HC Deb 01 March 1955 vol 537 c249W
87. Mr. G. M. Thomson

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland to make a statement on the proposal to provide a leaving certificate for 16-year-old pupils.

Mr. J. Stuart

As a possible means of inducing more pupils in senior secondary schools to complete the course, I am considering whether the conditions for the award of the Scottish Leaving Certificate should be altered to permit pupils in the fourth year of the course, at the age of about 16, to take the examination in as many subjects as they wished on the lower grade. The matter is still under discussion with the various educational bodies concerned and I am not in a position to announce my decision.