The Statutory Commissioners, appointed in 1856 to reform the statutes of the University and colleges, rigorously abstained from imposing, or even suggesting, changes in the examination system: when asked to make statutory provision for a University Entrance Examination, they replied that they saw no occasion to deviate from their usual practice. Their policy was sound, as examination regulations, however carefully devised, require to be constantly adjusted to changing needs and circumstances; and it is therefore far better that they should be framed as ordinances, which the University can modify or repeal at will, than as statutes which cannot be varied without the permission of the Crown. And the University made very full use of its freedom of action, and greatly improved its curriculum during the latter half of the nineteenth century. It is true that progress along die path of change was frequently tardy, and that certain ancient prejudices died hard; but nevertheless the spirit of reform was in the ascendant. The long-cherished superstition that mathematics and classics alone gave a liberal education gradually receded into the background; and studies, hitherto unrecognised or despised, obtained an honoured place.

In 1860 there was no Entrance Examination to the University, but all candidates for a first degree were required to sit in the Lent term of their second year for the Previous Examination, which had been held for the first time in 1824; and if they failed to pass, they could enter for it again in the following Michaelmas term.