1 Owens College, Manchester, University College, Liverpool, and Yorkshire College, Leeds, are associated together as the Victoria University; and the Welsh colleges at Aberystwith, Bangor, and Cardiff, as the University of Wales. 2 Undergraduates. At Oxford in 1897 there were 852 matriculations; at Cambridge, in 1898, 931. Besides 156 evening students. 4 The College of Science has 47 teachers, 463 day students, and 1,042 evening students; the College of Medicine has 22 teachers and 217 students. 5 Including evening students. 6 Besides 810 evening students. 7 Besides 352 evening students 8 Besides 278 evening students. 9 Besides 325 evening students. 10 Exclusive of school; the figures are for 1896. 11 Exclusive of school; there were, besides, 88 lecturers, &c., in the ladies' and Civil Service departments, and 3,655 non-matriculated day and evening students. 12 Besides 44 professors, &c., and 3,442 students at evening classes. 13 Besides 83 evening students,

:

London University is only an examining body, with power to grant degrees to all candidates who pass its examinations: in 1898 it had 79 examiners, and in 1897, 6,294 candidates underwent its various examinations. The Royal University of Ireland holds a similar position in Ireland in 1898 it had 48 examiners; in 1898, out of 2,808 who entered its various examinations, 1,797 passed. The Catholic University of Ireland includes, besides University College, Dublin, seven other Catholic colleges: It grants degrees in theology and philosophy, and sends up its students for other degrees to the examinations of the Royal University.

For medical education, besides the faculties attached to some of the universities and colleges, there are medical schools attached to the hospitals of most of the large towns in England. In a few of the colleges female students are admitted. There are, besides, several university colleges for ladies :Newnham College, Cambridge, a staff of 17, and 171 students in 1898; Girton College, Cambridge, with 6 resident and 31 outside lecturers, and 115 students; and Lady Margaret and Somerville Halls, Oxford, the former with 48 students

and the latter with 72 students. There is a similar College (Bedford) for ladies in London with 25 lecturers and 223 students, and another in Edinburgh, The Royal Holloway College (for ladies) at Egham, Surrey, has 20 professors and lecturers, 5 teachers, and 110 students in residence.

The City and Guilds of London Technical Institute has a Central College with 23 professors, teachers, &c., and 239 day-students in 1899; an Intermediate College with 29 professors, &c., and 945 students (760 evening). There is also a School of Technical Art with 6 teachers and 131 students, and a Leather Trades School with 13 teachers and 200 students.

Middle-class education in England is entirely unorganised, but in May, 1897, the Committee of Council on Education resolved to ascertain as far as possible the number of pupils receiving secondary instruction in all types of schools, whether public, endowed, proprietary, or private. For this purpose an exhaustive inquiry was carried out, but from its scope grant-earning pupils were excluded, also pupils at evening schools and students at colleges and technical institutes, as well as the whole of the county of Monmouth, which is under the Welsh Intermediate Education Act of 1889. In the arrangement of the information collected no attempt was made towards classification of the schools, according to grade or efficiency, but they have been grouped according to the constitution of their controlling authorities. These authorities are of five kinds : 1. Private individuals (the owners); 2. Committees representing subscribers (religious communities, City companies, &c.), not registered under the Companies' Acts; 3. Limited liability companies; 4. Royal Charters, Acts of Parliament, Scheme of Court of Chancery, &c. ; 5. Local authorities.

The following table shows the total number of schools in the return and of pupils in them, as distributed amongst these five categories of control :Schools for Boys Schools for Girls Mixed Schools

Total

1 To these numbers have to be added 14,937 boys in girls' schools, and 63 girls in boys schools, bringing the total up to 291,544.

The following table gives the number and proportion of boarders and day pupils in the schools on the return :—

The following table shows the numbers of graduates and of non-graduates on the staffs of the various schools, inclusive of the head-master or headmistress :

For inspection and examination of secondary schools in Wales and Monmouthshire there is under the Welsh Intermediate Education Act of 1889, an Intermediate Education Board of 80 members, appointed by the Councils of the Counties and County-Boroughs, the school governing bodies, and other bodies interested. The number of schools examined in 1897 was 80, being 19 for boys, 19 for girls, 36 dual, and 6 mixed. The number of pupils examined was 6,427, of whom 3,007 were girls. By virtue of the Act of 1889 rates are levied, the proceeds of which are available for the endowment of Intermediate Schools, and the Treasury is empowered to pay to each of the counties and county-boroughs a sum equal to the amount provided by the rates within their respective areas. The Exchequer contributions under the Local Government (Customs and Excise) Act of 1890 have also in Wales been almost entirely applied to Intermediate Education.

