§ MR. HUNTER (Aberdeen, N.)asked the Secretary to the Treasury, Whether, in an examination paper on arithmetic set at an open competition for female clerkships held in March, 1888, the following question was put:— 246
4. Express 15, 35, 63, and 72 as decimals of their least common multiple. If the product of these decimals be multiplied by the cube of the least common multiple of the given numbers and divided by their greatest common measure, show that the result is unity. Explain the reason of this in general terms without attempting the full numerical calculation;whereas the result ought to have been 945 and not unity; whether any steps were taken to inform the competitors of the error in the question; and, whether he will call the attention of the Civil Service Commissioners to this case, with a view to the prevention of similar mistakes, which must tend to embarrass competitors?
§ THE SECRETARY (Mr. JACKSON) (Leeds, N.)(1) The question was given as stated above; (2) the error was not discovered in time to allow all candidates to be informed of the alteration that should be made, and therefore no candidate was informed of' it; (3) the answers to this question were specially examined a second time to obviate any possibility of hardship; and (4) the Civil Service Commissioners do their utmost to prevent the occurrence of errors; but in all examination papers there must be a possibility, however carefully guarded against, of mistakes being made.