Expression with '... a UK education'?

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

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.

2

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

Many thanks,
Nessie.

3

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