London Collegiate School for Girls. Bedford and Queen's Colleges, it is true, had been founded two years before this in 1848, but their purpose was the training of governesses and the granting of the opportunity to those who desired it of a course of study supplementary to the ordinary school course. The school established by Miss Frances Buss has become the model for many of the girls' High Schools which have since sprung up all over the country. The Ladies' College at Cheltenham was founded in 1854, and owes everything to its first distinguished head, Miss Dorothea Beale. This college is famous all over the country, and indeed beyond the bounds of this land, for the excellence of its training, the high proficiency of its staff, and the magnificence of its appointment and general equipment.
In 1867 was held a Schools Inquiry Commission to inquire amongst other things into the condition of female higher education in Great Britain. The Commissioners found a woeful state of affairs on which to report. Some of the faults discovered were 'a want of system; a lack of thoroughness and foundation; slovenliness and showy superficiality; inattention to rudiments; too much attention paid to accomplishments, and those not taught thoroughly nor in a scientific manner; and a complete absence of proper organisation.'
