Evidences, 1882: London Society for the Extension of University Teaching

London Society for the Extension of University Teaching

The Right Hon. G. J. Goschen, M.P., attended on behalf of the London Society for the Extension of University Teaching.

Rt. Ht. Hon. G. J. Goschen, M.P.

2,136. (Chairman.) We understand that you have come as representing the University Extension Committee established in London, that is so is it not ?— Yes.

2,137. Then perhaps you will kindly state what it is that they wish us to do ?—I think that a memorial is in the hands of the members of the Commission, in which we have stated, as briefly as we could, the objects of our society. Perhaps it would be convenient just to run rapidly through the various points. "In 1872 the University of Cambridge having received many memorials from large towns throughout England, asking assistance in promoting higher education, appointed a syndicate to ' organize lectures in populous places.' The scheme grew rapidly and the syndicate has conducted lectures in more than 60 towns. In some places the lectures have led to the foundation of permanent educational institutions." Then we state one or two notable cases where those permanent educational institutions have been founded. "It was thought that in London also, although much valuable secondary instruction was already provided, there was still ample room and need for similar work. The experience of the Cambridge scheme had shown that outside the ranks of those who are able to take advantage of the routine of colleges, there are in all large centres of population numbers of persons engaged in the regular occupations of life, who are yet willing to ayail themselves of opportunities for higher education." I think I may state here that there was some institution in the metropolis that applied to the Cambridge syndicate asking them to help them in London, but on that being done there was a number of gentlemen interested in education who met in London and thought that they could make similar arrangements in London to those that Cambridge had made for the provincial towns. They placed themselves in communication with various other institutions, and the result was the foundation of the Society for the Extension of University Teaching in the metropolis in the year 1875, but we were anxious to place ourselves in communication with the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and London, and we secured their sanction and co-operation. "In 1878 a decree was passed, without division, in a convocation of the University of Oxford, authorising the appointment of delegates to co-operate with the society, and a similar grace passed shortly afterwards, also without division, in the senate of the University of Cambridge." The London University also joined us, and I can put in the wording of the decrees at Oxford and Cambridge. The Oxford decrees was this, "That the delegates of local examinations be authorised to appoint representatives out of their own number to co-operate with the London society for the extension of university teaching in such manner as to the delegates may seem advisable." I will put that in. (The document was handed in, vide Appendix A.) When we had secured the co-operation of the three universities we considered our organisation complete. The Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and London appointed members of what we call a joint board. " This board has nominated all the society's lecturers and appointed the examiners; it has granted certificates to successful candidates, and it has frequently conferred with the council on the educational work of the society." I will now state the way in which we work. We work through local committees. The central society endeavours to induce the different localities to form local committees. They make the general arrangements, and we then assist them with funds. We appoint the lecturers, take a certain amount of the charge upon ourselves, and supply general organisation. I think I may read here the account of how we operate. "The scheme for carrying out this object has been matured with the assistance of the Universities Board, and has followed the lines which have proved so successful in the case of the Cambridge Syndicate. The course consists of weekly lectures on various subjects, each course consisting of not fewer than 12, or occasionally 10, lectures, and each lecture lasting not less than one hour. Each lecture is followed by class instruction occupying not less than half an hour; and at each lecture the lecturer gives out questions, to be answered in writing at home and submitted to him for correction and comment. At the end of each course an examination (in writing) is held, the examiner (who is in no case the lecturer) being specially appointed by the Universities Board. No student is admitted to the examination who has not attended the lectures and classes to the lecturer's satisfaction; and the lecturer is not permitted to accept as satisfactory, attendance at fewer than two thirds of the lectures and classes. It is further left to the discretion of the lecturer whether he will require, in addition, a certain amount of weekly paper work as a condition of entrance to the examination, a condition which the lecturer in most cases enforces. As the result of the examination, the Universities Board awards first and second class certificates to such candidates as satisfy the examiner; and the certificates thus testify not only to the attainment of a particular standard of knowledge, but also to a regular course of organised work under university superintendence. The society thus does two things. For those persons who have only time or inclination to attend lectures, it provides that the lectures shall be given" (this is a point on which we insist very much) "by men of equal qualification with those engaged in teaching at the universities themselves, and that the lectures shall be in distinct courses. At the same time it affords opportunities to all who are desirous of studying a subject more fully of as regular and systematic a course of teaching as their circumstances render possible." I may state here that one of the main points on which we insist is not the delivery of popular lectures but of thorough lectures, and we claim that the lecturers who are appointed are all first rate university men of the same stamp as conduct the teaching at the universities, and each one of our lecturers has the stamp of the university