§ Sir R. Youngasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the age of cadets for engineering duties at Dartmouth College is 13½ and from public schools 17 years; and will he state the number of such cadets to be entered at the college from public schools this year?
Mr. CooperThe age limits for entry as cadet into the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, are 13 years 4 months to 13 years 8 months. On completion of 373W a training period of three years eight months at the College cadets serve for one term in the training cruiser. At the end of that time those who wish may volunteer for transfer to the engineer branch as midshipmen (E). As the hon. Member will appreciate, it is not possible to predict how many cadets will so volunteer. The age limits for the special entry examination are 17 years to 18 years 8 months. It is anticipated that between 55 and 60 cadets will be entered during 1938 from this source for engineering duties.