COMPETITIVE EXAMINATIONS In Great Britain, competitive examinations may vary from County Council scholarships awarded at the age of I I to scholar ships at the public schools, or at the universities. They are also used for entrance to all grades of the civil service—from sorters in the post office to first-class clerks in the Foreign Office. The award depends, not on reaching a certain standard of attainment, but on the number of scholarships or posts open to candidates. The first competitive examination was instituted in 1885 for en trance to Woolwich academy and the system was generally adopted for the civil service in 1870, in order to do away with the wide spread abuses connected with the nomination of unfit persons. The same principle was adopted after the World War when a large number of temporarily employed ex-soldiers were allowed to qualify for permanent service by passing certain specific ex aminations, though in this case the posts were not limited in number. Formerly the colleges at Oxford and Cambridge had each their own separate examinations for scholarships. This method has now been superseded by groups of colleges holding a joint examination, candidates indicating beforehand, in order of prefer ence, the college they would choose if successful. It is probably true to add that Oxford Scholarships are awarded on promise as well as on performance, while Cambridge Scholarships are mainly given on performance, though promise is not entirely excluded from the aftermath. Oxford, like Paris, prizes rather the artistic presentation of facts than their mere reproduction as such; Cam bridge attaches more importance to the abundance and accuracy of the facts, their presentation being a secondary matter. The one puts a premium on art ; the other on science.