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Eton College () is a
public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...
in
Eton, Berkshire Eton ( ) is a town in Berkshire, England, on the opposite bank of the River Thames to Windsor, connected to it by Windsor Bridge. The civil parish, which also includes the village of Eton Wick two miles west of the town, had a population of 4,6 ...
, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to
King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...
, making it the 18th-oldest
Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) is an association of the head teachers of 361 independent schools (both boarding schools and day schools), some traditionally described as public schools. 298 Members are based in the United ...
(HMC) school. Eton is particularly well-known for its history, wealth, and notable alumni, called
Old Etonians Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...
. Eton is one of only three public schools, along with Harrow (1572) and
Radley Radley is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish about northeast of the centre of Abingdon, Oxfordshire, Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The parish includes the Hamlet (place), hamlet of Lower Radley on the River Thames. It was part of B ...
(1847), to have retained the boys-only, boarding-only tradition, which means that its boys live at the school seven days a week. The remainder (such as
Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...
in 1976,
Charterhouse Charterhouse may refer to: * Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order Charterhouse may also refer to: Places * The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery * Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey London ...
in 1971,
Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...
in 1973, and
Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
in 2015) have since become
co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
or, in the case of
Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...
, as of 2021 are undergoing the transition to that status. Eton has educated
prime ministers A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
, world leaders,
Nobel laureates The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make ou ...
,
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
and BAFTA award-winning actors, and generations of the
aristocracy Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At t ...
, having been referred to as "the nurse of England's statesmen". The school is the largest boarding school in England ahead of
Millfield Millfield is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935. Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding schoo ...
and
Oundle Oundle () is a market town on the left bank of the River Nene in North Northamptonshire, England, which had a population of 5,735 at the time of the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census. It is north of London and south-west of Peterborough ...
. Eton charges up to £46,296 per year (£15,432 per term, with three terms per academic year, for 2022/23). Eton was noted as being the sixth most expensive HMC boarding school in the UK in 2013–14; however, the school admits some boys with modest parental income: in 2011 it was reported that around 250 boys received "significant" financial help from the school, with the figure rising to 263 pupils in 2014, receiving the equivalent of around 60% of school fee assistance, whilst a further 63 received their education free of charge. Eton has also announced plans to increase the figure to around 320 pupils, with 70 educated free of charge, with the intention that the number of pupils receiving financial assistance from the school continues to increase.


