A question

[maddalia.livejournal.com]

Hello everyone!

There's something I'm trying to find out for my story - well, two things actually, and I wonder if anyone can help me.

1. In the '60s and '70s, what was the minimum term of service for a naval officer? How long would one sign up for, and how easy/hard was it to quit?

2. Did all private schools in the '50s have entrance exams? Or were there some where any kid could go if his parents had the money?

Comments

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

I went to a UK public school in the 50s. There was an entrance 'exam' but to the best of my knowledge its purpose was to sort out kids who might deserve scholarships, and also to let the school know what they were getting... The scholarships were awarded regardless of parental finances and were to make sure the school would have some Oxbridge candidates later. There ws help with fees for some categories - I was a vicar's daughter and had a 'clergy daughter's place' with very low fees. A friend whose parents were quite well off had a scholarship. Some of my year were extraordinarily 'thick' but had wealthy parents so were presumably tested in an effort to make sure they could actually benefit from education in some way or another... So far as I know, most of the public schools had a similar system. Again, I think most of them decided between applicants (when there were too many) on the basis of other things like religion or parental involvement in some way or another. But back then, there were rarely too many applicants. The world of public schools was very small!! So be as fluid as you like! I'm sure some school somewhere would function in whatever way you dreamed up!!

[maddalia.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much, that's so helpful!