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vocational school

vocational school

5 3.0
A school where students learn practical skills for a specific job
  • noun
  • /voʊˈkeɪʃənəl skuːl/
translation icon : escuela vocacional
  • Corinne B. Whitesell teaches at Vocational Resources and Services, Inc., a postsecondary vocational school in Anchorage, Alaska.
  • technical vocational school
  • vocational school or college
  • attending vocational school

Examples

  • An additional four respondents were in graduate school, seven were attending community colleges, and one was at a vocational school.

    Academic text (2005)
  • Skill training in vocational schools, as we alluded to previously, contributed to the further expansion of SMEs.

    Academic text (1992)
  • We recommend vocational schools to boys that come through our camp.

  • A few were college graduates, though far more attended vocational school.

    Academic text (2007)
  • In high school, I really wanted to go to vocational school where you learn to Weld and fix cars and build houses.

  • Martha worked as a cooking teacher in the vocational school in Viipuri.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Currently, about one-third of the secondary educational students in China are attending vocational schools.

    Academic text (1996)
  • One season at the vocational school, if you study hard, will qualify Jean as a mechanic.

    Blog text (3)
  • Any student planning to attend senior college or vocational school must be wary of State Student Assistance Commissions.

    Blog text (27)
  • Many students choose to attend a vocational school to learn skills for specific careers.

Synonyms

trade school
vsvocational school
8 3.0

A school where people learn practical skills like carpentry or plumbing

covers job-specific skills broadly rather than only manual crafts
technical school
vsvocational school
4 3.2

A school that teaches practical skills for jobs like car repair or computer work

prepares learners for a wider range of occupations beyond mechanical fields
training school
vsvocational school
1 3.1

A school that teaches useful job skills like cooking or car repair

prepares learners for specific occupations across secondary and post-secondary levels
secondary modern school
vsvocational school
  • Archaic
8.2

A former British school teaching mainly practical and job skills instead of academic subjects

prepares learners for specific occupations across teenage and adult education stages

How Practical

trade school
8 3.0
vocational school
5 3.0
normal school
  • Archaic
3 6.7

Surface Forms

Morphology

vocational + school

The meaning 'a school that teaches job-specific skills' is directly derived from combining 'vocational' (focused on skills for specific professions) with 'school' (an educational institution). This straightforward adjective+noun composition is cross-linguistically common and follows normal English compounding patterns, so a learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Vocational school comes from the word vocational, which comes from the old word 'vocation' meaning a person's 'job' or 'calling', and school meaning a place to learn. So vocational school literally means 'a school for a job', which is why it means a school that teaches the skills for a certain job.