Expression with '... a UK education'?

Hi,
Please have a look at this:

‘The education exhibition was very well-organised, and it helped us very much in visualising a clearer plan for a UK education

I understand that ‘education’ can just be either a singular or an uncountable noun, but somehow I still find it weird to omit ‘a’ in the above sentence. It would make the sentence sound a bit too general. What do you think?

Many thanks,
Nessie.

Hi,
Could anyone help me with this question, please?

Many thanks,
Nessie.

Hello Nessie,

The distinction seems to be one of focus. In your sentence, I would read

  1. a clearer plan for UK education

as

1a. a clearer plan for education in the UK

and

  1. a clearer plan for a UK education

as

2a. a clearer plan for any particular person’s education in the UK

Thus #1 (as you say) relates to education generally; whereas #2 relates to each person’s experience of education.

All the best,

MrP