meaning - "Pupil" or "Student", what is the correct use?


I'm German and we distinguish between "Schüler" (pupil) and "Student" (student).


When reading English news articles, and I read the words "student" or "students", most of the time the articles seem to refer to school kids, not university students.


My questions:


Am I right or is my impression wrong? If I'm right, why is "pupil" used so rarely?



Answer



In the UK all school children were once known as pupils. Now older ones at least, as well as people in higher education, are known as students, so the former term is disappearing. It retains its rather specialised sense in describing a trainee barrister.


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