The UK education system is usually in a state of examination. At least it seems that way to me. No college( US University?) education, left school at 15 and did an apprenticeship.
Day-release and night-classes, got to ONC/HNC level, not sure what they are equivalent to today, or if they even exist.
The UK had a fairly decent vocational system then, called Technical Colleges and Polytechnics. Seemed to work, at least for industry.
Did a lot of manufacturers courses, they were a bit variable. A couple of Open University ones, when I thought my maths was getting weak. Employer paid for that, those were the days...
Thinking about doing an OU Physics module, but a bit skint at the moment.
N.