Education, Work & Employment Collocations List & Exercises For IELTS, TOEFL, PTE

Welcome to your guide to mastering collocations! A collocation is a pair or group of words that are often used together by native speakers. Using them correctly makes your English sound more natural, fluent, and sophisticated.

For the IELTS exam, especially in the Writing and Speaking sections, a strong command of collocations is directly linked to a higher score in the “Lexical Resource” criterion. This guide focuses on two common IELTS themes: Education and Work & Employment.

Part 1: Education Collocations

A. Verbs + Education Nouns

Receive an education – To get an education (formal)
Pursue higher education – To continue studying at university level
Undertake a course – To start or take a course
Deliver a lecture – To give a lecture to students
Acquire knowledge/skills – To gain or obtain knowledge/skills
Pass/Fail an exam – To be successful/unsuccessful in an exam
Skip a class/lecture – To not attend a class you should
Do/Complete homework – To finish assigned school work
Conduct research – To carry out formal study
Fall behind with studies – To progress more slowly than others

B. Adjectives + Education Nouns

Formal education – Education in a structured system
Compulsory education – Education required by law
Further education – Education after age 16 (UK)
Academic achievement – Success in studying
Distance learning – Studying remotely
Strenuous workload – Heavy, demanding amount of work
Sound understanding – Thorough understanding
Ivy League university – Prestigious US universities

Part 2: Work & Employment Collocations

A. Verbs + Work Nouns

Pursue a career – To progress in a profession
Land a job – To succeed in getting a job
Secure employment – To find and get a job (formal)
Carry out duties/tasks – To perform work responsibilities
Earn a salary – To be paid regularly
Work shifts – To work scheduled periods
Take/Go on maternity leave – Time off for childbirth
Get/Receive a promotion – To be given a higher position
Be made redundant – To lose job due to position elimination
Run a business – To manage a business

B. Adjectives + Work Nouns

Demanding job – Job requiring much effort
Steady job – Secure, reliable job
Dead-end job – Job with no advancement
Competitive salary – Salary better than industry average
Temporary/Permanent contract – Fixed-term/indefinite contract
Heavy workload – Large amount of work
Job satisfaction – Pleasure from your job
Staff turnover – Rate of employees leaving

Part 3: Exercises

Exercise 1: Gap Fill

Choose the correct word from the brackets.

It is important to a sound understanding of the fundamentals. (acquire / pursue)
After she completes her education, she hopes to land a job in engineering. (higher / compulsory)
The workload this semester is causing me a lot of stress. (strenuous / steady)
He was delighted to a promotion after his successful project. (make / receive)
Many factories require their employees to night shifts. (work / do)
Despite having a salary, he had very little job satisfaction. (demanding / competitive)
All citizens have the right to a free education. (undertake / receive)
The company’s high turnover suggests there are internal problems. (job / staff)

Exercise 2: Collocation Matching

Match the collocations with their definitions.

Pursue a career
Land a job
Fail an exam
Fall behind with studies
Be made redundant
Dead-end job

a) To be unsuccessful in a test
b) To not progress at the same speed
c) To be dismissed because your job is no longer needed
d) To try to achieve progress in a profession
e) To succeed in obtaining a job
f) A job with no opportunities for advancement

Exercise 3: Sentence Transformation

The amount of work at university is very heavy. WORKLOAD

2. She manages a very successful small business. RUNS

3. It is required by law for children to go to school until they are 16. COMPULSORY

4. He is doing research into climate change. CONDUCTING

5. The pay for this position is very good. SALARY

Exercise 4: Writing Practice

*Write a paragraph using 5+ collocations.*

“Some people believe that practical skills are more important than theoretical knowledge gained from a university education. To what extent do you agree or disagree?”