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Message: <blockquote data-quote="S'mon" data-source="post: 2242543" data-attributes="member: 463">British higher education has become more American in that, as you say, these days 18 year olds at University are still childlike*, that didn't used to be so much the case - the extension of teenagerhood to age 20 is quite recent I think.  In Britain Law has always been an undergraduate academic subject, taken from 18-21, but if you want to practice law you need an additional vocational qualification which takes another year.  Recently in UK Law has been offered at secondary (high) school so many 18 year olds now have a vague smattering of legal knowledge when they arrive at University.  Perhaps the biggest difference from US, other than it being an undergrad not postgrad subject, is that most UK Law lecturers (professors), like me, do not have a legal practice qualification - I have a BA from Oxford and a PhD - and we get paid the same as other academics, rather than as lawyers.*edit: and treated more like children.  Traditionally in UK 18 year olds are treated as adults, whether they are or not - so eg 18 is legal drinking age.  Apart from voting, in UK age 16 was traditionally more like US age 18 - age of consent, age when you can buy cigarettes, etc.  This is changing due to global harmonisation, eg I believe the British army is no longer allowed to send 17 year olds into battle; 16 & 17 year olds are now counted as children for child-pornography laws, etc.</blockquote>

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