5. _Competitive Examinations._--The arrangement of students in order of merit led naturally to the use of examinations not only as a qualifying but also as a selective test, and to the offering of money prizes (including exhibitions, scholarships and fellowships) on the results. In 1854 selection by examination as a method of appointment to posts in the English public service was first substituted for the patronage system, which had caused grave dissatisfaction (see Macaulay's speech on the subject, _The Times_ of the 25th of June 1853). The first public competitive examination for the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, took place in 1855, and in 1870 the principle of open competition for the civil service was adopted as a general rule. (For further details see CIVIL SERVICE.)
In the Württemberg civil service candidates are admitted to a year's probation after passing a theoretical examination, at the conclusion of which they must pass an examination of a more practical character (A. Herbert, _Sacrifice of Education_ ..., 1889, p. 111).
In the award of scholarships, &c., it should be definitely decided whether the scholarship is to be awarded (1) for attainment, in which case the examination-test pure and simple may suffice, or (2) for promise, in which case personal information and a _curriculum vitae_ are necessary. To take a simple instance: a candidate partly educated in Germany may obtain more marks in German at a scholarship examination than another who is more gifted, but whose opportunities have been less; the question at once arises, are the examiners to take the circumstances of the candidate into account or not? It is understood that at the colleges of the older universities such circumstances are considered. It must again be decided whether the financial circumstances of candidates are to be taken into account; are scholarships intended as prizes, or as a means of enabling poor students to obtain a university education? In some cases wealthy students have been known to return the emoluments of scholarships. In many universities of the United States there is a definite understanding that emoluments shall only be accepted by those needing them. It would not be difficult to ask candidates to make a confidential declaration on this subject on entrance and to establish in Great Britain a tradition similar to that of the United States, and steps in this direction have been taken both at Oxford and Cambridge (Lord Curzon of Kedleston, _University Reform_, p. 86).