In the early days of the Institute the preliminary examination tested the general knowledge of candidates seeking admission to the ICAEW.

The following sample questions provide a glimpse of the type of questions candidates were expected to be able to answer:

English Composition

Write a short essay on one, but not more than one of the following subjects:

• Which of Shakespeare's plays is, in your opinion, the most beautiful? Give your reasons, and the argument of the play.
• The pleasures of the Sea-side

Arithmetic

• The diameter of a carriage wheel is 50 inches, and the circumference measures 3.14159 times the diameter; find approximately the number of times the wheel revolves in a second, if the carriage travels at the rate of 12 miles per hour.
• Explain the ordinary rule for finding the Greatest Common Measure of two numbers. Take as example 2431 and 770.

Geometry

• If a quadrilateral is inscribed in a circle, the opposite angles are equal to two right angles. Prove this.

History of England and Geography

• Note the events for which each of the following years is remarkable:- 1264, 1290, 1340, 1347, 1349, 1360, 1381, 1400, 1413, 1420
• Describe a canoe voyage from the source to the mouth of the Thames, giving the names of the towns passed and the tributaries which join the river.
• Who were the aspirants to the throne on the death of Edward VI.? Consider the validity of their various claims.
• Draw a map illustrating the importance of the Suez Canal to England.
• Who was the Nun of Kent?
• Give a short account of the massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day.
• Explain carefully the respective claims of Stephen and Matilda to the crown of England.
• Who fought and who won at Vinegar Hill, Brandywine, Copenhagen, Corunna, Cape St. Vincent? What were the provisions of the Treaty of Amiens and the Convention of Cintra?
• Write out twenty Towns, ten Rivers, six States, and five mountains of India.

French

• Translate into French:- I am at this moment a ruined man; everything is going from me, -my place in the world, the estate of my family, my father's house, my seat in parliament, the power of living among my countrymen, or indeed of living anywhere; but all this does not oppress me so much as the misery which I have brought upon you.

Chemistry

• Sulphur is said to be Allotropic. Describe experiments showing how different forms of Sulphur may be obtained.

Animal Physiology

• What is the evidence that different functions are performed by the anterior and posterior roots of the Spinal Nerves respectively? What are those functions?

Magnetism, Electricity, Light & Heat

• Why is it that, if a glass tube be held in the hand and rubbed with a silk handkerchief, it exhibits electrical properties, and if the same experiments be performed with a metal tube, no such properties are commonly observed?
• How may the mean coefficient of expansion of a metallic rod be determined?