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Senior. English ... ... ... 64 examined, 26 passed, 17 failed. t Latin ... ... ... 53 „ 26 „ 11 „ Arithmetic ... ... ... 64 „ 26 „ 11 „ Geography ... ... ... 64 „ 26 „ 8 „ Greek 2 „ 2 ~ 0 „ French ... ... ... IS „ 11 „ 7 „ German ... ... ... 3 „ 1 „ 2 „ Maori ... ... ... (I „ 0 „ 0 „ Trigonometry ... ... ... 34 „ 18 „ 16 „ Algebra 53 „ 48 „ 5 ~ Geometry ... ... ... 52 „ 44 „ 9 „ Physical Science... ... ... 21 ~ 12 „ 9 „ History... ... 45 „ 27 „ 18 „ Book-keeping ... ... ... 7 „ 2 „ 5 „ Shorthand ... ... ... 0 „ 0 „ 0 „ T Eleven candidates chose Trigonometry instead of Latin, under proviso to claute 9 of the Regu'ations. NUMBER OF SUBJECTS IN WHICH CANDIDATES FAILED :— Junior. Failed in all subjects ... 15 candidates. „ 3 „ ... 13 „ 2 S3 „ 1 „ ... 21 „ 82 „ (157 examined). Senior. Failed in 5 subjects ... 3 candidates. h 4 ». ••• 7 „ 3 ~ ... 10 ~ 2 „ ... 11 38 „ (64 examined). COMPARISON OF RESULTS. Year 1876-7. Year 1877-78. Junior Examination examined ... ... ... ... ... 107 157 „ „ passed ... ... ... ... ... 61 75 „ „ failed ... ... ... .... ... 46 82 Senior Examination examined ... ... ... ... ... 36 64 „ „ passed ... ... ... ... ... 22 26 „ „ failed ... ... ... ... ... 14 33 The highest number of marks attained in the Junior Examination, December, 1877, was 1960,"0ut of a possible 2400 ; and in June, 1878, 2047, out of the same maximum. "*/ " The average number of marks attained in each subject by the best passed candidate in the senior examination was as follows :—December, 1877, 395 out of a possible 600 ; June, 1878, 407 out of the same maximum. Eemarks on Besults. The Examiners would beg to submit the following remarks with regard to some of the subjects in. which candidates have been examined. English. —The Junior English papers as a rule shew indifferent grounding in the essentiarpoints~of writing and parsing, particularly the former, which has been the chief cause of failure in this subject. The precis writing required in the senior English is often so faulty that candidates are entitled to no marks whatever for their papers. This, however, may in a great measure be accounted for by the fact that good precis writing is attained by practice rather than by teaching. Arithmetic and Algebra. —The papers in these subjects are generally fairly good —in some instances wonderfully accurate. The chief fault is slovenly work, which the examiners never overlook. The lad who works neatly will most probably acquire accuracy. The slovenly worker is almost irreclaimable. History. —Lamentable deficiency has been the distinguishing characteristic of many candidates answers in this subject. Some have shewn a sufficiently accurate knowledge of the dates of well-known battles and other important events ; but there teaching appears to have stopped. Any constitutional question is an unsolvable enigma. Only one candidate, during the year, passed in the first class of merit in history, senior division. Oeography. —Much the same may be said with regard to this subject as has been said with regard to history. Candidates' knowledge of it is very superficial. This can be easily understood when it is known that some educational establishments case teaching history and geography when lads reach the higher forms or classes. It should be more generally understood than seems at present to be the case, that history and geography are compulsory subjects in the Junior Examination, and the latter in the senior ; and that the Examiners attach much importance to both subjects in the light of qualifications for the Civil Service. Geometry. —Papers generally good. An application has been made to the Board to allow the use of symbols in working problems; but the Examiners, on mature consideration, do not think it advisable to permit their use. The Board would have no objection on the score of principle to allow abbreviations or symbols in lieu of words, but the difficulty of teaching boys to distinguish between these and symbols of Algebraic operation, which the Board think it objectionable to encourage in solving Geometric problems, appears to render the use of any symbols unsafe and undesirable.

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