School Life As I mentioned before

school life vocabulary is pretty common in IELTS Listening. School-related words on the IELTS are usually related to university life, rather than life in elementary school, middle school, or finishing college. For a roundup of common higher education vocabulary from the IELTS Listening Section, read on!

Counselor

When students have problems or feel stress, they can meet with a counsellor. At university, counsellors provide advice and assistance to students. They help students with challenges in school and in their personal lives. As the term is used on the IELTS, a university counsellor is both an academic adviser and a psychological therapist.

Administrator

An administrator is a person on campus who manages a department or a programme. In IELTS listening, you may hear a speaker identify themselves as a university administrator. Or you may read a short passage discussing the role of a specific administrator in a university programme.

office hours

University staff members may have office hours. These are scheduled when a faculty member is able to see students. For example, a professor might keep office hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays from noon to 2p.m. During those scheduled two-hour time periods, students could come see the professor, even if they didn’t have an appointment.

Centre

A centre is a physical place on a campus where specific university tasks and activities happen. For instance, a university might have a plant biology research centre. In such a centre, the biology of plants is studied and researched. And some universities also have a counselling centre, a specific location on campus where students can see counsellors. A centre can be an entire building (as many research centres are), or it can be a room or office complex within a building (as is common for university counselling centres).

Service

At a university, a service is a kind of help that is available to students and others on campus. One service that’s often mentioned on the IELTS is information technology (IT) services. “IT services” refers to help and support for users of computers and computer programs. Other common campus services that may be mentioned on the IELTS include dining services and yes–counselling services. (The IELTS really does love to talk about counselling and counsellors.)

institute· When you hear or read the word “institute” on the IELTS, it will almost always refer to an entire university. “Institute” is another word for university or campus on the exam. 8 ielts.magoosh.com

course· This is one of the most common words on the IELTS. This may seem like a very simple vocabulary word. But many IELTS test-takers get confused. It’s easy to forget that this word can have two meanings. A “course” can be a single class that a student enrolls in, such as a one-semester history course. However, on the IELTS, a course can sometimes also refer to an entire degree. A bachelor’s degree can be called a four-year course, and a master’s or doctorate may be described as a postgraduate course.