Polytechnic vs. School — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman & Maham Liaqat — Updated on April 3, 2024
Polytechnics focus on vocational or technical education, whereas schools offer a broader curriculum including basic education.
Difference Between Polytechnic and School
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Polytechnic institutions are specialized tertiary education centers, focusing on vocational training and technical skills. Schools, on the other hand, offer a more general education, serving as the foundational stage of formal learning.
Polytechnics often have direct connections with industries and businesses, facilitating internships and employment opportunities for their students. Schools prioritize a holistic approach to education, emphasizing not only academic learning but also the development of social, physical, and emotional skills.
While polytechnics are typically post-secondary institutions, requiring students to have completed their basic education, schools form the bedrock of the educational system, guiding students from early childhood through to adolescence. The progression from school to polytechnic represents a shift from broad-based learning to specialized career-focused education.
Comparison Chart
Focus
Vocational and technical education
Broad-based education across various subjects
Level of Education
Tertiary, post-secondary
Primary and secondary
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Curriculum
Specialized, industry-specific
General, covering a wide range of subjects
Aim
Prepare students for specific careers or further study
Provide foundational knowledge and skills
Connection with Industries
Often have direct links for internships and jobs
Less direct, focuses on overall development
Compare with Definitions
Polytechnic
Vocational Training.
A polytechnic offers courses in automotive engineering to prepare students for careers in the automotive industry.
School
General Education.
Schools provide a broad education, including subjects like math, science, and literature.
Polytechnic
Technical Education.
She studies software development at a polytechnic to gain practical programming skills.
School
Wide Age Range.
Schools serve students from kindergarten through high school, covering a broad age spectrum.
Polytechnic
Hands-on Learning.
Polytechnic students often work on real-world projects to apply what they've learned in class.
School
Foundational Learning.
Early years in school focus on developing basic reading, writing, and arithmetic skills.
Polytechnic
Specialized Programs.
Polytechnics offer specialized programs in civil engineering for students aiming for construction sector careers.
School
Preparation for Higher Education.
High schools prepare students for college with advanced courses in various subjects.
Polytechnic
Industry Connections.
The polytechnic's partnership with local businesses provides students with internship opportunities.
School
Holistic Development.
Schools offer extracurricular activities like sports and arts to promote students' overall growth.
Polytechnic
Offering, receiving, or dealing with instruction in many industrial arts and applied sciences
A polytechnic institute.
School
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students (or "pupils") under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsory.
Polytechnic
A school specializing in the teaching of industrial arts and applied sciences.
School
An institution for the instruction of children or people under college age.
Polytechnic
That teaches applied arts, sciences, technology, engineering and other academic subjects
School
An institution for instruction in a skill or business
A secretarial school.
A karate school.
Polytechnic
An educational institute that teaches applied arts and sciences rather than academic subjects.
School
A college or university.
Polytechnic
(obsolete) An exhibition of objects illustrating many arts.
School
An institution within or associated with a college or university that gives instruction in a specialized field and recommends candidates for degrees.
Polytechnic
(Singapore) A three-year post-secondary vocational training institute, equivalent of community college in the U.S. or TAFE in Australia.
School
A division of an educational institution constituting several grades or classes
Advanced to the upper school.
Polytechnic
Comprehending, or relating to, many arts and sciences; - applied particularly to schools in which many branches of art and science are taught with especial reference to their practical application; as, a polytechnic institute; also to exhibitions of machinery and industrial products.
School
The student body of an educational institution.
Polytechnic
A technical school offering instruction in many industrial arts and applied sciences
School
The building or group of buildings housing an educational institution.
School
The process of being educated formally, especially education constituting a planned series of courses over a number of years
The children were put to school at home. What do you plan to do when you finish school?.
School
A session of instruction
School will start in three weeks. He had to stay after school today.
School
A group of people, especially philosophers, artists, or writers, whose thought, work, or style demonstrates a common origin or influence or unifying belief
The school of Aristotle.
The Venetian school of painters.
School
A group of people distinguished by similar manners, customs, or opinions
Aristocrats of the old school.
School
Close-order drill instructions or exercises for military units or personnel.
School
(Australian) A group of people gathered together for gambling.
School
A large group of aquatic animals, especially fish, swimming together; a shoal.
School
To educate in or as if in a school.
School
To train or discipline
She is well schooled in literature.
School
(Slang) To defeat or put down decisively, especially in a humiliating manner
Our team got schooled by the worst team in the division.
School
To swim in or form into a school.
School
Of or relating to school or education in schools
School supplies.
A school dictionary.
School
(North America) An institution dedicated to teaching and learning; an educational institution.
Our children attend a public school in our neighborhood.
Harvard University is a famous American postsecondary school.
School
(British) An educational institution providing primary and secondary education, prior to tertiary education (college or university).
School
(UK) At Eton College, a period or session of teaching.
Divinity, history and geography are studied for two schools per week.
School
Within a larger educational institution, an organizational unit, such as a department or institute, which is dedicated to a specific subject area.
We are enrolled in the same university, but I attend the School of Economics and my brother is in the School of Music.
School
An art movement, a community of artists.
The Barbizon school of painters were part of an art movement towards Realism in art, which arose in the context of the dominant Romantic movement of the time.
School
The followers of a particular doctrine; a particular way of thinking or particular doctrine; a school of thought.
These economists belong to the monetarist school.
School
The time during which classes are attended or in session in an educational institution.
