At American and at most Colonial Universities, the instructors and lecturers are at the same time the examiners. There is generally a final examination in each subject or course of lectures at the end of each Term or semester; no further tests in the particular subject being required for the University degree. At Oxford the examiners are an entirely separate body of University officials, chosen directly or indirectly for a period of two or three years, for the most part from among the instructional staff—University and College—in each field or subject. Since the introduction of the examination system in 1805, the constant addition of new subjects and the growing demands of scholarship have built up a very complex and intricate system of examination requirements. These are published each year as the _Examination Statutes_, which rigidly define the field to be covered in each case, and in which special books, as well as works for general reading and reference, are suggested. ‘Reading for the Schools’ has undoubtedly been one of the most serious obstacles to the growth of Professorial and other advanced lectures which have no direct bearing on, and which are not intended to meet, the demands of ‘the Schools’; it has also discouraged the spirit of research and the demands for training in scientific method. However, it has the advantage of promoting thoroughness and accuracy as a result of concentrated and steady, persistent effort along a definite line of work, _non multa sed multum_. The standard of scholarship is high. Great stress is laid on ease and facility of expression, on the ability to form independent judgements, on originality. No one can get a ‘First’ in the Class Lists on mere hard work and ‘grinding’, or by a display of erudition and an imposing array of facts. The examination papers are really a series of essays. The examination generally consists of written papers, followed some days or weeks later by a ‘viva voce’ examination. In Science, practical laboratory tests are required. The strain of the examinations—especially in the Final Honour Schools—is very severe. The examination in ‘Greats’—i. e. in the School of Literae Humaniores—consists of thirty-three hours of paper-work on six consecutive days. There is very little opportunity for ‘cramming’, as physical fitness is a most important factor. It is quite a general custom for candidates to ‘go down’ for a week’s rest before undergoing the ordeal of ‘Exam. week’. Informal examinations—‘collections’—are held in most Colleges at the beginning of each Term by College tutors and lecturers to test the progress their students have made during Term-time, as well as the reading they have done or ought to have done during the Vacation. These examinations, however, in no way directly affect the student’s final grade. Everything depends on the result of the University examinations. [Sidenote: Elective studies.]