upon him by having been nominated by the University Board. We insist upon the class teaching and the paper work in order to insure as far as we can that it shall be real study and not simply amusement. The council insist in all our arrangements upon thorough teaching, and we attach the greatest importance to the class teaching after the lectures. I will put in here the instructions for the lecturers which are drawn up by the universities joint board, and which have been approved by the council. I put that in in order to show the thoroughness of the work that we do. (The document was handed in, vide Appendix B.) Now with regard to the extent of our work. We have gradually increased until we have now 19 centres. "26 centres in the London postal district have at one time or another been in connexion with the society, and during the last session (1881–82) 19 centres have been in active work." Various classes attend our lectures. "It is indeed a leading characteristic of the scheme that it adapts itself to students of all degrees of leisure and previous training, some of the most successful classes having been attended largely by artizans. Such is especially the case at the Whitechapel centre, where the three subjects of English history, political economy, and physiology have been continuously taught for nearly five years." And I venture to draw the attention of the Commission to that point, that it is not simply a spasmodic action but for five years we have been able to give a regular and systematic training in one of the poorest parts of London. "During the last session the number of entries for the society's lectures at the 19 different centres was: in the first term (October-December, 1881), 1,619; in the second term (January–April, 1882), 1411. Of this latter number, 700 (or 50 per cent.) have stayed after the lecture for class teaching, and 329 (or 23 per cent.) have written weekly papers. Over 10 per cent. of the students, moreover, entered for examination, and 83 per cent. of the candidates satisfied the examiners." I would call attention to this, that the second term, which is the term from Christmas to Easter, is always less well attended than that from October to December. It does not show any falling off in our work which has been continously increasing. It is the same in the Cambridge scheme; the total for the session shows an advance on the preceding session of 477 in the first term and 541 in the second. I may supplement that by saying, that in addition to the centres of last year, new ones are in course of formation at Bedford Park, at Crouch End, at Dalston, at Dulwich, at Greenwich, at Hackney, at Kilburn, at New Cross, at Southwark, at Stoke Newington, at Walthamstow, and at Woolwich. These facts, I think, bear out the contention which we make, namely, that we are filling a gap in the higher education in London, and that there is a considerable demand for our lectures. The ground is occupied by King's College and other organisations, as well as ourselves, but the great progress that we have made from year to year in our numbers shows, in our judgment, that there is a distinct demand for such lectures as we can give. In our first session, if I take the October to December term, we had 139 entries. In the second session we had 379, in the third session 284, in the fourth session 1,224, in the fifth session 1,142, and in the sixth session 1,619. That represents now the number of our students, 1,619 in the first term and 1,400 in the second, or we may say an average of about 1,500; and we hope to increase that number by at all events the formation of six or seven new centres next October. With regard to the classes and the kind of people who attend our lectures, we may say that really they are attended by all kinds; we have afternoon classes and evening classes. The afternoon classes are attended chiefly by the well-todo; the evening classes by a great variety of people. If we had only got our afternoon classes we should not venture to come before the Commission at all, because those are classes that ought to be entirely selfsupporting and would not be entitled to any assistance. As a matter of fact according to our system they help to pay for the poorer students. We have seven afternoon classes with 300 entries, but we have 17 evening classes with 1,130 entries. Now in the afternoon classes the fee for instance would be 1l. 1s. and at Blackheath we have 90 people, who are chiefly ladies, who pay 1l. 1s. each. They pay (if I may put it so) for 80 clerks and artisans, at 5s., who are attending the lectures in other parts of the metropolis. So at Hampstead and at Croydon. If in any of the wealthier neighbourhoods a centre is not self-supporting we immediately drop it, because we are not prepared to say that any of our funds should go to them, but it assists us to work them in with other localities because we employ the same lecturers for all and there is a surplus occasionally, and oftener at these wealthier centres, which goes to the payment of the poorer centres. I should say that our lecturers receive 30l. for a course of 12 lectures, and we consider it scarcely enough. Under the Cambridge syndicate they pay 40l. for 12 lectures. I think at the Gresham College the pay is considerably higher, and also at the Gilchrist Trust, where I think it is 10l. for one lecture. Our financial arrangement is this, that the local committee determines the fees which are paid, and then bears one third of the deficiency, if any, and we contribute two thirds of the deficiency, receiving one third of the surplus if any. Now with regard to the class of people attending our lectures, at Peckham the local secretary is a lawyer's clerk; at Camden Road he is engaged in a newspaper office; at West Ham he is a clerk to the local board; at Battersea one is a master of a middle class school, the other a working man; at Croydon he is a tradesman engaged all day in the city; at the Tower Hamlets he is a working bookbinder, and there the class is mainly composed of artisans. As evidence of the necessity created for the class in the Tower Hamlets I may mention that there have been a Senior and a Junior Adam Smith Club formed among the artisans, showing that the teaching of political economy has stimulated an interest in that subject. I have mentioned to the Committee that in London during the last term there were 1,411 students, of whom 700 (or 50 per cent.) stayed after the lecture for class teaching, and 329 (or 23 