I’ll see you after school.
School
The room or hall in English universities where the examinations for degrees and honours are held.
School
The canons, precepts, or body of opinion or practice, sanctioned by the authority of a particular class or age.
He was a gentleman of the old school.
School
An establishment offering specialized instruction, as for driving, cooking, typing, coding, etc.
School
(collective) A group of fish or a group of marine mammals such as porpoises, dolphins, or whales.
The divers encountered a huge school of mackerel.
School
A multitude.
School
(transitive) To educate, teach, or train (often, but not necessarily, in a school).
Many future prime ministers were schooled in Eton.
School
(transitive) To defeat emphatically, to teach an opponent a harsh lesson.
School
(transitive) To control, or compose, one’s expression.
She took care to school her expression, not giving away any of her feelings.
School
To form into, or travel in, a school.
School
A shoal; a multitude; as, a school of fish.
School
A place for learned intercourse and instruction; an institution for learning; an educational establishment; a place for acquiring knowledge and mental training; as, the school of the prophets.
Disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus.
School
A place of primary instruction; an establishment for the instruction of children; as, a primary school; a common school; a grammar school.
As he sat in the school at his primer.
School
A session of an institution of instruction.
How now, Sir Hugh! No school to-day?
School
One of the seminaries for teaching logic, metaphysics, and theology, which were formed in the Middle Ages, and which were characterized by academical disputations and subtilties of reasoning.
At Cambridge the philosophy of Descartes was still dominant in the schools.
School
The room or hall in English universities where the examinations for degrees and honors are held.
School
An assemblage of scholars; those who attend upon instruction in a school of any kind; a body of pupils.
What is the great community of Christians, but one of the innumerable schools in the vast plan which God has instituted for the education of various intelligences?
School
The disciples or followers of a teacher; those who hold a common doctrine, or accept the same teachings; a sect or denomination in philosophy, theology, science, medicine, politics, etc.
Let no man be less confident in his faith . . . by reason of any difference in the several schools of Christians.
School
The canons, precepts, or body of opinion or practice, sanctioned by the authority of a particular class or age; as, he was a gentleman of the old school.
School
Figuratively, any means of knowledge or discipline; as, the school of experience.
School
To train in an institution of learning; to educate at a school; to teach.
He's gentle, never schooled, and yet learned.
School
To tutor; to chide and admonish; to reprove; to subject to systematic discipline; to train.
It now remains for you to school your child,And ask why God's Anointed be reviled.
The mother, while loving her child with the intensity of a sole affection, had schooled herself to hope for little other return than the waywardness of an April breeze.
School
An educational institution;
The school was founded in 1900
School
A building where young people receive education;
The school was built in 1932
He walked to school every morning
School
The process of being formally educated at a school;
What will you do when you finish school?
School
An educational institution's faculty and students;
The school keeps parents informed
The whole school turned out for the game
School
The period of instruction in a school; the time period when schools is in session;
Stay after school
He didn't miss a single day of school
When the school day was done we would walk home together
School
A body of creative artists or writers or thinkers linked by a similar style or by similar teachers;
The Venetian school of painting
School
A large group of fish;
A school of small glittering fish swam by
School
Educate in or as if in a school;
The children are schooled at great cost to their parents in private institutions
School
Train to be discriminative in taste or judgment;
Cultivate your musical taste
Train your tastebuds
She is well schooled in poetry
School
Swim in or form a large group of fish;
A cluster of schooling fish was attracted to the bait
Common Curiosities
What is the main focus of a polytechnic?
Polytechnics focus on vocational and technical education to prepare students for specific industries.
Do schools offer vocational training?
Some schools may offer vocational programs, but their primary focus is on general education across a variety of subjects.
Can you attend a polytechnic without going to school?
Typically, attendance at a polytechnic requires completion of basic education at a school.
How does the curriculum of a polytechnic differ from that of a school?
Polytechnic curriculums are specialized and industry-specific, while schools offer a broader, more general curriculum.
Are polytechnic graduates ready for the workforce?
Polytechnic programs are designed to make graduates job-ready for their specific field of study.
Is the admission process for polytechnics different from schools?
Yes, polytechnics may require specific qualifications and entrance exams, focusing on related skills and knowledge.
Are polytechnics considered higher education?
Yes, polytechnics are considered post-secondary, higher education institutions focused on specialized fields.
Can polytechnic credits be transferred to universities?
In many cases, yes, credits from polytechnic programs can be transferred to universities, especially in related fields.
Do schools prepare students for polytechnic education?
Schools provide the foundational knowledge and skills that can prepare students for further specialized education at polytechnics.
What kind of degrees do polytechnics offer?
Polytechnics often offer diplomas, advanced diplomas, and sometimes bachelor's degrees in technical fields.
Can you switch from a polytechnic to a university?
Yes, it's possible to switch or progress from a polytechnic to a university, often through bridge programs.
Are polytechnics available in all countries?
While most countries have institutions equivalent to polytechnics, their presence, name, and structure can vary globally.
What is the age range for students at polytechnics?
Polytechnic students are typically older than school students, having completed their secondary education.
How does the learning environment in polytechnics compare to schools?
Polytechnics offer a more focused and practical learning environment tailored to specific industries, unlike the general academic setting of schools.
Do polytechnics have connections with businesses and industries?
Many polytechnics have strong ties with industries for internships and job placements.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
Co-written by
Maham Liaqat