History

Eton College was founded by King Henry VI as a
charity school Charity schools, sometimes called blue coat schools, or simply the Blue School, were significant in the history of education in England. They were built and maintained in various parishes by the voluntary contributions of the inhabitants to ...
to provide free education to 70 poor boys who would then go on to
King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...
, founded by the same King in 1441. Henry took
Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...
as his model, visiting on many occasions, borrowing its statutes and removing its headmaster and some of the scholars to start his new school. When Henry VI founded the school, he granted it a large number of endowments, including much valuable land. The group of
feoffee Under the feudal system in England, a feoffee () is a trustee who holds a fief (or "fee"), that is to say an estate in land, for the use of a beneficial owner. The term is more fully stated as a feoffee to uses of the beneficial owner. The use o ...
s appointed by the king to receive forfeited lands of the
Alien Priories Alien priories were religious establishments in England, such as monasteries and convents, which were under the control of another religious house outside England. Usually the mother-house was in France.Coredon ''Dictionary of Medieval Terms'' p. ...
for the endowment of Eton were as follows: *
Henry Chichele Henry Chichele ( , also Checheley; – 12 April 1443) was Archbishop of Canterbury (1414–1443) and founded All Souls College, Oxford. Early life Chichele was born at Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire, in 1363 or 1364; Chicheley told Pope Euge ...
,
Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
(d. 1443) *
Thomas Spofford Thomas Spofford (d. 1456) was a medieval Bishop of Hereford and Abbot of St Mary's Abbey, York. Early life Spofford was probably born in Spofforth, West Riding of Yorkshire, in the 1370s. He entered the Benedictine order at the abbey of St Mary ...
,
Bishop of Hereford The Bishop of Hereford is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury. The episcopal see is centred in the Hereford, City of Hereford where the bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is in the Hereford Cathedr ...
(d. 1456) * John Low,
Bishop of Rochester The Bishop of Rochester is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Rochester in the Province of Canterbury. The town of Rochester has the bishop's seat, at the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was foun ...
(d. 1467) *
William Ayscough William Ayscough or Aiscough (c. 1395 – 29 June 1450) was a medieval English cleric who served as Bishop of Salisbury from 1438 until his death. Ayscough was nominated on 11 February 1438 and consecrated on 20 July 1438.Fryde, et al. ''Handb ...
,
Bishop of Salisbury The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The see is in the City of Salisbury where the bishop's seat ...
(d. 1450) * William de la Pole, 1st Marquess of Suffolk (1396–1450) (later Duke of Suffolk) *
John Somerset John Somerset or Somerseth (died 1454) was an English physician and administrator. He was born in London and attended Oxford University, but moved to Cambridge University to avoid the plague, graduating master in 1418. Thomas Beaufort, Duke of ...
(d. 1454),
Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...
and the king's doctor *
Thomas Beckington Thomas Beckington (also spelt Beckynton; c. 139014 January 1465) was the Bishop of Bath and Wells and King's Secretary in medieval England under Henry VI. Life Beckington was born at Beckington in Somerset, and was educated at Winchester an ...
(c. 1390–1465), Archdeacon of Buckingham, the king's secretary and later Keeper of the Privy Seal *
Richard Andrew Richard Andrew (died 1477) was a Canon of Windsor from 1450 to 1455,''Fasti Wyndesorienses'', May 1950. S.L. Ollard. Published by the Dean and Canons of St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle Archdeacon of Sarum from 1441 to 1444 and Dean of York fro ...
(d. 1477), first Warden of
All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...
, later the king's secretary *
Adam Moleyns Adam Moleyns (died 9 January 1450), Bishop of Chichester, was an English bishop, lawyer, royal administrator and diplomat. During the minority of Henry VI of England, he was clerk of the ruling council of the Regent. Life Moleyns had the livin ...
(d. 1450),
Clerk of the Council The Clerk of the Privy Council is a senior civil servant in His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, being Head of the Privy Council Office. This historic office is less powerful now than it once was and than its Canadian equivalent, whos ...
* John Hampton (d. 1472) of
Kinver Kinver is a large village in the District of South Staffordshire in Staffordshire, England. It is in the far south-west of the county, at the end of the narrow finger of land surrounded by the counties of Shropshire, Worcestershire and the We ...
,
Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
