A history of the University of Oxford

by George C. Brodrick

Examination Statute of 1850 and later amendments

Such was the Oxford examination-system when it was transformed afresh in 1850, by a statute which has been amended and extended by many supplementary measures. A ‘First Public Examination,’ popularly known as ‘Moderations,’ was interposed between Responsions and the final examination for the B.A. degree, thenceforth officially designated the ‘Second Public Examination.’ This intermediate examination, in which honours are awarded, was specially designed to encourage and test a scholarlike knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages, ancient history, philosophy, and logic being mainly reserved for the Final Classical, or Literæ Humaniores, School. The Honour School of Mathematics was retained, and two new Schools were established, the one for Natural Science, the other for Law and Modern History. This last School was afterwards divided into two schools, of Jurisprudence and of Modern History, respectively, while a sixth Honour School was added for Theology. Until the year 1883, two examinations were held annually in each of the six Honour Schools, but in and since that year one only has been held, and that in Trinity Term. Two examinations, however, continued to be held annually for candidates seeking an ordinary degree, and these ‘pass examinations’ were subdivided into several branches, for the purpose of securing a tolerable degree of proficiency in more than one subject of study.

University Commission of 1850

The important examination statutes of 1850 were in contemplation, but not yet in operation, when a Royal Commission was issued, on August 31, in that year, ‘for the purpose of inquiring into the state, discipline, studies, and revenues’ of the University and colleges. The report of this Commission is the most comprehensive review of the whole University system which has ever been published. It recommended various important reforms, of which some were effected by an Act of Parliament enacted in 1854, and others through Ordinances framed by executive commissioners, therein appointed, for the several colleges. In 1850, the sole initiative power in University legislation, and by far the largest share of University administration, was still vested in the ‘Hebdomadal Board,’ consisting solely of heads of colleges with the two proctors, and described by no unfriendly critic of Oxford institutions as ‘an organised torpor.’ The assembly of resident and ‘regent’ Masters of Arts, known as the ‘House of Congregation,’ still existed for the purpose of granting degrees, but its other business had dwindled to mere formalities. The University Convocation included, as ever, all Masters of Arts, resident or non-resident, and had the right of debating, but this right was virtually annulled by the necessity of speaking in Latin—all but a lost art—and Convocation could only accept or reject without amendment measures proposed by the Hebdomadal Board. No student could be a member of the University without belonging to a college or hall, while every member of a college or hall was compelled to sleep within its walls, until after his third year of residence. Persons unable to sign the Thirty-nine Articles were absolutely excluded, not merely from degrees, but from all access to the University, inasmuch as the test of subscription was enforced at matriculation. Nevertheless, college fellowships were further protected against the intrusion of dissenters by the declaration of conformity to the liturgy required to be made under the Act of Uniformity. If professorial lectures were not at so low an ebb as in the days of Gibbon, they were lamentably scarce and ineffective. The educational function of the University had, in fact, been almost wholly merged in college tuition, but the scholarships, as well as the fellowships, of the colleges were fettered by all manner of restrictions, which marred their value as incentives to industry. The great majority of fellows were bound to take Holy Orders, and the whole University was dominated by a clerical spirit, which directly tended to make it, as it had so long been, a focus of theological controversy.

Act of 1854 and new College Ordinances

Though several of the wise and liberal measures recommended by the Commission of 1850 were postponed to a more convenient season, a profound and most beneficial reform was wrought in the whole spirit and working of the University system by the Act of 1854, and the College Ordinances framed under its provisions. The Hebdomadal Board was replaced by an elective Council, on which Heads of colleges, professors, and resident Masters of Arts were equally represented. A new ‘Congregation’ was created, embracing all resident members of Convocation, and soon became a vigorous deliberative assembly, with the right of speaking in English. The monopoly of colleges was broken down, and an opening made for ulterior extension by the revival of private halls. The professoriate was considerably increased, reorganised, and re-endowed, by means of contributions from colleges. The colleges were emancipated from their mediæval statutes, were invested with new constitutions, and acquired new legislative powers. The fellowships were almost universally thrown open to merit, and the effect of this was not merely to provide ample rewards for the highest academical attainments, but to place the governing power within colleges in the hands of able men, likely to promote further improvements. The number and value of scholarships was largely augmented, and many, though not all, of the restrictions upon them were abolished. The great mass of vexatious and obsolete oaths was swept away, and though candidates for the M.A. degree and persons elected to fellowships were still required to make the old subscriptions and declarations, it was enacted that no religious test should be imposed at matriculation, or on taking a bachelor’s degree. The University itself had supplemented the extension of its curriculum and examination system by the foundation of a new museum specially consecrated to natural science. The permanence of this extension was, however, additionally secured by a clause introduced into the College Ordinances, whereby it was directed that fellowships should be appropriated, from time to time, for the encouragement of all the studies recognised by the University.

Effect of these reforms

Other salutary changes naturally grew out of this comprehensive reform, and far greater progress was made by the University during the thirty years immediately following it than in any previous century of its history. The impulse given to education reacted upon learning and research; Oxford science began once more to command the respect of Europe; the professoriate received an accession of illustrious names; and college tuition, instead of being the mere temporary vocation of fellows waiting for livings, gradually placed itself on the footing of a regular profession. Instead of drying up the bounty of founders, as had been confidently predicted, the reforms of 1854 apparently caused the stream of benefactions to flow with renewed abundance. Nearly all the older colleges have extended their buildings, mostly by the aid of private munificence, a new college has been erected, bearing the name of the Rev. John Keble, and Magdalen Hall has been refounded, under its original name of Hertford College, with a large new endowment, provided by Mr. C. Baring. Meanwhile, a new class of ‘unattached’ or ‘non-collegiate’ students has been created, the number of which rose to 284 in the year 1880, though it has since manifested a tendency to fall. The aggregate strength of the University has been doubled within the same period of thirty-two years, and the net total of undergraduates in residence has been swelled from about 1,300 to upwards of 2,500, and the annual matriculations have increased in a like proportion.

Abolition of University Tests

The relaxation of the ‘classical monopoly’ and the opening of scholarships was supplemented, in 1871, by a still more important reform—the complete abolition of University Tests, already reduced by the Act of 1854. This great concession to religious liberty was brought about by a persistent movement chiefly emanating from the Universities themselves. In the year 1862 a petition was presented from 74 resident fellows of colleges at Cambridge, praying for a repeal of the clause applicable to fellowships in the Act of Uniformity. In the year 1863, a petition was presented from 106 Heads, professors, fellows, ex-fellows, and college tutors at Oxford, praying for the removal of all theological restrictions on degrees. In the year 1868, a petition against all religious tests, except for degrees in theology, was signed by 80 Heads, professors, lecturers, and resident fellows at Oxford, while a similar petition was signed by 123 non-resident fellows and ex-fellows. In the same year a petition to the same effect was signed by 227 heads and present or former office-holders and fellows of Cambridge. Separate petitions, specially directed against the declaration of conformity, were presented by Trinity and Christ’s Colleges at Cambridge. Supported by the whole Nonconformist body and by the Liberal party in Parliament, these efforts were ultimately successful. The contest in Parliament lasted no less than nine years, and one Bill after another was defeated or withdrawn, but in 1871 the abolition of University Tests was adopted as a government measure and accepted by the House of Lords. Experience has not justified the fears of its opponents, and neither the religious character nor the social peace of the University has been in the slightest degree impaired by the admission of Nonconformists to its degrees and endowments.