per cent.) have written weekly papers. This is equal to the average under the Cambridge system. Now I will not trouble the Commission at much greater length, but I should like to say one word upon our finance. We have worked the society, I think I may say, with very great economy; our central or administrative charges are extremely low. I have mentioned that the lecturers are paid at a low rate, and we keep a check upon the local committee by requiring them to pay a third of the deficit. The total expenditure in 1881 was, roughly, 1,600l. and the number of students 1,200, which gives a charge of 1l. 6s. 8d. per head. With reference to the question as to whether we ought to be entirely self supporting, if we had had to charge 1l. 6s. 8d. to the students for the lectures, three quarters of our students would have been driven away. Some endowment, or I will not say endowment but some assistance, is almost indispensable to our system. I can put in a table showing how far our operations are self supporting (The document was handed in, vide Appendix C.) So far as the lecturers alone are concerned we stand thus. In 1876 the amount was very small, because it was our first year, we then received from the centres 98l. and paid out 111l., but in 1881 we received from the centres 1,019l., and the nett amount paid by us was only 161l. for lectures alone, so that it was a per-centage of 13 per cent. But besides the expenses of the lecturers we have also got to pay the examiners, we have got to pay a secretary, we have got to pay the small expenses of the central organisation and also the deficits, if any, in the poorer districts. But if the Committee will look at paragraph 10 of the memorial that we have sent in they will see that "the total amount which the Society received in subscriptions and donations during the year 1881 was 491l., but of this sum a considerable proportion was made up of special grants, upon a renewal of which the society has no right to rely." Paragraph 9 states the financial position of the society. We have been at work during four years, and it will be seen that we have worked up until we have got 1,600 students. Our resources at present have only been equal to our necessities by our late secretary working with no remuneration at all. Of course we must have a secretary in the long run who must be paid. "The expenditure of the society is of two kinds:—(1) contributions towards the expenses of the lectures, scientific apparatus, and examiners' fees; and (2) the current expenses of the society itself. These latter charges have always been kept down to the lowest possible level, and amounted last year (exclusive of a secretary's salary) to no more than 164l." so that I think the Commission will see that we have worked extraordinarily cheaply for a society which has 19 centres in different parts of London, but as it has been found under the Cambridge syndicate, by fees alone it is impossible to work it. We have got a certain income from subscriptions and through grants that some of the city companies have given us, sometimes 50l. and sometimes 100l., but we are now in such a position that there is some danger of our being obliged to suspend our operations altogether unless we can put our finances upon a more satisfactory footing. At all events we cannot have nearly as many experimental centres as is desirable, because the way to spread our work is wherever we can get a local committee of strength and energy together to try a course for one year and if it succeeds to continue it, and if it does not succeed then to drop it. It is in that way we have ascertained where, in London, we can have our permanent footing. Then I think the Commission will see if they look at Sir Thomas Gresham's bequest that we come very near indeed to doing the work which is contemplated by that bequest. "Sir Thomas Gresham provided for the endowment of 'seven persons meet and sufficiently learned daily to read the seven lectures on divinity, astronomy, music, geometry, law, physic and rhetoric.'" The Commission will have evidence as to the degree to which that is carried out by the Gresham College Committee, but I think we may fairly say, if anything is done with that trust, that our objects come as near to it as that of any society or body in London. The object of the foundation was to bring not technical, but what is now called, the higher education to London. The seven lecturers were to live in the college, and their lectures were to be given to the people of London. That is just what our society is doing. We endeavour to put a sample of university teaching and the results of university study before the inhabitants of London. The Gresham committee originally in 1598 (and this is very curious) applied to Oxford and Cambridge to appoint lecturers and to advise them generally how they might better discharge the trust committed to them, and we venture to think that we have taken precisely the course then recommended; we are giving lectures to the people of London and we have taken into council Oxford and Cambridge to appoint the lecturers precisely as was requested by the trustees of Sir Thomas Gresham. The present Gresham scheme appears to be inadequate, there is no real teaching, and I would point this out to the Commission, that their lecturers only give four lectures at a time at long intervals, that there is no class teaching, and no attempt at system. We, on the other hand, give twelve lectures, we have class teaching, and systematic teaching is the one point at which we mainly aim and without which Oxford and Cambridge would certainly not go with us, because the joint Board insist upon all our teaching being thorough. Then all the Gresham lectures are given at six o'clock in the evening. I believe the time and the place is against them. We carry our work to the doors of as many of the inhabitants in the metropolis as we can. We think that we have proved that there is a demand for our lectures; we are very modest, we think, in what we wish: if we had 1,000l. a year we consider that we should be able greatly to increase our work and to perfect it in this way, that we should be able to purchase the necessary appliances for experimental teaching in many cases; that we should be able to work more in the poorer districts, and that we should be able to feel that we could work permanently instead of from hand to mouth as we have been going on at present. That is our general scheme and the general nature of our work.