, an Esquire of the Body * James Fiennes, another member of the Royal Household * William Tresham, another member of the Royal Household It was intended to have formidable buildings (Henry intended the
nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
of the College Chapel to be the longest in Europe) and several religious
relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...
s, supposedly including a part of the
True Cross The True Cross is the cross upon which Jesus was said to have been crucified, particularly as an object of religious veneration. There are no early accounts that the apostles or early Christians preserved the physical cross themselves, althoug ...
and the
Crown of Thorns According to the New Testament, a woven crown of thorns ( or grc, ἀκάνθινος στέφανος, akanthinos stephanos, label=none) was placed on the head of Jesus during the events leading up to his crucifixion. It was one of the instru ...
. He persuaded the then
Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
,
Eugene IV Pope Eugene IV ( la, Eugenius IV; it, Eugenio IV; 1383 – 23 February 1447), born Gabriele Condulmer, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 3 March 1431 to his death in February 1447. Condulmer was a Venetian, and ...
, to grant him a privilege unparalleled anywhere in England: the right to grant
indulgence In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins". The '' Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission before God o ...
s to
penitent Penance is any act or a set of actions done out of repentance for sins committed, as well as an alternate name for the Catholic, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession. It also plays a part i ...
s on the
Feast of the Assumption The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by Go ...
. The college also came into possession of one of England's Apocalypse manuscripts. However, when Henry was deposed by
King Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in Englan ...
in 1461, the new King annulled all grants to the school and removed most of its assets and treasures to
St George's Chapel, Windsor St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is both a Royal Peculiar (a church under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch) and the Chapel of the Order of the Gart ...
, on the other side of the
River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...
. Legend has it that Edward's mistress,
Jane Shore Elizabeth "Jane" Shore (née Lambert) (c. 1445 – c. 1527) was one of the many mistresses of King Edward IV of England. She became the best-known to history through being later accused of conspiracy by the future King Richard III, and compelled ...
, intervened on the school's behalf. She was able to save a good part of the school, although the royal bequest and the number of staff were much reduced. Construction of the chapel, originally intended to be slightly over twice as long, with 18, or possibly 17, bays (there are eight today) was stopped when Henry VI was deposed. Only the Quire of the intended building was completed. Eton's first Headmaster,
William Waynflete William Waynflete (11 August 1486), born William Patten, was Provost of Eton College (1442–1447), Bishop of Winchester (1447–1486) and Lord Chancellor of England (1456–1460). He founded Magdalen College, Oxford and three subsidiary scho ...
, founder of Magdalen College, Oxford and previously Head Master of
Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...
, built the ante-chapel that completed the chapel. The important wall paintings in the chapel and the brick north range of the present School Yard also date from the 1480s; the lower storeys of the cloister, including College Hall, were built between 1441 and 1460. As the school suffered reduced income while still under construction, the completion and further development of the school has since depended to some extent on wealthy benefactors. Building resumed when
Roger Lupton Roger Lupton (1456–27 February 1539/40) was an English lawyer and cleric who served as chaplain to King Henry VII (1485–1509) and to his son King Henry VIII (1509–1547) and was appointed by the former as Provost of Eton College (1503 ...
was Provost, around 1517. His name is borne by the big
gatehouse A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the mos ...
in the west range of the cloisters, fronting School Yard, perhaps the most famous image of the school. This range includes the important interiors of the Parlour, Election Hall, and Election Chamber, where most of the 18th century "leaving portraits" are kept. "After Lupton's time, nothing important was built until about 1670, when Provost Allestree gave a range to close the west side of School Yard between Lower School and Chapel". This was remodelled later and completed in 1694 by Matthew Bankes, Master Carpenter of the Royal Works. The last important addition to the central college buildings was the College Library, in the south range of the cloister, 1725–29, by Thomas Rowland. It has a very important collection of books and manuscripts.


