§ Sir E. Graham-Littleasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education whether he will define the position now being adopted by the Board on the issue that the curriculum in secondary schools examined by the universities, approved for the purpose, is not a proper concern of the universities, in view of the fact that some of the universities, in their regulations for conducting these examinations, reserve the right to approve both the curriculum and the course of study pursued preliminary to the examination?
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Mr. LindsayI cannot accept my hon. Friend's assumption that the Board are adopting any new attitude in this matter. It is a generally accepted principle that the external school examinations should follow the curriculum and not determine it, and it is an equally recognised principle that the content of the curriculum is a matter for the school authorities. These principles are not vitiated by the fact referred to in the last paragraph of the question. The right of universities to prescribe conditions for matriculation has never been doubted, and any confusion that may have arisen is, in my view, one of the unfortunate results of awarding matriculation and school certificates on the results of one and the same examination.