Although our major concern is with scholars who reformed Cambridge from within, it is important to begin by saying something about the groups and individuals outside the University who did so much to make reform seem necessary; for without external pressure it is not clear that Cantabrigians would have moved so soon, nor gone so far. Outsiders attacked the old universities for a variety of reasons. Whig politicians and others who espoused liberal political principles tended to be critical of many aspects of ‘privilege’ in English society. Thus from very early in the century the Edinburgh Review, in the hands of Sydney Smith, provided a platform for liberal criticism of the Established Church and the universities, often using the Scottish or German universities as a standard of comparison. This Scottish/Whig attack continued throughout the first part of the century. In the 1830s there was another series of critical articles in the Review, this time written by an Edinburgh philosophy professor, William Hamilton. Hamilton's theme, like Smith's earlier, was that the English universities offered too narrow a curriculum, were bastions of privilege and conservatism, and were unaware of international intellectual developments. Probably because of the close ties between England and Scotland – Hamilton and Smith, for example, were both graduates of Oxford – such criticisms were taken seriously, and ultimately many of the Scottish suggestions for improvement were put into effect.

Other ‘Whiggish outsiders’ included Sir Charles Lyell, the geologist, another Oxford graduate. His many travels, particularly in America, and his scientific interests made him critical of the English educational system.