66S SCIENCE PROGRESS 



other less elastic system — the constant modification and im- 

 provement of the courses which time has shown to be possible 

 and desirable could not otherwise have been effected. The 

 purpose with which students work would have been altogether 

 different : instead of concentrating their attention on their work 

 and acting under the advice of their teachers, they would 

 have constantly had in mind the possible requirements of the 

 examiners and the nature of the Chinese puzzles they would 

 be called upon to answer. Only those who have worked 

 untrammelled by the cast-iron conditions of a rigid system of 

 external examinations are aware of the terrible limitations which 

 such a system imposes upon both teacher and taught. 



In both schools, class examinations have always been held. 

 Of late years, we have had the opportunity at Kensington of 

 testing the effect of holding the examinations at the conclusion 

 of the first year's course in conjunction with external examiners 

 appointed by the University of London and of counting the 

 examinations as the Intermediate examinations for the University 

 degree. The examinations, however, have been strictly on the 

 courses and the practical work done during the whole period of 

 study has been taken into account, students being required to 

 have done this as well as the written work satisfactorily. The 

 effect has been altogether good — whereas formerly students 

 would pay little attention to a subject which did not happen to 

 appear in the University syllabus and were liable to neglect 

 their work while preparing to solve examiners' riddles, they 

 now realise that it pays to give serious attention both to lectures 

 and to laboratory work. 



The teaching staff at the Royal College of Science, the Royal 

 School of Mines and the Central Technical College have 

 considered the matter together and are unanimous in thinking 

 that the method now applied to the Intermediate is the only 

 proper method to be applied in future to the degree examination 

 (the B.Sc). 



The report has been most sedulously propagated, for political 

 purposes, by Dr. Wade's friends in Convocation that internal 

 students pass the examinations without any effort, far more 

 easily than the external. I know the very reverse to be the 

 case. It is now possible to insist on a high standard of 

 practical work ; and it is possible also to penalise the abomin- 

 able practice of " cooking " results, which seems to be regarded 



