(i) Macaulay was a great advocate of English education. He was of the opinion that support to English education in India would create 'a class of persons Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste.".

(ii) It was presumed that this class would eventually become strong pillars of the British Raj in India. It was expected that these Indians, trained through English education, would learn western morality and ethics. When incorporated into the structure of colonial rule, these Indians would help to strengthen the British domination of India. This was the 'downward filtration' theory.

(iii) This kind of education was not meant for the masses but for the learned and affluent few in India.

(iv) This theory assumed that ethics of English education would percolate down to the masses through these Indians. These trained Indians, when acting as teachers, could act as the medium through which elementary education would percolate downward in regional languages.

(v) Macaulay was convinced that with limited funds, it would be impossible to attempt to educate the masses. It is better that a few English educated Indians act as a 'class of interpreters'. This class, by enriching vernacular languages and literature, would help western sciences and literature reach the masses. This would enable British rulers to spread western morality to Indian masses at a much less public expenditure.

(vii) This theory also saw education as a means to enable Indians to occupy subordinate positions and function as clerks etc., in the Company's bureaucracy.