asked the First Lord of the Admiralty the number of applications received for entry under the Naval Cadet Scholarship Scheme this September; how many of these were from the usual preparatory schools, grant-aided secondary schools and other schools, respectively; whether the full number of scholarships have been awarded to the last two categories and to the son of a naval or ex-naval rating; and the extent to which these compared, educationally and physically, with the preparatory school candidates?

As the reply is rather long, I will, with my hon. Friend's permission, have it circulated in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Will the hon. Gentleman be good enough to give some brief indication of what the Answer will be?

It is a little difficult to do that. I gather that what the hon. Member really wants to know is the number of scholarships awarded. I can assure him that to candidates from both grant-aided schools and other schools the full number of scholarships was awarded.

Following is the reply:

The numbers were—

Those in groups (b) and (c) came mostly from the usual preparatory schools. Some of the scholarship candidates were also candidates for the ordinary entry. The full number of scholarships has been awarded to each of the categories (a) and (b).

One son of an ex-rating was successful in obtaining one of the ordinary scholarships from the secondary schools. No other son of a rating or ex-rating reached the standard required of the scholarship candidates; the special scholarship for a son of a rating or ex-rating was, therefore, not awarded.

The number of candidates from the other schools who did as well or better than the top candidates from the secondary schools was ten, so that all these obtained scholarships and it can be said that the two classes of candidates were equal educationally. No comparison was made between the two classes of candidates from a physical point of view, but it can be stated that the number of medical rejections amongst the secondary school candidates was not above the normal.