19th century onwards

The
Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...
is often incorrectly quoted as saying that "The
Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...
was won on the playing-fields of Eton." Wellington was at Eton from 1781 to 1784 and was to send his sons there. According to Nevill (citing the historian Sir Edward Creasy), what Wellington said, while passing an Eton cricket match many decades later, was, "There grows the stuff that won Waterloo", a remark Nevill construes as a reference to "the manly character induced by games and sport" among English youth generally, not a comment about Eton specifically. In 1889, Sir William Fraser conflated this uncorroborated remark with the one attributed to him by Count Charles de Montalembert's ''C'est ici qu'a été gagné la bataille de Waterloo'' ("It is here that the Battle of Waterloo was won"). The architect
John Shaw Jr John Shaw Jr. (1803–1870) was an English architect of the 19th century who was complimented as a designer in the "Manner of Wren". He designed buildings in the classical Jacobean fashion and designed some of London's first semi-detache ...
(1803–1870) became surveyor to Eton. He designed New Buildings (1844–46), Provost
Francis Hodgson Francis Hodgson (16 November 1781 – 29 December 1852; also known as Frank Hodgson in correspondence) was a reforming Provost of Eton, educator, cleric, writer of verse, and friend of Byron. Life Hodgson was born on 16 November 1781, son of Re ...
's addition to providing better accommodation for collegers, who until then had mostly lived in Long Chamber, a long first-floor room where conditions were inhumane. Following complaints about the finances, buildings and management of Eton, the
Clarendon Commission The Clarendon Commission was a royal commission established in 1861 to investigate the state of nine leading schools in England, in the wake of complaints about the finances, buildings, and management of Eton College. It was chaired by the 4th ...
was set up in 1861 as a royal commission to investigate the state of nine schools in England, including Eton. Questioned by the commission in 1862, headmaster
Edward Balston Edward Balston (26 November 1817 – 29 November 1891) was an English schoolmaster, Church of England cleric, head master of Eton College from 1862 to 1868 and later Rector of Hitcham, Buckinghamshire, Vicar of Bakewell, Derbyshire, and Arc ...
came under attack for his view that in the classroom little time could be spared for subjects other than
classical studies Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
. As with other public schools, a scheme was devised towards the end of the 19th century to familiarise privileged schoolboys with social conditions in deprived areas. The project of establishing an "
Eton Mission St. Mary of Eton is an Anglican church at Hackney Wick, London, and a Grade II* listed building. It was built 1890–92 in the medieval Gothic style to serve the Eton Mission, a mission to the East End organised and funded by Eton College. His ...
" in the crowded district of
Hackney Wick Hackney Wick is a neighbourhood in east London, England. The area forms the south-eastern part of the district of Hackney, and also of the wider London Borough of Hackney. Adjacent areas of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets are sometimes a ...
in east London was started at the beginning of 1880, and it lasted until 1971 when it was decided that a more local project (at
Dorney Dorney is a village and civil parish in the Unitary Authority of Buckinghamshire, England, bordering on the River Thames to the west and south, and bisected by the Jubilee River. In 2011 it had a population of 752. It is west of neighbouring E ...
) would be more realistic. However over the years much money was raised for the Eton Mission, a fine church by G. F. Bodley was erected; many Etonians visited and stimulated among other things the
Eton Manor Boys' Club Eton Manor Boys' Club was a boys' sports club in London, England. History Establishment Eton Manor Boys' Club takes its name from Eton College, which from the 1880s had run a Christian mission to raise living standards in the Hackney Wick ar ...
, a notable rowing club which has survived the Mission itself, and the
59 Club The 59 Club, also written as The Fifty Nine Club and known as 'the 9', is a British motorcycle club with members distributed internationally. The 59 Club started as a Church of England-based youth club founded at St Mary of Eton church in Ha ...
for motorcyclists. The very large and ornate School Hall and School Library (by L. K. Hall) were erected in 1906–08 across the road from Upper School as the school's memorial to the Etonians who had died in the
Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...
. Many tablets in the cloisters and chapel commemorate the large number of dead Etonians of the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. A bomb destroyed part of Upper School in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and blew out many windows in the chapel. The college commissioned replacements by
Evie Hone Eva Sydney Hone RHA (22 April 1894 – 13 March 1955), usually known as Evie, was an Irish painter and stained glass artist.Nicola Gordon Bowe (May 2009)Hone, Eva Sydney (1894–1955) ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', online editi ...
(1949–52) and by John Piper and
Patrick Reyntiens Nicholas Patrick Reyntiens OBE (; 11 December 1925 – 25 October 2021) was a British stained-glass artist, described as "the leading practitioner of stained glass in this country." Personal life Reyntiens was born in December 1925 at 68 Ca ...
(1959 onward). Among headmasters of the 20th century were
Cyril Alington Cyril Argentine Alington (22 October 1872 – 16 May 1955) was an English educationalist, scholar, cleric, and author. He was successively the headmaster of Shrewsbury School and Eton College. He also served as chaplain to King George V and as De ...
,
Robert Birley Sir Robert Birley KCMG (14 July 1903 – 22 July 1982) was an English educationalist who was head master of Charterhouse School, then Eton College, and an anti-apartheid campaigner. He acquired the nickname "Red Robert", as even his moderate lib ...
and
Anthony Chenevix-Trench Anthony Chenevix-Trench (10 May 1919 – 21 June 1979) was a British schoolteacher and classics scholar. He was born in British India, educated at Shrewsbury School and Christ Church, Oxford, and served in the Second World War as an artillery of ...
.
M. R. James Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English author, Medieval studies, medievalist scholar and provost (education), provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936). He was List of ...
was a provost. In 1959, the college constructed a
nuclear bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. ...
to house the college's provost and fellows. The facility is now used for storage. In 1969 Dillibe Onyeama became the first black person to obtain his school-leaving certificate from Eton. Three years later Onyeama was banned from visiting Eton after he published a book which described the racism that he experienced during his time at the school.
Simon Henderson Simon Henderson (born 1976) is a British teacher. He has been Head Master of Eton College since 2015, having previously served as headmaster of Bradfield College. Education Henderson studied at Winchester College, and later received a bachelor deg ...
, current headmaster of Eton, apologised to Onyeama for the treatment he endured during his time at the school, although Onyeama did not think the apology was necessary. In 2005, the school was one of fifty of the country's leading independent schools found to have breached the
Competition Act 1998 The Competition Act 1998 is the current major source of competition law in the United Kingdom, along with the Enterprise Act 2002. The act provides an updated framework for identifying and dealing with restrictive business practices and abuse of ...
(see
Eton College controversies There have been many controversies concerning Eton College, sometimes called the most famous school in the world. In 2005, ''The Guardian'' claimed that "Eton is no stranger to scandalous allegations, nor to claims that it tries to prevent them l ...
). In 2011, plans to attack Eton College were found on the body of a senior
al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
leader shot dead in
Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
.