2138. Do I understand that you would wish to be more closely connected with the Gresham scheme ? —Yes.

2139. That would be your main object?—That is certainly one of our objects, and that would be the solution that we should most prefer. I think that the Gresham estates had risen in 1821 to 7,000l. a year, and as the sum of only 700l. a year is paid to the lecturers there is a very large balance which, according to our contention, was intended for higher teaching and which apparently is not applied to that object at present. But what we should like very much would be fusion with the Gresham College, if with our organisation, connected as we are with the three universities, any kind of arrangement could be made. We venture to think that our organisation is precisely that which was contemplated by Sir Thomas Gresham, and while they have got only a certain number of students, who come into the city at 6 o'clock to attend these comparatively few lectures, we have got now the nucleus of higher education in 19 different parts of London, and we feel that that may break down for want of funds.

2140. (Viscount Sherbrooke.) Do you get any assistance from any of the City companies, I rather gathered that you did ?—The Clothworkers' Company have given us 100 guineas, and a promise to subscribe 20 pounds.

2141. Has anybody else done so ?—The Court of Common Council gave us 50 guineas on one occasion.

2142. Is that all that you have had from the City companies ?—That is all that we have had from the City companies. I should say that we have applied to some of the city companies and hope that we may succeed in obtaining more funds, but I venture to put it very strongly before the Commission, that if there are funds available, it would be a pity that our work should be dropped. Either we must be supported more by private subscriptions, or we may not be able to carry on a work which I think, judging from the reports of the examiners, who are all practical university men, is of a thorough and satisfactory kind. I also call attention again to the fact that our administrative expenditure is very small, so that any money we get may be looked upon as really intended for developing education, and would not be at all wasted. On our council we have endeavoured to have representative men. I think it is a fairly representative council; I do not know whether the Commission would care to hear who they are, but there is one point, I should like to call attention to, namely, that besides our own council, there are eight or ten institutions in London, that nominate a member to our council, namely: the Bedford College, the Birkbeck Institution, the City of London College, the College for Men and Women, King's College, the London Institution, Queen's College, the Royal Institution, the Working Men's College, and University College. They all act with us in that way; they give us the advantage of having one of the members of their own councils to act with us, so that we have the full advantage of their experience both as regards lecturers and as regards getting hold of the classes whom we want to get hold of.

