Responsions
Encyclopedia
Responsions was the first of the three examinations once required for an academic degree
at the University of Oxford
.
It was nicknamed the Little Go and was generally taken by students prior to or shortly after matriculation
, the idea being that without standardised qualifications from school examinations, the University had to verify for itself the quality of the students that colleges
were accepting. The examination consisted of comparatively simple questions on Latin
, Ancient Greek
, and mathematics
. It was abolished in 1960. John Henry Newman wrote to his father on 29th May 1818: "I go up for my Little tomorrow", and records in his journal for the following day that he had 'passed Responsions'.
The equivalent at Cambridge was the Previous Examination, so called because it was given a year previous to graduation, and often called the 'Little Go'. Says one writer of the Cambridge 'Little Go':
'The examination held in the Cambridge University in the second year of residence. Called also "the previous examination", because it precedes by a year the examination for a degree. In Oxford the corresponding examination is called The Smalls.
It consisted of elementary examinations in Latin, Ancient Greek, Divinity and Mathematics and was abolished in 1960. Karl Pearson
's obituary of Raphael Weldon (p.8) refers to Weldon "preparing (c. 1877) for Little-Go and the London Preliminary Scientific. For the classical part of the former he seems to have worked by himself." Pearson also refers to 'Little-Go' in Cambridge in 1842 in his biography of Francis Galton
.
Responsions derives from Anglo-French responsion, Medieval Latin responsion, and from Latin responsio, to answer, or give a response. In this sense it sometimes described the giving of a payment, or the sung response in a choir.
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
.
It was nicknamed the Little Go and was generally taken by students prior to or shortly after matriculation
Matriculation
Matriculation, in the broadest sense, means to be registered or added to a list, from the Latin matricula – little list. In Scottish heraldry, for instance, a matriculation is a registration of armorial bearings...
, the idea being that without standardised qualifications from school examinations, the University had to verify for itself the quality of the students that colleges
Colleges of the University of Oxford
The University of Oxford comprises 38 Colleges and 6 Permanent Private Halls of religious foundation. Colleges and PPHs are autonomous self-governing corporations within the university, and all teaching staff and students studying for a degree of the university must belong to one of the colleges...
were accepting. The examination consisted of comparatively simple questions on Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
, and mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
. It was abolished in 1960. John Henry Newman wrote to his father on 29th May 1818: "I go up for my Little tomorrow", and records in his journal for the following day that he had 'passed Responsions'.
The equivalent at Cambridge was the Previous Examination, so called because it was given a year previous to graduation, and often called the 'Little Go'. Says one writer of the Cambridge 'Little Go':
'The examination held in the Cambridge University in the second year of residence. Called also "the previous examination", because it precedes by a year the examination for a degree. In Oxford the corresponding examination is called The Smalls.
It consisted of elementary examinations in Latin, Ancient Greek, Divinity and Mathematics and was abolished in 1960. Karl Pearson
Karl Pearson
Karl Pearson FRS was an influential English mathematician who has been credited for establishing the disciplineof mathematical statistics....
's obituary of Raphael Weldon (p.8) refers to Weldon "preparing (c. 1877) for Little-Go and the London Preliminary Scientific. For the classical part of the former he seems to have worked by himself." Pearson also refers to 'Little-Go' in Cambridge in 1842 in his biography of Francis Galton
Francis Galton
Sir Francis Galton /ˈfrɑːnsɪs ˈgɔːltn̩/ FRS , cousin of Douglas Strutt Galton, half-cousin of Charles Darwin, was an English Victorian polymath: anthropologist, eugenicist, tropical explorer, geographer, inventor, meteorologist, proto-geneticist, psychometrician, and statistician...
.
Responsions derives from Anglo-French responsion, Medieval Latin responsion, and from Latin responsio, to answer, or give a response. In this sense it sometimes described the giving of a payment, or the sung response in a choir.