Summary.Results in the 1953 and 1954 Cambridge examinations in English Language, at ‘O’ level, have been obtained for 1,423 boys and 882 girls, from 197 schools, who were subsequently admitted to universities. Significant differences are shown in the grades awarded to boys and girls, and to arts and science students, of comparable age. Linguists achieved significantly better marks than non‐linguists, but there is no significant difference between the non‐linguists among the arts men and the men who specialised in the ‘pure’ sciences.The failure rates for boys taking the paper for the first time were 1 in 9 for scientists, 1 in 15 for arts students. For girls the corresponding rates were 1 in 42 and 1 in 27. The male scientists who had won open awards to universities were not inferior in English, at ‘O’ level, to arts students in general, though they were inferior to the arts men who won open awards.Among the arts men, those who went to Oxford, Cambridge or London gained significantly better marks than those who entered other universities; a similar difference is found in respect of the men scientists, and of the wome