HC Deb 25 March 1965 vol 709 cc136-8W
Mr. Rhodes

asked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what percentage of cadets accepted for entry into the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth were educated previously in Headmasters' Conference schools, in each of the years from 1954 to 1964, inclusive;

(2) what percentage of cadets accepted for entry into the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth were educated previously in fully-maintained state secondary schools, in each of the years from 1954 to 1964, inclusive.

Mr. Mallalieu

The cadet entry to Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, from the various schools are shown on the following table:

College, Dartmouth, were accepted, in each of the years 1954 to 1964, inclusive, in categories of boys from Headmaster" Conference schools, and from fully-maintained State secondary schools, respectively.

Mr. Mallalieu

The success rate at the Admiralty Interview Board for entry into the Royal Navy General List are as follows:

Year Percentage from Independent Schools Percentage from Direct Grant Schools Percentage from State Secondary Schools (including Maintained Grammar Schools and Technical Colleges
1954 60 43 34
1955 61 39 37
1956 58 42 35
1957 66 52 38
1958 71 41 40
1959 63 51 40
1960 66 59 51
1961 59 58 47
1962 65 54 52
1963 59 55 47
1964 61* 66 53

Notes:

(1) The above percentages are based on the total numbers of all applicants appearing before the Admiralty Interview Board, including Commonwealth candidates. It should be noted that:

  1. (a) For various reasons not all initial applicants appear before the Admiralty Interview Board: some withdraw before that stage; some are rejected on nationality grounds or because they are not taking the required G.C.E. subjects; some who are seeking scholarships do not !pass local preliminary selection boards.
  2. (b) Not all applicants successful at the Admiralty Interview Board subsequently enter B.R.N.C. because some withdraw, some do not obtain the required educational qualifications, and others fail on medical grounds.

(2) The great majority of Headmasters Conference Schools are among those in column (1), but a few come under column (2). The breakdown of schools in all three columns follows that used in the enquiry into Cadet Entry into the Royal Navy (Cmd. 8845) called the Montague Report.

(3) The percentages refer to applications for entry to the General List only.

(4) The figure marked * corrects the figure of 46 per cent. quoted in the OFFICIAL REPORT of 15th March, Col. 947, which was erroneous and was the result of an unfortunate clerical error at that time.

(5) For the Supplementary List a collated record is maintained of the schools of entrants (given in my previous answer today), but not of the schools of unsuccessful applicants; an analysis embracing the latter could not now be reconstructed without extensive researches.

Mr. Rhodes

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of entrants into the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, was from boys attending schools north of a line drawn from the Humber to the Severn in each of the years 1954 to 1964, inclusive.

Mr. Mallalieu

The percentages of Cadet entry to Britannia Royal Naval College from schools north of a line Humber to the Severn were as follows:

Year General List Supplementary List
1954 23
1955 18
1956 22
1957 20
1958 20
1959 20
1960 23 59
1961 22 48
1962 27 36
1963 31 53
1964 25 30

NoteThese figures are not directly comparable with those quoted in the Official Report of 15th March, Col. 947, which related to numbers of applicants for scholarships, the only category for which an analysis was readily available at that time.