2143. Do you think if two or three or four thousand pounds were given to you every year certain, that that would be the means of permanently improving your work ?—Yes, I think it would give us the means of establishing ourselves quite permanently, because we find (and that I think is very satisfactory) that every year we have advanced, and every year we find that more interest is taken in our proceedings. It is very hard work in London to get hold of the ground thoroughly, and it has been slow work but we think that the work we have done has certainly been good work.

2144. Do you think if you had this sum secured to you that it would not send you all to sleep ?—Certainly I can say we have not been asleep so far.

2145. You have had to work for your money ?— Yes.

2146. But suppose you had the money without working for it, would it not have that effect ?—I do not think so, because we have been very ambitious to lay hold of the ground thoroughly; and I may say that two years ago, I think we should have been stopped altogether, unless I myself had written an enormous number of private letters, to get 500l. or 600l. together from personal friends. But one cannot repeat that operation, or one would become a nuisance to one's friends.

2147. You are now in the virtuous stage, but how would it be if you were made rich, do you think ?— Of course it is easy to waste money, but our system is, I think, sound. I am bound to say that we should like to increase the payment of our lecturers from 30l. to 40l., though we do get good lecturers. It is rather low for the 12 lectures for the hour of the lecture, for the class teaching afterwards, and for looking over the papers afterwards. We are of course anxious to get the very best men, and not only the youngest men who may leave us if they get better work. The way we are able occasionally to get good men is by having various centres, one at Whitechapel, another at Putney, another at Battersea, and so on. In that way we are able to work in the lecturers, so that they can deliver the same lecture at each place, and through the same organisation make a better income than they could if they were working in an isolated way. The plan we have acted upon through our central organisation, is to work in the whole system of lecturers, of whom we have a list. We have a list of lecturers, and supposing that a local committee is formed at Lewisham or Blackheath, or at Woolwich, they name their subject, and we provide the lecturer. We have under the sanction of the universities supplied so many political economy lectures, and so many in English history, and so on. The moment any demand is made we have our lecturer ready, and he goes to that particular locality.

2148. (Duke of Bedford.) Do you find that those who attend the lectures are sufficiently prepared in their minds to benefit by the lectures?— That of course is one of the difficulties, but there I point to our success at Tower Hamlets, where in the first year they may not have been sufficiently prepared, but they have gone on from year to year, and our lecturers have been often surprised to see what good work they get. It is for that reason that the class teaching is very important. The class teaching is worked in this way, that when they have difficulties in the class, they place themselves in communication with the lecturer after the class, and he examines them orally or he explains the difficulties. Then we have examiners who report to us, and the result of the examination shows us any deficiency on the part of the lecturers as much as on the part of the students who go in. Our secretaries also attend the lectures a great deal themselves, in order to be able to see what the quality of the work is, and to keep an eye upon the lecturers. I can put in one of our reports. My eye lights upon a report of Professor Morley. He says, "Eleven candidates presented themselves for examination of whom all have passed, 10 in the first division and one in the second. The work done was very good throughout, and the whole body of the answers made it clear that the lectures had been generally well followed and well understood. There were also satisfactory evidences of home reading in connexion with the course. I have read few sets of examination papers that have shown more clearly than this set of 11, at once the good quality of the matter taught, and clear intelligent appreciation of the teaching." Here I have got another. "On the other hand the fact that at several centres the examiner has awarded special marks of distinction (in all cases with the entire concurrence of the lecturer), shows that the society's lectures have often satisfied the requirements of the highest teaching. Thus at Hampstead, one of the best candidates is said by the examiner in English History to have done ' extremely well, showing great grasp of facts, with a good deal of insight and a clear and vigorous style'; whilst the candidate at Battersea (where as in Whitechapel, the class is largely composed of artisans), whom the examiner recommends for the Cobden Club prize, did excellently, and showed a sound and scholarly knowledge of the theory of economics.' " Of course the preparation of the students varies very much in the different centres, but I think that we have been satisfied that the work has been better than could have been expected from the miscellaneous classes. At the Easter examination in political economy at the Tower Hamlets centre, where the students are mainly artisans, Mr. Toynbee, the examiner, reported that 'all the candidates had done well, their answers being clear, thoughtful, and generally to the point,' and placed all five in the first class."

