Historical reference: Do not rely on this information. It is very old. About this collection
Collections, a name applied at Oxford University to examinations held in each college (usually at the end of term) for its own members, quite distinct from University examinations, and having for their ostensible object the ascertainment of a man's diligence during the term. The formidable part of collections is, or was, the appearance before the head and fellows, on which occasion a man's delinquencies and shortcomings are brought out and dwelt upon.