| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act to make further Provision for the good Government and Extension of the University of Oxford, of the Colleges therein, and of theCollege of Saint Mary Winchester.[2] |
|---|---|
| Citation | 17 & 18 Vict. c. 81 |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 7 August 1854 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amended by | Statute Law Revision Act 1875 |
Status: Amended | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Text of the Oxford University Act 1854 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, fromlegislation.gov.uk. | |
TheOxford University Act 1854 (17 & 18 Vict. c. 81), also known as theOxford University Reform Act 1854[3] or theUniversity Reform Act 1854,[4] is anAct of theParliament of the United Kingdom, which regulatescorporate governance at theUniversity of Oxford,England. It established theHebdomadal Council, the leading body in the university's administration, stating that most members of full-time academic staff were to have voting rights over it. In the year 2000, the Hebdomadal Council was replaced by the University Council, which is responsible to theCongregation of staff members.
The Oxford University Act 1854 made substantial changes to howOxford University was administered.[5] It established the Hebdomadal Council as the university's governing body; appointed Commissioners to deal withemoluments and variations in historicendowments; and opened the university to students outside theChurch of England, as there was no longer a requirement to undergo atheological test or take theOath of Supremacy. In practice, this allowed many more Scots to attend the university.
In 1850, a parliamentary commission was set up to revise the statutes drawn up by ArchbishopWilliam Laud. The original Bill proposed by LordJohn Russell was much more limited in scope, howeverdissenters effectively mobilised, threatening to block the bill, unless the theological tests were dropped.[5]
The reforms curbed the power of heads of colleges, creating a more centralised university authority.Dons no longer had to be inHoly Orders.[6]
The subject of dropping the theological Test was not new asJames Heywood described in the parliamentary debate:
"The subject was not a new one, for it had been brought before Parliament in 1772, when a petition was presented from a large number of clergymen on the subject of an alteration in clerical oaths, and in 1834 the late Mr. Alderman Wood brought in a Bill for the abolition of matriculation and degree oaths in the Universities of Oxford andCambridge, which passed this House by a large majority, but was lost in the other House. The practical result of the defeat of this Bill was the establishment of theUniversity of London, but, notwithstanding the success of that great institution, the Dissenters still considered they had a right to send their sons to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge if they pleased. TheDuke of Wellington, whenChancellor of Oxford University, endeavoured to persuade the University to consent to some alterations in these oaths, proposing that the Thirty-nine Articles should be laid aside, and that all students should be required to subscribe themselves members of the Established Church. The Hebdomadal Board laid the proposition before Convocation, which, however, rejected it. In 1843 the subject was introduced into Parliament by Mr. Christie, and now it was brought forward again. He thought he was justified in saying that there was nothing to be expected from the University itself on this subject, nor from the operation of a mere enabling Bill. Such an alteration as he now proposed was not one which could be expected to be made by an exclusively clerical body such as the University of Oxford; and he thought it was a question with which it was particularly the province of Parliament to deal."[7]