its location at Cambridge would be generally approved. The appointment by Trinity College of a Praelector in Geodesy marks a beginning which may lead to important developments if sufficient financial help be forthcoming.

III. GENERAL QUESTIONS CONCERNING SCIENCE TEACHING IN BOTH UNIVERSITIES.

(i) Students' Fees.

143. The cost of advanced work and research in Science has increased in all Universities, and the question arises whether higher fees should be charged for such work. The desire to encourage investigation has hitherto been so great that there has been a general tendency to keep research fees as low as possible. But But every research student or investigator in a Scientific Laboratory involves a serious expense to the University, and the cost must, so far as it is not met from fees, fall on the general funds of the University.

We think that a large proportion of the fee for ordinary students, and the whole of the fee for research students, should be paid into Departmental funds. The modern Universities have found it necessary during the last two years to raise their fees by from thirty to fifty per cent., and there seems no reason why ordinary Science students who are attending Laboratories at Oxford and Cambridge should not pay fees up to £50 a year, and full-time research students a similar sum. We understand that the general raising of fees in other Universities has provoked no remonstrance, and has not affected the number or type of students.

A further reason for imposing a substantial fee on research students is that many of these students are now using their course for vocational purposes and in order to become qualified for lucrative positions in research establishments and industrial organisations. The fee of the really able but poor student can generally be provided from various sources, and his needs should not, therefore, involve a general levelling down of fees in all cases.

It would, however, seem desirable that with regard to fees paid by research students, and more especially by those coming from foreign Universities, some agreement should be reached by all the British Universities with a view to the adoption of a uniform policy in future.

(ii) Teaching of Elementary Science.

144. We understand that a considerable amount of time is still spent in the University Laboratories at Oxford and Cambridge on instruction in Elementary Science which could be given at school. It is not possible at the present moment to exclude this teaching altogether, because there are still many schools in which the provision of scientific instruction, and more

especially laboratory practice, is insufficient. There is, therefore, much to be said for the erection in the meantime at both Universities of light and cheaply built Laboratories of one storey, which could serve for instruction of this elementary kind in all subjects, and which would, at the same time, provide large convenient space for examination and other purposes. Space could thus be set free in the present University buildings, and the cost of extensions to the Laboratories might be reduced.

(iii) Technical Subjects.

145. The University expenditure in the near future will be largely affected by the extent to which the teaching of technical subjects is developed. It would be inadvisable, and indeed impossible, to exclude from the older Universities instruction in the applications of Science to industries and the professions, as many of the University students will be intending to enter industrial or professional careers, in which such instruction will be of great value. Provided that in the methods of teaching, and in the general organisation of the courses, due regard be paid to the main purpose of a University education, there is no fear lest Oxford and Cambridge should enter into rivalry with the Technological Colleges and Institutes.

We desire, however, to draw attention to the danger of establishing self-contained Departments in which subjects otherwise provided for in the University are taught on the ground that they are auxiliary to the main object of the Department. It is mainly in the treatment of accessory subjects such as Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, which are of a fundamental character, that the wider outlook of the University teaching appears, and though the danger of paying insufficient regard to these subjects may be slight in the case of Oxford and Cambridge, safeguards should be provided. We therefore recommend (1) that an accessory subject should always be taught by a member of the Faculty responsible for that subject, and (2) that the Board of any Faculty requiring teaching in an accessory subject should include, as an additional member, a representative of the Faculty to which that subject belongs.

(6) EXTRA-MURAL EDUCATION.

146. The important work of extra-mural University education -that is, of education given by Universities to non-resident students in the shape either of Extension Lecture Courses or of Tutorial Classes-has been discussed so fully and recently by the Adult Education Committee in their report of 29th July, 1919 (Cmd. 321/1919), and has been so strongly approved, especially so far as the work of Tutorial Classes is concerned, by the Royal Commissions on University Education in London and Wales respectively (Cd. 6717/1913 and 8991/1918), that it is unnecessary for us to survey the same ground again in detail. We propose merely to draw attention to certain points referred to in those reports, and to add recommendations with regard to Oxford and Cambridge Universities in particular.

147. The report of the Adult Education Committee (pages123 to 126, and 182 to 204) contains educational and financial statistics relating to the Extension Lecture Courses and the Tutorial Classes, together with a survey of the facilities thereby provided. The following note on the two branches of extramural work may be convenient to readers who have not access to the Committee's report and are not familiar with the conditions of the work:

University Extension Lecture Courses. This is the older method of extra-mural instruction, dating from the seventies of last century. The method consists in providing courses of lectures to audiences in the localities where extension centres have been formed; the lectures are normally intended to be supplemented by classes for discussion and study, and by written work and examination. Each centre is supplied with books bearing on the subject of the course. The ideal scheme which, however, it is often impossible to bring into operation-aims at a course of not less than ten or twelve lectures, with classes held in connection with each lecture, and culminating in a full series of eight terms, or four annual sessions, of co-ordinated study. Under such a scheme the shorter courses or single lectures are regarded merely as preliminary and as preparatory to the complete scheme. In order to encourage students to pursue the studies which they have begun in the lectures, a series of certificates are awarded on conditions involving independent work. The attendances at the lectures vary considerably, according to locality; the normal attendance may perhaps be stated as about 200, but in smaller centres there may not be more than 30 or 40 present, while in populous districts there may be 800 to 1,000. The composition of the audience also varies. Speaking generally, the majority of those present usually belong to the middle class, and there are many more women than men; but in a few centres manual workers are in the majority. Only a very small proportion of those present, varying according to circumstances, attend the classes held after the lectures. Still smaller numbers do written work or present themselves for examination. All the courses are, so far as the University is concerned, self-supporting financially.

