Catalogue description Civil Service Commission: Examination, Tables of Marks and Results

The records in this series have been arranged and listed by various methods. CSC 10/1-4808 (1876-1922) have been listed by individual competition. Therefore one piece relates to one post or class of posts sat on a specific date. For example CSC 10/372 being for a junior assistant in the South Kensington Museum (Science Branch) on 3 February 1885 or CSC 10/3214 for clerical assistants within the Post Office on 7 July 1910.

The records from CSC 10/4809, however, are in bound volumes and binders. Tables of marks and results between 1923 and 1951 (CSC 10/4809-4867) are arranged under the a reference of 'A' and 'B' corresponding to the requirement of certificates of qualification for successful candidates (Table A) or the absence of this requirement (Table B). However, the range of dates covered by a piece can vary from a year to a span of a few years and is dictated by the amount of papers held within a volume or binder. Within each 'A' binder papers are further arranged by an additional reference as follows:

• Series 'E': Learner Typists, Typists, Clerical Assistants (formerly Writing Assistants)
• Series 'F': Assistants of Customs and Excise, Officers of Customs and Excise
• Series 'G': Boy Clerks, Establishment of Temporary Executive Officers
• Series 'GA' to 'GL': Clerical Officers (Scheme B)
• Series 'L': Limited Competitions, various grades
• Series 'M': Clerical Classes (Boys and Girls) and Minor and Manipulative Grades; Map Constructor Apprentices (Male) in War Office Executive Group; Cartographers, Hydrographic Department, Admiralty Assistant Examiners in Patent Office; Administrative Group; Foreign Office and Diplomatic Service; Consular Service; Ceylon Cadetships; Tax Inspector Group
• Series 'P': Male Sorting Clerks and Telegraphists; Male Assistant Traffic Superintendents; Probationary Assistant Engineers; Probationary Inspectors
• Series 'S': Male Sorters and Male Sorting Clerks and Telegraphists; London and Provinces (Limited Competition)
• Series 'T': Female Sorting Clerks and Telegraphists (Limited Competition); Female Telegraphists (Limited Competition)
• Series 'W': Female Learners, Female Sorting Clerks and Telegraphists; Female Sorting Assistants
• Series 'Y': Reconstruction Examinations after the Second World War

The 'B' binders papers are arranged chronologically, and relate to the following examinations:

• Navy, Army and Air Examinations
• Admiralty Dockyard Promotion Examinations (Draughtsmen, Foremen and Inspectors)
• Dockyard and Artificer Apprentices
• Boy Messengers, Post Office
• Boy or Aircraft Mechanics in Royal Air Force
• Accountant Officers in the Royal Air Force
• Indian and Colonial Police
• Metropolitan Police Examinations and various other examinations held by the Commissioners acting as agents for Departments

A change to the above arrangement was tried in 1948 (CSC 10/4898) and introduced, albeit clumsily, in 1951 whereupon it lasted until 1964 (CSC 10/4899-4968). The 'A' and 'B' system was retained but papers within were arranged by a numerical code (reflecting a broad chronological order) and thereby abandoning the former two sub-arrangements. This numerical code rapidly evolved into competition numbers. Folders occasionally relate to specific types of competition such as scientific or limited. One further complication is the reconstruction examination papers, CSC 10/4868-4897 (1945-1950) which fall between the two above mentioned runs of papers. These papers follow an entirely different arrangement based on generic type, such as clerical class or administrative class, with a piece covering anything from part of a year to a span of several years.

Due to the ever increasing bulk of papers and further changes to the way recruitment was undertaken, a simpler but less detailed arrangement was employed between 1965 and 1991 (CSC 10/4969-5111). Papers for an entire year are arranged by competition numbers bearing little or no relation to chronological order. Competition numbers were not a continuous sequential run (even though the list at times gives this impression): this has been reflected in the latter part of the list. References reappear in 1971 (from CSC 10/5014) but do not alter arrangements and seem to have been added to give a quick reference to the type of examination or interviewer (such as 'S' for scientific posts). A piece usually comprises somewhere between a quarter and an eighth of the whole year. The volume of records for this period begins to increase significantly from the mid 1980s, particularly in scientific posts.