§ Major Owenasked the President of the Board of Education when it was decided to award State bursaries in science on a competitive basis; whether he is aware that Circular 1593 of 26th June, 1942, and the communications of 14th January and 19th March, 1942, have been misleading to head teachers and pupils; that there is no reference to a competitive basis in any of these communications; and whether he will therefore give instructions for the award of State bursaries to those pupils who have qualified in accordance with the terms of the relevant communications of his Department?
§ Mr. ButlerI understand that the committee who were responsible for the selection and allocation of candidates for State bursaries found that the number of applicants was very largely in excess of the number of places available for them. In these circumstances the committee selected candidates according to their merits. The number of applicants and the number of places were not known until after the issue of the documents referred to by the hon. and gallant Member and I cannot agree that those documents were misleading. Consideration is being given to an alternative scheme of training for candidates whose applications for State bursaries were unsuccessful.