334 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE, ETC. 
must be so arranged as to include the fundamental principles of Physical and 
Mathematical Geography.* 
This appears to single out geography for inadequate treatment in a crowded 
curriculum, and the Committee is informed that heads of schools have been 
strongly advised to act on this instruction. Whatever justification there may 
have been in the past, the new position of geography in advanced courses 
warrants a revision of this circular. 
Similarly the Memorandum on Advanced Courses appears to need revision, 
and the Committee expresses the hope that the Board of Education will take 
an early opportunity of issuing a Memorandum on the Teaching of Geography 
in Secondary Schools similar to those on History, English, Science, &c. 
The examination of pupils under these Regulations is delegated by the 
Board to the following approved School Examinations Boards :— 
. Bristol University. 
. Cambridge University 
. Durham University. 
University of London. 
Northern Universities Joint Board. 
Oxford and Cambridge Joint Board. 
Oxford University. 
Central Welsh Board. 
Of recent years there has been an attempt to standardise these examinations, 
which has met with a fair measure of success. There is still, however, much 
divergence of view on the place which geography should occupy in the examina- 
tions and in the syllabuses under which the examinations should be held. All 
the examining bodies group the subjects for the First or School Leaving 
Examination (age 15-16) into the following :— 
I. English group. 
II. Language group. 
IIT. Science group. 
IV. Miscellaneous group. 
Candidates must pass in one or more subjects within each group, as well as 
the examination as a whole. 
Geography in Group I. only is permitted by the Boards of Bristol, London, 
and Oxford and Cambridge Joint Board. 
Geography in Group IIT. only is permitted by Durham, Northern Universities 
Joint Board and Oxferd. 
Geography in Group I. or Group III. is permitted by Cambridge and the 
Central Welsh Board. It should be noted, however, that by the regulations 
of Cambridge and the Northern Universities a candidate cannot pass Group III. 
on geography alone. 
The general tendency to include geography in Group I. along with English 
(compulsory) and history makes it a serious proposition to schools whether 
geography should not be alternative with history, which is unfortunate con- 
sidering the complementary value of the two subjects in any scheme of education. 
The syllabuses of the eight examining boards are substantially in agree- 
ment, and require (i) a general knowledge of the world and especially of the 
influence of physical conditions on plant and animal life and of the natural 
environment on the social life and occupations of peoples; (ii) a more detailed 
knowledge of the British Isles, and (iii) either a detailed knowledge of a special 
region or a study of several regions in varying detail. 
There is, however, a marked difference in the character of the examination 
questions set on these syllabuses. In the majority, the questions are framed 
to test ‘physical’ geography by its application to some regional or economic 
problem. Others set a ‘ physical’ paper distinct from the ‘ regional’ paper. 
The popularity of the subject in the schools may be gauged from, the 
examination statistics for 1921, which if the figures for the Oxford and Cam- 
bridge Joint Board are omitted give 27,438 candidates (80 per cent.) taking 
geography out of 35,224 taking the examination. Even including the figures for 
the Joint Board, which examines a number of Public Schools, not all of which 
give geography an important place in the curriculum, the percentage is as high 
VD Te 90 ty 
4 See, however, Appendix IT. 
