The College of Preceptors and the Educational Times: Changes for British mathematics education in the mid-nineteenth century

AbstractFounded in Britain in 1846 to standardize the teaching profession, the College of Preceptors is little known today. The College was closely linked to the Educational Times (hereafter ET), a journal of “Education, Science and Literature” launched in 1847. This paper examines in detail a sample of College examinations, articles on mathematics education, and reviews of mathematics textbooks that appeared in the ET. Key figures in the mathematical discussion were William Whewell, Augustus De Morgan, and Thomas Tate. The paper shows how the discourse on mathematics education led to the introduction of entrance examinations for Oxford and Cambridge Universities