Coat of arms

The
coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...
of Eton College was granted in 1449 by the founder King Henry VI, as recorded as follows on the original charter, attested by the
Great Seal of England The Great Seal of the Realm or Great Seal of the United Kingdom (known prior to the Treaty of Union of 1707 as the Great Seal of England; and from then until the Union of 1801 as the Great Seal of Great Britain) is a seal that is used to sym ...
and preserved in the College archives: :''On a field sable three lily-flowers argent, intending that Our newly-founded College, lasting for ages to come, whose perpetuity We wish to be signified by the stability of the sable colour, shall bring forth the brightest flowers redolent of every kind of knowledge; to which also, that We may impart something of royal nobility which may declare the work truly royal and illustrious, We have resolved that that portion of the arms which by royal right belong to Us in the Kingdoms of France and England be placed on the chief of the shield, per pale azure with a flower of the French, and gules with a leopard passant or''. Thus the
blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...
is: ''Sable, three lily-flowers argent on a chief per pale azure and gules in the
dexter Dexter may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Dexter, the main character of the American animated series ''Dexter's Laboratory'' that aired from 1996 to 2003 * Dexter, a fictional character in the British Diary of a Bad Man#Main, web series ''Diar ...
a fleur-de-lys in the
sinister Sinister commonly refers to: * Evil * Ominous Sinister may also refer to: Left side * Sinister, Latin for the direction " left" * Sinister, in heraldry, is the bearer's true left side (viewers' right side) of an escutcheon or coat of arms; see ...
a lion passant guardant or''. Although the charter specifies that the lily-flowers relate to the founder's hope for a flourishing of knowledge, that flower is also a symbol for the
Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...
, in whose honour the college was founded, with the number of three having significance to the
Blessed Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...
. The motto of the college is ''Floreat Etona'' ("may Eton flourish"). The grant of arms to King's College, Cambridge, is worded identically, but with roses instead of lily-flowers.


Overview

The school is headed by a provost and fellows (board of governors) who appoint the headmaster. It contains 25 boys'
houses A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
, each headed by a
housemaster {{refimprove, date=September 2018 In British education, a housemaster is a schoolmaster in charge of a boarding house, normally at a boarding school and especially at a public school. The housemaster is responsible for the supervision and care o ...
, selected from the more senior members of the teaching staff, which numbers some 155. Almost all of the school's pupils go on to universities, about a third of them to
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
or
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
. The headmaster is a member of the
Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) is an association of the head teachers of 361 independent schools (both boarding schools and day schools), some traditionally described as public schools. 298 Members are based in the United ...
and the school is a member of the
Eton Group The Eton Group is an association of 12 English public schools within the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The Eton Group schools often cooperate with each other, organising events and school matches. For example, the Heads of academic ...
of
independent schools An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...
in the United Kingdom. Eton has a long list of distinguished former pupils. In 2019,
Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...
became the 20th
British prime minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern p ...
to have attended the school, and the fifth since the end of the Second World War Previous Conservative leader
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
was the 19th British prime minister to have attended the school, and recommended that Eton set up a school in the state sector to help drive up standards.


Fame

Eton has been described as the most famous public school in the world, and has been referred to as "the chief nurse of England's statesmen". Eton has educated generations of British and foreign aristocracy, and for the first time, members of the British royal family in direct line of succession: the
Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
and his brother the
Duke of Sussex Duke of Sussex is a substantive title, one of several royal dukedoms, that has been created twice in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It is a hereditary title of a specific rank of nobility in the British royal family. It takes its name fr ...
, in contrast to the royal tradition of male education at either naval college or
Gordonstoun Gordonstoun School is a co-educational independent school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. It is named after the estate owned by Sir Robert Gordon in the 17th century; the school now uses this estate as its campus. It is located ...
, or by tutors. The ''
Good Schools Guide ''The Good Schools Guide'' is a guide to British schools, both state and independent. Overview The guide is compiled by a team of editors which, according to the official website, "''comprises some 50 editors, writers, researchers and contri ...
'' called the school "the number one boys' public school", adding that "The teaching and facilities are second to none." The school is a member of the
G30 Schools G30 Schools, formerly known as G20 Schools, is an informal association of secondary schools initiated by David Wylde of St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown, South Africa and Anthony Seldon of Wellington College, Berkshire, United Kingdom in 2006. A ...
Group. Eton today is a larger school than it has been for much of its history. In 1678, there were 207 boys. In the late 18th century, there were about 300, while today, the total has risen to over 1,300.


