts in September. And that's when everyone starts to move into halls.
Lu: Halls are like dormitories?
An: Yea, we call them halls or residence, or just call them halls. And the first few weeks people just getting used to university life. So for the first year students, they'll have a fresher's week.
Lu: Fresher's week, for freshmen.
An: Yea, because in England, we don't really say freshman, sophomore, and other terms.
Lu: That's American.
An: Yea, that's American. But fresher's week is a week where people go around. They meet lots of new friends. There are a lot of parties. People start to sign up for clubs and societies. So people are not really studying. They're more getting to know each other.
Lu: It's kind of like orientation week.
An: Yea, but in the UK, just a little bit more drinking.
Lu: Hahaha, a bit more drinking. But what's the academic life like in a university? Do you have to go to a lot of lectures, a lot of classes?
An: To certainextent yes, but in this I'll speak for my own experience of going to university. I had one lecture a week for one particular course. And then you probably have one or two seminars based on that lecture. A lot of it was self-study. So we go to the lecture, we have to do reading, we have to discuss readings in seminars that led by either the lecturer, that's what we wouldn't call them teachers, we would call them lecturers.
Lu: What about professors?
An: Professors, there are fewer professors than there are in American universities, for example. That's because there are normally only one or two professors in a department. And professor is normally the head of the department.
Lu: Oh, so it's a different definition of professors. Mm, you said apart from lectures then there are seminars, sometimes, people think universities in other countries, they look like they don't have that many lectures, but there's still a lot of workload.
An: Oh, yeah. That's in the reading. You're given a very very extensive reading list, and you're expected to read, at least half of the books on that reading list. And you're expected to be able to discuss these as well, in the seminars.
Lu: Mm, now let's come back to the drinking part. You said students, they will live in halls, is that mandatory? Everyone needs to be living on campus or living in students' residence?
An: No, it's not mandatory in England. But it's something that's encouraged, so many students are encouraged to live in halls for the first year because this is normally the first time they live away from home. And it's about being a bit more independent and it's also being away from your parents as well.
Lu: More freedom.
An: A lot more freedom.
Lu: And after that, do people move out of the students'residence?
An: Generally yes, mm, second, third year, they either move back home or they move into a student flat with friends.
Lu: Is that cheaper than living in halls?
An: It can be, sometimes is, sometimes isn't. That's because in halls you'd have your own room or you share with someone, but it's more common to have your own room. And halls, they can either be self-catered where you have access to a small kitchen.
Lu: Oh, so you have to cook for yourself.
An: Yea, or they can be catered as well.
Lu: So someone provides you with food.
An: Yeah, that'll be a little canteen.
Lu: Well, most Chinese think of English universities, British universities, the first two names that come to mind are Oxford and Cambridge, which in the UK you call it Oxbridge.
An: Yeah, we would generally say them as Oxbridge. And these are the two oldest universities in England.
Lu: Em, crèmede la crème.
An: And there's a lot of rivalry between the two as well. Em, so for example, people in Cambridge look down on Oxford and vice versa. And a lot of this comes out in competitions. The most famous of which is the boat race.
Lu: The boat race, yeah, I've heard of that.
An: Yea, so Oxford and Cambridge, they would have a boat race along the terms, every single year. But Oxford and Cambridge, as many of you would know, it's in the lead of universities. So there's a lot of criticism that these universities are what we call ivory towers.
Lu: Ivory tower. We translated that directly 象牙塔，which means they're detached from the world.
An: Yea, aren't really able to relate to the real world.
Lu: If you think about Oxbridge, they're not like your other universities. A lot of them are based in London, but Oxbridge seems to be in their own little world.
An: Well, absolutely, they have their own traditions, even their own terms.
Lu: And Oxford is an actual town.
An: Yea, Oxford and Cambridge are both small, but they're technically cities, but they're actually more like small towns. And they're dominated by the university.
Lu: So they must be very different from other universities like London based.
An: Very very different, for example, my university in London, didn't really have a campus.
Lu: Ah, your university is?
An: UCL.
Lu: UCL, actually UCL isranked up there with Oxbridge, isn't it? It's the top 3.
An: Mhh, well, UCL university London, they're generally now ranked along Oxford and Cambridge.
Lu: There's still so much to talk about universities, but let's just call it a day for now. And we can discuss further in the advanced episode.
An: Absolutely, and many of our listeners, you might be studying in England or planning to go to an English university.
Lu: Or planning to send your kids to a university in England or in the UK.
An: So let us know what you think, and let's know what you think the main differences between universities in England and universities in China.
Lu: We'll be waiting for your comments.
An: Until next time.
Lu: See you next time.
Bye!

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