E.—l

General. Further information regarding the activities of this branch of the Department is contained in a separate paper, E.-4. HIGHER (UNIVERSITY) EDUCATION. The number of students on the books of the four University colleges affiliated to the University of New Zealand increased from 4,236 in 1924 to 4,442 in 1925. The figures for each of the four colleges were as under 1924. 1925. Auckland .. .. .. .. .. .. 1,103 1,182 Victoria .. .. .. .. .. .. 989 1,002 Canterbury .. .. .. .. .. .. 1,024 1,099 Otago .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1,120 1,159 4,236 4,442 The total number of students described as taking definite courses at the affiliated colleges was 3,465, distributed as follows : Arts, 1,503 ; science, 348 ; medicine, 284 ; dentistry, 119 ; law, 521 ; commerce, 313 ; music, 23 ; engineering, 196 ; agriculture, 19 ; home science, 75 ; architecture, 47 ; journalism, 17. The number of exempted students was 428 in 1924 and 493 in 1925, the numbers in actual attendance at lectures being 3,808 and 3,949 respectively. The following shows the growth in the numbers of students over a period of years : 1,878,168; 1895,742; 1900,805; 1905,1,158; 1915,2,039; 1920,3,822; 1924, 4,236 ; 1925, 4,442. There has been a fairly constant increase in the ratio of men to women, and in 1925 over 72 per cent, of the students were men. With the extension of the system of Government bursaries there has also been, of course, a marked increase in the number of students receiving free University education. Of the students attending lectures last year 37 per cent, in the case of men, and 56 per cent, in the case of women, or 42 per cent, of all students, received free tuition. Returns showing the occupations of students have been furnished with respect to last year by Otago University and the three University Colleges. Expressed as percentages the figures are as under: — Men. Women. Full-time students .. .. .. .. .. .. 31 41 Teachers and training-college students .. .. .. .. 24 46 Government and local-body employees .. .. .. .. 10 1 Employees, private firms .. .. .. .. 33 4 Not known .. .. .. .. .. .. 2 8 100 100 The number of full-time students as a percentage of the total number of students attending lectures was 56 in the case of Otago, 17 in the case of Auckland, 31 in the case of Victoria, and 31 in the case of Canterbury. The number of candidates for examinations conducted by the University of New Zealand again shows a marked increase over the previous year's figures. For the Matriculation Examination there were 5,338 candidates, and of these 1,238 passed the whole examination, 1,096 gained partial passes, and 743 who already held partial passes completed the examination. There were 5,972 entries for the various degree examinations, compared with 5,740 in 1924. GENERAL. Annual Examinations. The annual examinations conducted by the Department are as follows : (1) An examination to determine the grant of Junior Scholarships and junior free places, held in November; (2) a main series for Public Service Entrance, Senior National Scholarship, senior free place purposes, and the qualifying examination for Railway Engineering Cadets, held in November ; (3) an August series for teachers' certificates of Classes D and C, and incidentally to some extent of Class B.

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