51

E.—l

portion of the absentees is due to the practice of the accrediting principle by which candidates for senior free places may be exempted from an external examination, as may also training-college students who are candidates for the teachers' examinations. Approximately 2,170 candidates were exempted in this manner from the necessity of passing the Intermediate Examination, of which number 551 are not included in the total of examination entries given above. The number of candidates actually presenting themselves for the various examinations during the last three years is shown below : — 1919-20. 1920-21. 1921-22. Junior National Scholarships and junior free places .. .. 2,170 2,298 2,282 Public Service Entrance, Senior National Scholarships, and Intermediate .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 3,063 2,999 3,419 Teachers D and C .. .. .. .. .. .. 2,234 2,365 2,921 Public Service Senior .. .. .. .. .. .. 50 78 28 Kindergarten Certificate Examination .. . . . . . . 9 1 2 Special Public Service Entrance Examination in June .. . . 189 204 248 Special Public Service Entrance Examination for returned soldiers . . .. 73 London University Examinations .. ... .. .. 4 2 2 7,719 8,020 8,902 Of the 2,282 candidates for junior national scholarships in 1921 216 obtained the scholarship qualification, 965 qualified for a free place in the scholarship examination, and 1,101 failed. There were also 276 candidates for free places only, of whom 58 qualified and 218 failed. The highest percentages of marks gained in the various subjects of this examination were as follows : English, 86-3 ; arithmetic, 100 ; geography, 87 ; history and civics, 82 ; elementary science and nature study, 88 ; drawing (I), 88 ; drawing (II), 96. The highest percentage gained by any one candidate on the whole examination was 81-25. Of the 866 candidates for Senior National Scholarships 124 gained scholarships, 588 qualified for senior free places, and 154 failed. Only nineteen of the total number of candidates were examined on the Scheme B (Rural and Domestic) Course, the number qualifying for scholarships being two. There were 2,634 entries for the Intermediate Examination, only 1,401 candidates presenting themselves, of which number 296 passed and 1,105 failed to do so. The number present at the Public Service Entrance Examination was 1,152, 632 of the number passing and 520 failing the examination. The Public Service Senior Examination was confined to returned soldiers who had previously obtained partial success in the examination. Of twenty-eight candidates ten completed the examination, seven gained a pass in two or more subjects, and eleven failed to improve their status. The number of candidates who sat for the different stages of the teachers' certificate examinations was 2,921 (515 for whole or part of Class C and 2,306 for Class D). Of the total number 745 failed to improve their status. The following table shows the status of candidates before and after the examinations : —

B—E. 1.

Examination Status. Number of Candidates qualified under the Different Headings. (a.) Before the (b.) After the Examination. Examination. L 2. Ilass A .. .lass B .. !lass C lass U, with partial success towards Class C !lass D alone 'artial success towards Class D and Class C.. 'artial success towards Class D only ■Til .. -.. ' 14 43 141 185 207 86 422 110 104 1,622 1,625 875 408 Totals 2,921 2,921