HC Deb 06 November 1946 vol 428 cc279-80W
Major Beamish

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs how many candidates entered for the Foreign Service only and for the Foreign or Home Services in 1945 and 1946, shown separately; how many candidates were accepted in each year; and what was the average length of time that successful and unsuccessful candidates had to wait before being informed of the results of the various examinations.

Mr. Mayhew

The following table gives the desired information as regards numbers:

Home Civil Service alone last, with candidates for both Services together in between. At the remaining examinations this order is reversed. The average time before notification for a candidate whose sole choice is the Foreign Office varies therefore from a mean between, say, 12 and 19 weeks to a mean, say, between five and six and a half months, from the date of the Written Examination; for a candidate who applies for both Services it is a mean between, say, four and five months.

Forward to