alexanderhthompson.substack.com/p/can-an-exam-select-greatness
1 correction found
a behemoth 6000 mark standardised exam open to all comers
The first Indian Civil Service open competition was not a 6,000-mark exam open to everyone. Official and scholarly sources describe the 1855 exam as totaling 6,875 marks and limiting entry by age, status, and location.
Full reasoning
The sentence is describing the 1855 introduction of open competition for the Indian Civil Service, but the details given here do not match the historical record.
- On the marks total: official histories and reproductions of the Macaulay-era scheme describe the 1855 examination as 12 subjects / 6,875 marks, not 6,000. One source reproducing the original scale states that the maximum was 6,875 marks, and a Government of India civil-service history says the 1855 Board of Control regulations were for 12 subjects / 6,875 marks.
- On "open to all comers": the exam was not literally open to everyone. Scholarly and official sources say it was open to natural-born subjects of Her Majesty within prescribed age limits (e.g. more than 18 and less than 23 in the early scheme). Parliamentary sources also note that the examination was held in London, which contemporaries argued effectively restricted access and helped confine the service largely to Englishmen.
So this phrase compresses several things inaccurately: it gives the wrong total mark value for the 1855 exam and overstates how open the competition actually was.
4 sources
- History of the Civil Service (Government of India, DARPG)
1855 – BOARD OF CONTROL – Regulations framed for examinations – 12 Subjects / 6875 marks
- Colonial Civil Service; the Selection and Training of Colonial Officials in England, Holland, and France
It seems to us probable, that of the 6875 marks, which are the maximum, no candidate will ever obtain half.
- Colonial origins of modern bureaucracy? India and the professionalization of the British civil service
Open competition, available to “[a]ny natural-born subject of Her Majesty” being more than 18 years and less than 23 years old, was introduced in 1855 in the ICS...
- Civil Service of India (Examination)—Resolution (Hansard, 2 June 1893)
there would be held in London an open competitive examination for the Civil Service of India, for which all subjects of Her Majesty, now between the ages of 21 and 23, were at liberty to enter.