2149. (Sir S. Waterlow.) May I take it that in your opinion, and from your knowledge of the work done by the Gresham Committee, and of the object and purposes for which Sir Thomas Gresham left that money, if that money was appropriated to carry on the work which you now carry on, the object intended would be better accomplished, and that a much larger amount of useful education would be given than is at present given by the Gresham Committee ?—That is my opinion.

2150. And therefore that the cause of education would be generally promoted by either transferring the funds at the disposal of the Gresham Committee to a committee doing the work which you are doing, or by compelling the Gresham Committee to vary the form and manner in which they do their own work ? —Yes, that is my opinion. Ours is a modern scheme based upon the most recent educational experience— experience gained by a good deal of labour by Cambridge mainly but also by Oxford University. Ours is based upon those principles, whereas the Gresham scheme is based upon comparatively older views and is not doing at present such active work.

2151. I presume you know that very few persons comparatively attend the Gresham lectures ?—So I believe, but upon that of course I could not speak, because I have no knowledge. Some of the lectures that I have heard of are not well attended, but there is a lecture on music, which I have heard is well attended, and some scientific lectures also.

2152. (Mr. Alderman Cotton.) I think your society has only been established five years ?—Six years.

2153. Have you applied to any of the companies for assistance lately, or was your application made in your early days ?—I think we have applied at various times, but I am not quite sure of that. At present we have got applications before several of the companies, and we shall be very glad of any assistance from them. We stand at present in this way, that we shall have a deficit in our accounts of 300l. at the end of the year, unless by some means or other we get some financial assistance; but I cannot believe that we shall have to drop the work we are engaged in for the want of a certain amount of financial assistance.

2154. (Mr. Pell.) Who gives the class instruction of half an hour which follows the lecture?—The lecturer.

2155. I think you said in answer to the Duke of Bedford that it was found that those who attend the lectures are now very much better prepared than they were at the first commencement of your undertaking ? —Yes.

2156. Do you know how they get that better preparation ?—It is by having listened to the lectures.

2157. Your effort has not given rise to the start of any educational machinery, with special reference to the London Society for the Extension of University Education in the different centres where you are now working ?—No, I think not. In the east end of London I think it has created a considerable interest, and it is working in with a desire to have a kind of central establishment. There we want rooms, and that is what we really should like to have.

2158. I was going to ask you about that.—It is very interesting that in some places the lectures have led to the foundation of permanent Educational institutions. The University College opened at Nottingham distinctly came from the syndicate lectures, and there the original endowment of 10,000l. was given "on the condition that the Town Council would ' erect buildings for the accommodation of the University lecturers to the satisfaction of the University of Cambridge.' Similar results have followed in Chesterfield, Liverpool, Sheffield and other places." The tendency of those lectures is to create, as we think, and as experience has shown, a further demand, but I think most members of the Commission know that it is much more difficult to move people in London than it is in the provincial towns, for the reason that London is so large; and that it is easier even to collect in a provincial town or to get people to put down 10,000l. to found a college than it is to do it in London.

2159. In the Tower Hamlets how have you been provided with rooms for those lectures, who has furnished them, or can you say what rooms you have used ?—For a time the lectures were in the London Hospital. The London Hospital Authorities lent us a class room which was not very satisfactory, and now the lectures are given in Mr. Barnett's schools. Mr. Barnett is a member of our Council but we sometimes have a difficulty with regard to rooms.

2160. Has Mr. Barnett wished to get you out, or does he think he can accommodate you for sometime to come ?—Mr. Barnett is anxious to get us out, but Mr. Barnett is one of our most zealous friends. He is a member of the council, and takes as deep an interest in it as any one of us, I think. I should say the Gilchrist trustees have given us 100l. a year, which is also a trust for, I think, the payment of lecturers. I have put in also the instructions for lecturers, because they show distinctly the utilizing of the classes. Perhaps I may just read this. " The classes may be utilized by the lecturers in any of the following ways:—(1.) For asking and answering questions, generally as bearing on the lecture of the preceding week. (2.) For pointing out common errors in the written answers to the weekly questions, and dwelling on points of general interest suggested by them. (3.) For explaining and further elucidating points in the lectures. (4.) For conducting some line of study parallel to that of the lectures. (5.) For reading important extracts out of books. (6.) For going through a text-book, or in such other way as may be found expedient." We have insisted very much upon the class work, though the lecturers sometimes have rather found it long to lecture first for an hour, and then to have class-teaching for another half-an-hour, but we consider that one of the most essential points of our scheme.

