Miss Wardasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury how many persons have been established through the normal open clerical officer examinations since 1946, and what was the minimum pass-mark for qualification in the years 1948 to 1951; how many women and girls have entered the clerical assistant grade by the short-interview method of recruitment; and what is the number of new entrants for whom provision has been made in 1953.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterThe number of candidates recruited for the clerical 97W classes from the normal open competitions among boys and girls from 1946 until the end of 1951 is 13,282. The mark obtained by the lowest successful candidate in each of the years 1948 to 1951 was 400 out of a maximum of 900. There is no "short-interview" method of recruitment to the clerical assistant grade.
Since 1948 about 32,000 women and girls have been recruited for established posts in the clerical assistant and typing grades after passing a simple qualifying test conducted by the Civil Service Commissioners. Separate figures for clerical assistants are not available. The number of appointments to be made to the Civil Service in 1953 has not yet been determined.