The following Universities are ancient foundations:—Cambridge, Oxford, Durham, Aberdeen, St. Andrews, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast (Queen's College), and Dublin (Trinity College). The other Universities are grouped together as "Modern." The Scottish Universities, however, being chiefly non-residential, and situated in large cities, have many features in common with the modern group.
Teaching System.—At Oxford and Cambridge the system is a combination of University, Inter-Collegiate and College lectures, classes and seminars, with individual teaching. Each undergraduate student is under the personal guidance of a tutor or director of studies, who plans out her course of work for term and vacations, supervises her studies, advises her as to lectures, teaches her, either alone or with others, and arranges, if necessary, for additional tuition. Great importance is attached to written work (consisting in Oxford mainly of essays, in Cambridge in answers to question papers), and to a close personal relation between teacher and pupil. This system has obvious advantages to the student, as the tutor has scope for developing individual capacity, but it makes considerable demands upon the tutor's time. Science students are admitted to the University laboratories, both in Cambridge and in Oxford, and in the former University, Natural Science is one of the subjects most popular and important. Advanced students obtain advice and supervision in their work from Professors and other specialists.
In other Universities, instruction is carried on mainly by means of lectures; the amount of written work is smaller, and there is practically no "coaching," either of individuals or of small groups—except where the number studying a given subject is extremely small. There is a trend of opinion in favour of the appointment of Tutors to give general guidance to those wishing for it, but the expense at present bars any innovation on a large scale in this direction. Some of the residential Halls provide tutors for their students. In all scientific subjects a considerable amount of practical work in the laboratories is required of the student, with more or less individual guidance from the Demonstrators in charge of the laboratories.
It is the vice of most of the modern Universities to require attendance at too large a number of lectures, leaving too little time for study and thought. And though the evil is readily recognised, and efforts are made from time to time to reduce the amount of attendance required, the zeal and autocratic power of the Professor in charge of any given subject has usually succeeded in defeating them.
In English Universities it is customary to call courses for a first degree either Honours or Pass Courses. The Honours Course is specialised—only one subject (say, a language or a science) with a minimum amount of one or two related subjects. A Pass Course is more general. Both types of Course cover, as a rule, a period of three years before the Final Degree Examination; which may, or may not, be preceded by subsidiary examinations in the earlier years. It is the rule in most of the Women's Colleges in Cambridge and Oxford that Honours Examinations only may be prepared for; in other Universities and Colleges, the women, like the men, can choose between Honours and Pass. There has been of late years a growing tendency to choose the more specialised course; it has more prestige, and the Headmistresses of Girls' Secondary Schools have preferred specialists as teachers. But there are slight indications that this preference is becoming less marked; and there may possibly before long be seen a revival of the demand for a more general education—which is manifestly suited to certain types of mind.
Degrees.—The degrees conferred by the Universities are those of Bachelor, Master, and Doctor. Not all of these degrees, are, however, conferred in every Faculty. The Course for a Bachelor's degree usually covers three years[2]; the Master's degree is sometimes (as in Oxford and Cambridge) conferred for a payment without further examination; sometimes, as in most of the modern Universities, it requires a further examination; in Scottish Universities it is the first degree, obtained after three years' study. Hence this degree connotes a surprising variety of attainment. The Doctor's degree is in all Universities awarded only upon the production of original work which can be regarded as a serious contribution to knowledge.
[2] In Cambridge the examination for the first degree is called the "Tripos"; in Oxford it is called "Schools."
Recently every University has created a Ph.D. degree, open to graduates of any approved institution, British or foreign. It is given for advanced work only, the results of which must be embodied in a dissertation; and study must have been prosecuted during the greater part of two (or three) years in the University conferring the degree. It may be conferred in any Faculty. Many of the other higher degrees, M.A., M.Sc., B.Litt., etc., etc., are also open to graduates from other approved institutions.
The Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, holds a special position among independent Colleges, granting a diploma of its own which is regarded as equal in standard to a University degree.
Subjects Studied.—The greater number of women students enter the Faculty of Arts, but large numbers also enter for Science and for Medicine; a few for Commerce, Technology, Law, etc. The study of Medicine can now be carried on under the same conditions as for men in practically all the modern Universities. In some, however, situated in comparatively small towns, the clinical facilities are inadequate, and it is customary to continue clinical study in one of the larger Medical Schools, London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, or Manchester. Edinburgh, with a long-established prestige in medicine, attracts large numbers of students. Tradition inherited from early days of controversy has long limited the opportunities of women in Edinburgh, but a more liberal policy now admits them to substantial privileges.