University Tutorial Classes.-This is a comparatively recent method of education, dating from 1908. Each class consists of a body of men and women, not exceeding 32 in number, who agree (a) to study a subject chosen by themselves, under a teacher of high qualifications supplied by a University Joint Committee (consisting of an equal number of University and working-class representatives), for a period of three successive years; (b) to hold 24 meetings of two hours each in each year; and (c) to do the necessary reading, and satisfy the teacher in essay work. The course of study must aim at attaining the standard of a University course in Honours within the limitations of the subject.

Each class is provided with books by the University Committee, supplemented by the Central Library for students and by local libraries. A certain amount of individual tuition is given to the students outside class hours. The purely local expenditure on rent, lighting and heating, class secretary's expenses, &c., is borne by the students-who pay a small fee or by their voluntary organisations. The remaining expenditure, on tutors' salaries and travelling expenses, books and administration, is met by contributions from various sources, including University contributions and grants from the Board of Education and Local Authorities; financial details under this head are supplied, as regards classes administered in connection with Oxford and Cambridge Universities, in paragraph 150 below.

The two kinds of instruction thus serve different purposes. The Extension Courses make the lecture their main feature, and endeavour, as a rule, to draw large audiences; they cover a wider field than has hitherto been reached by Tutorial Classes, attracting students who might not be able or willing to comply with Tutorial Class conditions; they do important pioneer work, and they have led to the foundation of several of the newer University Colleges. The Tutorial Classes, which are conducted largely by the method of discussion, lay special stress on tutorial work as well as on lectures, and are limited to a maximum of 32 students per class; they are, in consequence more uniformly maintained at a high intellectual level than the Extension Courses, and their appeal is confined to students who will undertake to attend for three years and to do a regular course of reading and essaywriting; the system was definitely created to meet the needs of working people, and half the members of the administering committee are working-class representatives. The two methods of instruction are both of great value to the community, and serve different purposes.

Summer Meetings and Schools.-In connection with both the methods of instruction referred to above, Summer Meetings or Schools are held at Oxford and Cambridge, with the object of bringing students into actual contact with the University, of supplementing the work of the local lecturers or tutors by instruction given by Professors and other teachers in the University itself, and of enabling students to meet together and exchange ideas. The annual " Summer Meeting" for Extension students is held at Oxford and Cambridge alternately, and is attended by large numbers, including many persons who have not attended the local courses; before the war, it lasted for four weeks, divided into two parts of a fortnight each, and while it makes little provision for the instruction of the individual student, it provides a series of lectures on a definite subject or theme, and gives hundreds of people the opportunity of spending a few weeks in University surroundings for an educational purpose. The Tutorial Class Summer Schools "are of a different nature, and are held each year, not only in Oxford and Cambridge, but also elsewhere: e.g., in 1914 there were Schools at Bangor,

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Cambridge, Durham, Eton (under the auspices of London University), and Oxford, for periods varying from two to eight weeks. They supply a definite programme of study which occupies about 20 hours each week, including not only class work but also personal tuition, given either individually or in very small groups, and they usually provide for at least one written essay a week. They are in principle confined to members of Tutorial Classes who have been recommended by the class tutor as suitable students, but usually a small number of other students are also in attendance. Certain Colleges at Oxford and Cambridge have for some years past placed College accommodation at the disposal of these Schools. Both the "Meetings" and the "Schools" provide an educational stimulus of high value and are an important feature of the work accomplished by Universities.

148. We are satisfied that the extra-mural work of Oxford and Cambridge Universities has been conducted, speaking generally, on thoroughly satisfactory lines, and we desire to emphasise the fact, already referred to in Part A of our report, that those two Universities can claim the honour of being the first to adopt the system of Tutorial Classes and Extension Lectures respectively. The success already achieved under both heads of work has been due in large measure to the devoted services of individual teachers in or under the two Universities, and to the facilities readily afforded by the University authorities. Nevertheless, we think the time has come for Universities to take a new view of the relative importance of their extra-mural work and of their other activities. We agree with the Adult Education Committee and the Royal Commissions on University Education in London and Wales that the extra-mural activities of Universities suffer to some extent from the fact that they are regarded generally as a "side-show," or an appendage, rather than as part of the normal and necessary work of a University. It was probably inevitable that, at the start, extra-mural lectures and classes should be regarded as an abnormal extension of University services; but the future success of extra-mural instruction depends, in our opinion, on its definite acceptance in all Universities as an established and essential part of the normal work of a University. This change of view should have farreaching results. The University Extension Courses and the University Tutorial Classes have developed steadily in the past, but the aggregate average attendance at all the Courses and Classes, taken together, was only about 35,000 in 1913-14. Even when allowance is made for the additional number of students who attend other lectures and classes given by various nonUniversity Associations, there is scope for a large expansion of University activities in the same or similar directions before the educational needs of the community are fully met. Despite the measures which we recommend in paragraphs 154 to 179, and paragraph 183 below, for improving the intra-mural facilities for poor students, it is probably inevitable that the Scholarship ladder