A ‣ Subjects

You can do/study these subjects at university but not always at school.

medicine (to become a doctor)
engineering (to become an engineer)
economics (to become an economist)
business studies (to become a businessman/ woman and go into business)
law (to become a lawyer)
architecture (to become an architect)
psychology (to become a psychologist)

B ‣ Studying at university

Some students go to university because they enjoy studying, others just want a qualification¹. First, however, you have to get good grades in your final school exams to get a place at many universities. You can then study for / do a degree². If you complete the course successfully, you get your degree³ and receive a certificate⁴. In the UK, most degree courses last⁵ three years, although some take longer, e.g. medicine or law.

Teachers at university are usually called lecturers, and most of the teaching is done through lectures⁶. The most senior lecturers have the title Professor. Students doing arts subjects, e.g. English or history, will spend time working in the library and writing essays⁷. Students doing science degrees, e.g. physics or chemistry, will probably spend a lot of their time working in a laboratory (infml lab).

¹ something that you get when you are successful in an exam
² do a course at university
³ (also the word for) a university qualification
⁴ a document that shows you have completed a course successfully
⁵ continue for
⁶ the lecturer talks and the students listen
⁷ short pieces of writing on a particular subject

C ‣ Postgraduate degrees

When students are doing their first degree, they are called undergraduates. When they complete their degree, they are graduates. Some graduates go on to do [do something in the future] a Master’s, e.g. in the UK an MA (Master of Arts) or MSc (Master of Science). These are called postgraduate degrees. The longest one is a PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) where students do research [make a detailed study of one particular subject] for at least three years.