The witness withdrew.

Appendix.

A.

Copy of a Decree passed (without a division) in a Convocation of the University of Oxford, 5th November 1878 :—

"That the delegates of local examinations be authorised to appoint representatives out of their own number to cooperate with the London Society for the Extension of University teaching in such manner as to the delegates may seem advisable."

Copy of a Grace passed (without a division) in the Senate of the University of Cambridge, 11th December 1878 :—

" That the local lectures and examinations syndicate be authorised to appoint representatives out of their own number to co-operate with the London Society for the Extension of University teaching in such manner as to the syndicate may seem advisable."

B.

Instructions for lecturers, drawn up by the Universities Joint Board and approved by the Council.

1. Each course, in connexion with which certificates are given by the Joint Board, shall consist of not fewer than twelve lectures and eleven classes, unless for special reason assigned, and shall in no case consist of fewer than ten lectures and nine classes. Each lecture is understood to occupy about an hour, and each class not less than half an hour.

2. The course shall be accompanied by a detailed syllabus of each lecture (except where the lecturer shall be permitted to dispense therewith), which shall serve as a guide to the students in following the lecture and in taking notes of it.

3. At each lecture the lecturer shall give out questions to be answered in writing at home by such of the pupils as desire to do so, who shall be invited to submit their answers to the lecturer for correction and comment.

4. The class each week may precede or follow the lecture as may be found most suitable for the local arrangements, and for the lecturer's system of dealing with the subject.

5. The classes in connexion with each course of lectures shall be formed only from among those who are attending that course, and shall consist of those who are desirous of studying the subject more fully. The class shall, at the discretion of the lecturer, take up either the subject of the lectures or cognate subjects bearing directly thereon and necessary for the better elucidation of the subject of the lectures. The teaching in the class shall be more conversational than that in the lecture.

6. The classes may be utilized by the lecturers in any of the following ways :—

(1). For asking and answering questions, generally as bearing on the lecture of the preceding week.

(2). For pointing out common errors in the written answers to the weekly questions, and dwelling on points of general interest suggested by them.

(3). For explaining and further elucidating points in the lectures.

(4). For conducting some line of study parallel to that of the lectures.

(5). For reading important extracts out of books.

(6). For going through a text-book, or in such other way as may be found expedient.

Rt. Hon. G. J. Goschen, M.P. 19 July 1883.

7. The lecturer shall each term, upon the conclusion of the course, send to the Joint Board, filled in on a form for that purpose:—

(1). A short report of the results of the weekly work, &c., in connexion with each course.

(2). The names (in alphabetical order) of the candidates who may be admitted to the final examination.

(3). The names (to be marked by an asterisk in the above list) of those recommended for distinction on the strength of the weekly work.

8. No one shall be admitted to the final examination who has not attended the lectures and classes to the lecturer's satisfaction. The Joint Board leave it to the lecturer in each case to determine what is "satisfactory attendance;" but in no case permits him to accept as satisfactory, attendance at fewer than two thirds of the lectures and classes. The Joint Board further leave it to the discretion of the lecturer whether he will require, in addition, a certain amount of weekly paper work as a condition of entrance to the final examination. The lecturer shall in his report state the method he has adopted.

9. In particular instances where individual students are unable to attend the classes, the lecturer may, if he think fit, and if he signify the same to the Joint Board in his report, accept a sufficient amount of weekly paper work instead of attendance at the classes.

10. In the first lecture of the course the lecturer should explain the value of the class as an opportunity for having difficulties explained, the importance of the weekly paper work, and the conditions on which certificates are given. He should state how far he means to insist upon weekly papers as a qualification for the certificate, and should explain his method of correcting and marking.

11. The Joint Board requires six copies of each syllabus, which should be sent to the Secretary, 22, Albemarle Street, W., upon the conclusion of the course.

C.

Table I.—Showing how far the Society's operations tend to become self-supporting so far as the lectures alone are concerned.

N.B.—This table does not take into account the sums paid by the Society in examiners' fees or scientific apparatus, but simply gives the amount paid in lecturers' salaries.