In message , Keith Willshaw
writes
"Cub Driver" wrote in message
.. .
And aren't most UK bachelor's-degree programs still three
years in duration?

For the most part yes though there are some colleges that run 2 year
courses for high flyers or those with pre-existing lesser qualiications
such as the HND/HNC technical qualifications.

I wouldn't call a HND a 'lesser' qualification, particularly compared to
A-levels.

Typically, in mechanical engineering, HND students skipped the first
year of the course that A-level entrants had to plough through; they
then struggled with the hardcore mathematics in Year 2, while
confidently dominating most other fields. (Teamwork paid off, where
students of differing backgrounds supported each other: explain Laplace
transforms one evening, get water-hammer in pipes made understandable in
return)

HND entrants also tended to be significantly older, with several years'
real-world work under their belts (many I knew had earned their HNDs
part-time on the job before going to university) which tended to mean
they spent more time working and less time hung over. Certainly they
tended strongly to cluster towards the top of the class scores.

All this over a decade old, things may have changed since.

--
When you have to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite.
W S Churchill

Paul J. Adam