Abstract
Summary. Three groups of part‐time day release students taking first year Ordinary National Certificate Classes in engineering were given a verbal and non‐verbal intelligence test (N> 1000). On the verbal test the mean score was only slightly above that for the population as a whole, but on the non‐verbal test 89 per cent. were at or above the fiftieth percentile with 27 per cent. in the top 10 per cent. of the population. Recent attempts to improve the selection of Ordinary National Certificate students appear to be unrelated to intelligence test scores, as the results obtained in two different areas between 1950 and 1957 show no significant differences. Fifty per cent. had attended secondary modern schools as against 73 per cent. of the whole school population in the same age range. Seventy‐five per cent. had fathers in skilled and managerial jobs, compared with a national average of 53 per cent. In 1957, only 18 per cent. of those not in full‐time education were attending part‐time day classes.The educational and sociological implications of these figures are discussed in relation to manpower problems. An increase in the number of such students must increase the proportion from secondary modern schools and unskilled homes, so that the problems associated with teaching young people of poor verbal ability are unlikely to diminish.
Published Version
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