The expression for the cross-section obtained from the second Born approximation by including only terms to the third order in the interaction energy is employed to calculate cross-sections for the electron impact excitation of the 2
s
level of atomic hydrogen, allowance being made for distortion and polarization due to the 1
s
, 2
s
and 2
p
0.± 1
intermediate states. These cross-sections are compared with the available experimental data.