A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and support roles in professions such as engineering, accountancy, business administration, nursing, medicine, architecture, and criminology, or for additional education at another college with more advanced academic material. Students typically attend junior colleges for one to three years.
By country
Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, after completing the tenth-grade board exam (Secondary School Certificate), students attend two years of junior college, named intermediate college. After passing the SSC exam, students can apply for their desired colleges, where they study in three groups, namely Science, Humanities and Commerce, for two years. After that, students sit for Higher Secondary Certificate at the end of their second year in intermediate College.
Canada
Quebec
India
In India, Junior Colleges are the higher secondary educational institutions which offers higher secondary education (Class 11th-12th) like Senior Secondary Schools or High Schools and Equivalent to them which we have in many Indian States but these Institutions are just meant for Higher Secondary Education (Class 11th-12th) unlike School as in India majority of the National and State Boards provide Schooling from Nursery till Class 12th however, some State Boards like Telangana, Maharashtra, Odisha, Assam, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have a system of Junior College System where High School Students after taking the Class 10th board exams (SSLC/ SSC), have to apply to Junior Colleges to complete their Class 11th and Class 12th as these State Boards provide Schooling from Nursery till 10th grade only so and here in Jr.Colleges the 11th and 12th grades is popularly known and called as PUC, Intermediate Course and HSC in respectively. Also in India the Junior colleges are also referred to as Pre-University Colleges and Intermediate Colleges. Junior colleges are frequently co-located with Degree Colleges or with Secondary Schools .
Japan
In Japan after World War II, junior colleges (短期大学) typically provide two-year courses of study but may also provide a three-year course of study. Students who complete the course of study at a junior college are entitled to an associate degree or diploma. In Japan before World War II, there were three years of national junior colleges (旧制高校). in Tokyo in Sendai in Kyoto in Kanazawa in Kumamoto in Okayama in Kagoshima in Nagoya
Netherlands
In the Netherlands, junior college is equivalent to MBO (middle-level vocational education). The MBO lasts one to four years, depending on the level. There are 4 levels offered to students: MBO level 1: Assistant training. It lasts 1 year maximum. It is focused on simple executive tasks. If the student graduates, he/she can apply to MBO level 2. MBO level 2: Basic vocational education. The programme lasts 2 to 3 years and is focused on executive tasks. MBO level 3: The programme lasts 3 to 4 years. Students are taught to achieve their tasks independently. MBO level 4: Middle Management VET. It lasts 3 to 4 years and prepares for jobs with higher responsibility. It also opens the gates to higher education. At all levels, MBO offers 2 possible pathways: a school-based education, where training within a company takes between 20 and 59% of the curriculum, or an apprenticeship education, where this training represents more than 60% of the study time. Both paths lead to the same certification. Students in MBO are mostly between 16 and 35. Students of the "apprenticeship" path are overall older (25+). After MBO (4 years), pupils can enroll in HBO (higher professional education) or enter the job market.
Singapore
In Singapore, a Junior College (JC) is equivalent to a sixth form college in the United Kingdom. After the GCE 'O' level examinations in Secondary 4 or 5, students may apply for admission to either a JC or a polytechnic. The two years spent in a JC culminate in a GCE 'A' level certificate, which is the most common qualification used for university admission.
In the past, secondary schools offered both 'O' and 'A' Levels and students in classes studying for the 'A' Levels were known as the "Pre-University" class. During the 1980s and 1990s, the government began the process of transferring all 'A' Level courses to centralised JCs. At present, students finish their 'O' Levels at a secondary school and may choose to take the 'A' Levels at a JC or as a private candidate.