§ Mr. Leonardasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty whether he is aware that only eight of the 16 leading seamen candidates for commissions passed the educational examination after the first course of nine months' special tuition on board His Majesty's Ship "Ramillies"; whether any inquiry is being held regarding these educational results in order to find out whether the tuition was insufficient or the examination standard unnecessarily high; and what steps are to be taken to produce better results in the future?
2006W
§ Mr. ShakespeareI am aware that 16 out of the 31 lower deck candidates for commissions were required to take the educational examination and that of these eight were regarded as having attained the necessary standard for commissioned rank. This result is being examined in detail and, of course, experience may suggest improvements in the course of instruction. Having in mind what is expected of officers in the Royal Navy I do not think the standard of the examination was unnecessarily high, and I would remind the hon. Member that all the 31 candidates were allowed to appear before the final selection board, which considered each man on his general merits.