Thomson outlines the purpose of intelligence testing, referring to his own work in Northumberland in 1919, which was to ensure clever children weren't being passed over for entry into secondary education as a result of their social background. In relation to this, Thomson talks about the benefits of standardisation of intelligence tests, and discusses the problem of coaching and how it can be overcome.

Thomson also mentions a child who was tested and subsequently given a place in secondary school, and who wrote to him many years later to let him know he had won the gold medal at the end of his university course.