comprehensive school
- noun
- /ˌkɒmprɪˈhɛnsɪv skuːl/
- UK
:
escuela comprensiva
- The teachers at the comprehensive school strive to create an inclusive environment for every student.
- comprehensive school reform program
- comprehensive school counseling
- comprehensive school improvement
Examples
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My introduction to Shakespeare was in the fifth year at my secondary comprehensive school.
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At the comprehensive school, everyone is given the opportunity to learn, regardless of their academic level.
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And so throughout comprehensive school, it was very, very tough.
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Fairfax County Public Schools, located in northern Virginia, has the largest and most comprehensive school system in Virginia.
Academic text (1990) -
Comprehensive school counseling programs are proving themselves to be important school-wide strategies to promote student academic achievement.
Academic text (2012) -
Many students in the area attend the local comprehensive school, which provides a variety of classes for all abilities.
Synonyms
A secondary school that accepts children of all abilities without exam selection
A secondary school that accepts all local children without testing their ability
Antonyms
How Selective
- US
1
1.1
- UK
Surface Forms
Morphology
The adjective 'comprehensive' (covering many things) plus 'school' gives a partial clue — a learner might guess a school with a broad curriculum or wide intake — but the specific institutional meaning in British English (a state secondary that is non‑selective) is a culture-specific, lexicalized sense not fully predictable from the parts. Because the precise bureaucratic sense and national usage require prior exposure, this item is only partially transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Comprehensive school gets its name from the word comprehensive, which means 'including all'. It was used for state schools that 'took children of all abilities', so today comprehensive school means a secondary school that accepts every child and offers many subjects.