In Scotland, the burgh schools of various names, grammar schools, high schools, &c., are administered by the school boards. There are also endowed schools and schools under private management which give secondary education. In 1898 83 schools were under inspection, 31 of them being under school boards, 25 endowed schools, and the remainder under private management. There were 16,262 candidates for leaving certificates, 5,022 being from 76 higher class schools, and the remainder from higher departments of state-aided schools. The total receipts of the 29 higher class public schools in the year ended 15 May, 1897, amounted to 99,9427.; this included income from endowments, school fees (32,7927.), loans (19,7117.) and contributions from burgh or other funds.

For Ireland there is an Intermediate Education Board, with a yearly income of 38,9827. in 1897, besides local taxation revenues, amounting to 50,8427. Its functions are to examine all candidates who present themselves. In 1897 9,605 students (7,182 boys and 2,423 girls) presented themselves for examination, as compared with 8,711 in the previous year, and 6,952 in 1881. In 1897 results fees, amounting to 48,870l., were paid to the managers of 367 schools.

In connection with the Government Science and Art Department there were in 1897, in addition to classes in ordinary schools for science and art education, 2,424 science schools, with 197,796 pupils. The number of art schools and classes was 1,849, and the number of students 146,720. The Parliamentary

vote to the Science and Art Department for 1898-99 was 600,7817., including 270,8007. for schools of science and art, grants in aid, &c.

The Elementary Education Act of 1870 and subsequent amending Acts now regulate elementary education in England and Wales. The central administrative authority resides in the Education Department or Committee of Council on Education, consisting of Lords of the Privy Council with the President of the Privy Council as President, and a member of the Privy Council as Vice-President who represents the department in the House of Commons. Sufficient school accommodation must be provided in every district for all the resident children between the ages of 5 and 14. The boroughs and parishes are, unless the educational requirements are otherwise supplied, formed or grouped into school districts each with its elected school board which may compel parents to send their children to school. In boroughs and parishes where school boards are not required school attendance committees are appointed. On January 1, 1898, there were in England and Wales 2,502 school boards embracing a population of 19,918,110, and 785 school attendance committees embracing a population of 9,084,415. In board schools unsectarian religious instruction is given; in voluntary schools sectarian doctrines may be inculcated. There are 7 standards and each pupil should pass one standard every year. The minimum age for exemption from school attendance is 11. A "code" providing in detail for the regulation of schools is annually prepared by the department and submitted to Parliament. In 1891, by a fee grant of ten shillings for each child between 3 and 15 years of age in average attendance, education was rendered practically free in England and Wales. By the Voluntary Schools Act, 1897, an annual grant of five shillings per pupil in average attendance is available for necessitous voluntary schools, and provision is made for associations of such schools, the governing bodies of which will (subject to the approval of the Education Department) distribute this grant to the associated schools. An amending Elementary Education Act of the same year increases the amount of grant payable to school boards.

The following table includes the total number of Voluntary and Board day-schools under inspection during the last 5 years ;—

On August 31, 1897, there were in England and Wales 5,539 Board Schools with average attendance of 2,023,850 pupils; 11,831 National Society Schools with 1,869,393 pupils; 456 Wesleyan with 124,485 pupils; 1,018 Roman Catholic with 240,197 pupils; 1,131 British, Undenominational, and others with 231,118 pupils. In the same year there were 58,814 certificated teachers, 25,206 assistant teachers, 32,598 pupil teachers, and 14,155 additional women teachers. In 1897 there were 44 residential training colleges with 3,629 students, and 14 day training colleges with 1,061 students. The School Inspectors are appointed by the Crown on the recommendation of the Education Department.

By the Elementary Education Act of 1872, the Scotch Education Department was instituted, and each burgh and parish or group of parishes was required to have a school board to administer both elementary and middle-class schools, and to enforce the attendance of children from 5 to 14 years of age. In 1889, by a capitation grant, education was made free for the compulsory standards; in 1891 an age limit, 5 to 14, was introduced. In 1897 provision was made for grants in aid of voluntary schools. The following table includes the total number of day schools inspected in Scotland during the last 5 years:

In 1897 there were, in all, 3,086 schools, of which 2,705 were public schools with an average attendance of 523,744 pupils; 34 Church of Scotland with 4,963 pupils; 9 Free Church with 3,355 pupils; 69 Episcopal with 11,119 pupils; 182 Roman Catholic with 51,115 pupils, and 87 Undenominational with 10,613 pupils. In the same year there were 9,893 certificated teachers, 2,033 assistant teachers, and 4,170 pupil teachers. In 1898 there were 8 training colleges with 984 students.

Elementary education in Ireland, since 1845, is under the superintendence of a body of 'Commissioners of National Education in Ireland.' The following table gives statistics of elementary schools for five years :

Of 8,581 schools, 3,292 were mixed Roman Catholic and Protestant; 3,887 were Roman Catholic; and 1,404 were Protestant. On December 31, 1897, there were 8,392 teachers and 3,604 assistants, with 799 students in the 5 training colleges.

The sums expended in Great Britain from Parliamentary grants for primary schools, and in Ireland from Parliamentary grants and rates, amounted in five years to