§ Lieutenant-Colonel Sir S. HOAREasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, and in what respect, the system of entrance—e.g. nomination by the Secretary of State, approval by the Selection Board, and subsequent examination by the Civil Service Commissioners—has been altered since 1914; whether any change has been made in the number of marks required in the examination and the number of marks given for knowledge 950W of French and German; whether German, in the matter of marks, is still given an advantage over all other languages except French; and, if so, whether, and in what way, it is proposed to modify this system of marking?
Mr. HARMSWORTHDuring the first three years after the War candidates will be chosen by a Board of Selection, after passing a preliminary qualifying examination by the Civil Service Commission, but in addition there will be a compulsory examination in French. The Regulations are shown in the annexed Paper. No special advantage is given in the examination in respect of knowledge of the German language.
The Regulations referred to apply only to the Foreign Service (i e., Foreign Office and Diplomatic Service). The Consular Service is quite a separate branch. All candidates who wish to enter for this should write for papers to the Consular Department.
The following is an outline of the requirements for candidates for entry into the Foreign Service for the first three years after the War (No. 8 will, however, remain permanent).