Financial support

About 20% of pupils at Eton receive financial support, through a range of bursaries and scholarships. A recent Head Master,
Tony Little Tony Little (born September 16, 1956) is an American television fitness personality and businessman, who is best known for his fitness infomercial products. Little is a certified personal trainer and identifies himself as "America's Personal T ...
, said that Eton was developing plans to allow any boy to attend the school whatever his parents' income and, in 2011, said that around 250 boys received "significant" financial help from the school. In early 2014, this figure had risen to 263 pupils receiving the equivalent of around 60% of school fee assistance, whilst a further 63 received their education free of charge. Little said that, in the short term, he wanted to ensure that around 320 pupils per year receive bursaries and that 70 were educated free of charge, with the intention that the number of pupils receiving financial assistance would continue to increase.


Changes to the school

Registration at birth, corporal punishment, and
fagging Fagging was a traditional practice in British public schools and also at many other boarding schools, whereby younger pupils were required to act as personal servants to the eldest boys. Although probably originating earlier, the first account ...
are no longer practised at Eton. Academic standards were raised, and by the mid-1990s Eton ranked among Britain's top three schools in getting its pupils into
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
and
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
. The proportion of boys at the school who were sons of Old Etonians fell from 60% in 1960 to 20% in 2016. This has been attributed to a number of factors, including the dissolution of the house lists, which allowed Old Etonians to register their sons at birth, in 1990, harder entrance examinations as the emphasis on academic attainment increased, a sharp rise in school fees increasingly beyond the means of many UK families, and increased applications from international, often very wealthy, families.


School terms

There are three academic terms (known as halves) in the year: * The ''
Michaelmas Michaelmas ( ; also known as the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the Feast of the Archangels, or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels) is a Christian festival observed in some Western liturgical calendars on 29 September, a ...
Half'', from early September to mid-December. New boys are now admitted only at the start of the Michaelmas Half, unless in exceptional circumstances. * The ''
Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...
Half'', from mid-January to late March. * The ''Summer Half'', from late April to late June or early July. They are called halves because the school year was once split into two halves, between which the boys went home.


Boys' houses


King's Scholars

One boarding house, ''College'', is reserved for 70 King's Scholars, who attend Eton on scholarships provided by the original foundation and awarded by examination each year; King's Scholars pay up to 90 per cent of full fees, depending on their means. Of the other pupils, up to a third receive some kind of bursary or scholarship. The name 'King's Scholars' refers to the foundation of the school by King Henry VI in 1440. The original school consisted of the 70 Scholars (together with some Commensals) and the Scholars were educated and boarded at the foundation's expense. King's Scholars are entitled to use the letters 'KS' after their name and they can be identified by a black gown worn over the top of their
tailcoat A tailcoat is a knee-length coat characterised by a rear section of the skirt, known as the ''tails'', with the front of the skirt cut away. The tailcoat shares its historical origins in clothes cut for convenient horse riding in the Early Mode ...
s, giving them the nickname 'tugs' (Latin: ''togati'', wearers of gowns); and occasionally by a
surplice A surplice (; Late Latin ''superpelliceum'', from ''super'', "over" and ''pellicia'', "fur garment") is a liturgical vestment of Western Christianity. The surplice is in the form of a tunic of white linen or cotton fabric, reaching to the kne ...
in Chapel. The house is looked after by the Master in College. Having succeeded in the examination, they include many of the most academically gifted boys in the school.


