§ Mr. Lowasked the Secretary of State for War the number of potential officers examined by his Department's selection boards in the United Kingdom during the past year; the number who have passed these selection boards; and whether he will give figures showing each of his Department's selection boards separately.
§ Mr. ShinwellDuring 1947 9,132 candidates for emergency commissions were examined by the War Office selection boards; of these 3,098 (33.9 per cent.) passed. Two thousand, one hundred and forty-nine candidates for Regular commissions were examined by the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Selection Board. Of these 978 passed; 592, who were not considered suitable for Regular commissions, were recommended for emergency commissions. The figures, for each War Office selection board are as follow:
JANUARY-DECEMBER, 1947. Board No. Examined. Passed. Percentage Passed. 1 1,054 433 41.1 2 1,380 410 29.7 5 l,473 510 34.6 6 673 179 26.6 10 1,303 354 27.2 11 1,264 497 39.3 18 1,011 323 31.9 32 974 392 40.2 9,132 3,098 It became apparent during 1947, that the differences between boards were larger than could be accounted for by differences in the standard of candidates seen. Remedial action was taken in September, 1947, and the figures for October, 1947, to February, 1948, are as follow:
OCTOBER, 1947-FEBRUARY, 1948. Board No. Examined. Passed. Percentage Passed. 2 661 260 39.3 5 557 196 35.2 10 650 234 36.0 11 564 181 32.0 18 406 133 32.7 32 472 175 37.0 3,310 1,179 Boards Nos. 1 and 6 had been disbanded.