§ CAPTAIN PRICE (Devonport)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty if he could state to the House how many vacancies for engineer students were there last year, and how many candidates competed for them; what were the respective numbers this year; how many candidates qualified in each case; is it on account of a difficulty in getting suitable candidates for studentships that an attempt is now being made to admit assistant engineers direct from the private engineering establishments; how many vacancies have been offered with this object; and how many candidates have been got to compete for them, and with what result?
§ LORD G. HAMILTONThe number of competitors for vacancies for engineer students in this and last year were given in answer to a question by the hon. Member for Northampton on the 3rd of June. The admission of assistant engineers from private engineering establishments was not instituted on account of any difficulty in obtaining suitable candidates for studentships, but to extend the area of competition, and raise the status of the competitors. The proposal is to give about 10 nominations annually. Five candidates competed and three qualified at the recent examination. This is the first year of outside competition for direct appointments, and I have little doubt that in subsequent years the number of outside competitors will steadily increase.