OVERLAPPING BETWEEN SECONDARY AND OTHER EDUCATION. 231 



nineteen at the earliest. I consider that at the age of seventeen or eighteen girls 

 profit more by school than by college instruction — by reading under the guidance 

 of a teacher rather than a lecturer. I believe that a distribution of labour on 

 these lines between school and university would in the long run much improve 

 the average quality of university students. 



But the scholastic view weighs less with me than does the advantage which 

 girls gain in character by facing the responsibilities and the privileges given by 

 the characteristic spirit of a Sixth Form, and which are as valuable in the forma- 

 tion of the character of girls as is the case with public school Sixth Form boys. 

 I may add that I have reason for believing that the above statement represents 

 the general opinion of the Association of Headmistresses as a whole. 



The regulations of some London training colleges are held to be 

 responsible for a certain amount of overlapping between secondary and 

 university education. On this point, Miss Clement, the Headmistress 

 of the Godolphin and Latymer Girls' School, Hammersmith, says: — 



There seems to be a great deal too much pressure and strain in the higher 

 classes of many secondary schools, owing to the preparation of pupils for the 

 London Intermediate Arts and Science examinations. But under present con- 

 ditions this seems inevitable. The point is that many candidates from London 

 secondary schools for open scholarships to the women's colleges must, if unsuc- 

 cessful, fall back upon free places in the London Day Training College ; and, as 

 the London Day Training College openly declares its intention of entering only 

 students who have passed the London Intermediate Arts or Science examination, 

 the schools' first duty with regard to these pupils who compete for open scholar- 

 ships is to safeguard their future by equipping them with the necessary qualifica- 

 tions, should they be obliged to be satisfied with gaining an ordinary Pass degree 

 at a non-residential college. Otherwise, university work is, of course, best done 

 at the university. 



The inability of girls living at a distance from a university to meet 

 the necessary expenses is another reason why girls are kept in school. 

 The headmistress of one school, not in London, but in which there 

 are at the present time five girls preparing for the Intermediate Arts 

 and five for the Final B.A., states that ' all the girls who are doing 

 degree work are quite unable owing to poverty to enter into residence 

 at any college.' 



Consideration of the information received from various sources 

 shows that the question of overlapping between girls' secondary edu- 

 cation and university education is especially prominent in connection 

 with the University of London. Several" headmistresses think that the 

 Intermediate Arts and Intermediate Science work is better taken at 

 school than at the university; and one remarks: ' Intermediate work 

 is properly VIa Form work and does not really trench on university 

 work. ' 



IV. Public Schools represented by the Headmasters' 



Conference. 



It is always difficult to define a ' Public School,' but in this section 

 of the report it has been assumed that the chief difference between such 

 schools and the grammar schools is that the former keep their pupils 

 to a later age than do the latter; it may be that as an indirect result 

 of this they draw their pupils from a more wealthy and possibly higher 

 social class of parent, but this is chiefly due to the fact that a poor 

 man cannot afford to keep his boy at school sufficiently long for him 



