§ Mr. Willisasked the First Lord of the Admiralty the nature of the adjustments made in the system of marking trade tests for artificer apprentices at Tor Point, Rosyth and Newcastle-under-Lyme, and mechanician candidates at Devonport; and at which establishments it was necessary to make such adjustments by reason of numbers and differing types of machine tools.
Mr. Duģdale:The scheme of marking for the trade test provided for a maximum number of marks from which deductions were made for mistakes and inaccuracies. A compensatory higher maximum in the light of the standards produced at previous examinations was fixed, however, for the Mechanical Training Establishment at Devonport, where the tools are rather older and more worn than at the Artificer Training Establishments, and at the Artificer Training Establishment, Newcastle-under-Lyme, which, at the time of the examination, was in course of removal to permanent premises, and where certain machine tools were temporarily not available.