[West Ender]

My daughter has just applied for a Civil Service job.

I joined the Civil Service in 1960. I had to have a minimum of 5 "O" levels and I also had to pass the Civil Service Open Clerical Exam, in 5 subjects - I took English, Maths, French, Latin and History (the Latin has proved so useful). I still have my results notification and I came 495th out of 2648 entries - I'm still quite proud of that.

My daughter had to take a Literacy and Numeracy Test - with a calculator - which she passed with 100% as it was about first year Grammar School level (she has 9 GCSEs). She has been offered a job at the same grade in which I started. To me that shows how things, in Government service at least, have been "dumbed down".

Of course, computers have made mathematical skills redundant. I work for the Inland Revenue, now H M Revenue and Customs, and when I first started we used to work out assessments on paper - lots of complicated allowances, including the dreadful Earned Income Relief (2/9ths of the earned income after deduction of certain expenses/concessions) and varied rates of tax to be worked out. Now what do they do? They press a button and it's all done for them. You don't even need to be able to add up, these days.

Kids today are probably more street-wise than my generation was but smarter? Nah!