Oppidans

As the school grew, more students were allowed to attend provided that they paid their own fees and lived in boarding-houses within the town of Eton, outside the college's original buildings. These students became known as Oppidans, from the
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
word ''
oppidum An ''oppidum'' (plural ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretchi ...
'', meaning "town". The houses developed over time as a means of providing residence for the Oppidans in a more congenial manner, and during the 18th and 19th centuries the housemasters started to rely more for administrative purposes on a senior female member of staff, known as a "dame", who became responsible for the physical welfare of the boys. (Some houses had previously been run by dames without a housemaster.) Each house typically contains about 50 boys. Although classes are organised on a school basis, most boys spend a large proportion of their time in their house. Not all boys who pass the college election examination choose to become King's Scholars, which involves living in "College" with its own ancient traditions, wearing a gown, and therefore a degree of separation from the other boys. If they choose instead to belong to one of the 24 Oppidan houses, they are known as
Oppidan Scholar An Oppidan Scholar is a boy at Eton College who has distinguished himself academically. Features Oppidan scholarships A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded b ...
s. Oppidan scholarships may also be awarded for consistently performing with distinction in school and external examinations. To gain an Oppidan Scholarship, a boy must have either three distinctions in a row or four throughout his career. Within the school, an Oppidan Scholar is entitled to use the
post-nominal letters Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, academic degree, accreditation, ...
''OS''. Each Oppidan house is usually referred to by the initials (forenames and surname) of its current housemaster, a senior teacher ("beak"), or more formally by his surname alone, not by the name of the building in which it is situated. Houses occasionally swap buildings according to the seniority of the housemaster and the physical desirability of the building. The names of buildings occupied by houses are used for few purposes other than a correspondence address. They are: Godolphin House, Jourdelay's (both built as such c. 1720),Pevsner op. cit. Hawtrey House, Durnford House (the first two built as such by the Provost and Fellows, 1845, when the school was increasing in numbers and needed more centralised control), The Hopgarden, South Lawn, Waynflete, Evans's, Keate House, Warre House, Villiers House, Common Lane House, Penn House, Walpole House, Cotton Hall, Wotton House, Holland House, Mustians, Angelo's, Manor House, Farrer House, Baldwin's Bec, The Timbralls, and Westbury.


House structure

In addition to the house master, each house has a house captain and a house captain of games. Some houses have more than one. House prefects were once elected from the oldest year, but this no longer happens. The old term "Library" survives in the name of the room set aside for the oldest year's use, where boys have their own kitchen. Similarly, boys in their penultimate year have a room known as "Debate". There are entire house gatherings every evening, usually around 8:05–8:30 p.m. These are known as "Prayers", due to their original nature. The house master and boys have an opportunity to make announcements, and sometimes the boys provide light entertainment. For much of Eton's history, junior boys had to act as "fags", or servants, to older boys. Their duties included cleaning, cooking, and running errands. A Library member was entitled to yell at any time and without notice, "Boy, Up!" or "Boy, Queue!", and all first-year boys had to come running. The last boy to arrive was given the task. These practices, known as
fagging Fagging was a traditional practice in British public schools and also at many other boarding schools, whereby younger pupils were required to act as personal servants to the eldest boys. Although probably originating earlier, the first account ...
, were partially phased out of most houses in the 1970s. Captains of house and games still sometimes give tasks to first-year boys, such as collecting the mail from the school office. There are many inter-house competitions, mostly in sports.


Head Masters: 1442–present


Uniform

The School is known for its traditions, including a uniform of black
tailcoat A tailcoat is a knee-length coat characterised by a rear section of the skirt, known as the ''tails'', with the front of the skirt cut away. The tailcoat shares its historical origins in clothes cut for convenient horse riding in the Early Mode ...
(or
morning coat A tailcoat is a knee-length coat (clothing), coat characterised by a rear section of the skirt, known as the ''tails'', with the front of the skirt cut away. The tailcoat shares its historical origins in clothes cut for convenient horse riding i ...
) and black
waistcoat A waistcoat ( UK and Commonwealth, or ; colloquially called a weskit), or vest ( US and Canada), is a sleeveless upper-body garment. It is usually worn over a dress shirt and necktie and below a coat as a part of most men's formal wear. I ...
, a starched stiff collar and black pinstriped trousers. Most pupils wear a white " tie" which is a narrow strip of cloth folded over the joint of the collar to hide the collar stud, but some senior boys are entitled to wear a white bow tie and winged collar ("Stick-Ups"). There are some variations in the school dress worn by boys in authority, see School Prefects and King's Scholars sections. The long-standing belief that the present uniform was first worn as mourning for the death of King
George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
in 1820 is unfounded. In 1862 headmaster
Edward Balston Edward Balston (26 November 1817 – 29 November 1891) was an English schoolmaster, Church of England cleric, head master of Eton College from 1862 to 1868 and later Rector of Hitcham, Buckinghamshire, Vicar of Bakewell, Derbyshire, and Arc ...
, in an interview with the
Clarendon Commission The Clarendon Commission was a royal commission established in 1861 to investigate the state of nine leading schools in England, in the wake of complaints about the finances, buildings, and management of Eton College. It was chaired by the 4th ...
, noted little in the way of uniform.
Lord Clarendon: One more question, which bears in some degree upon other schools, namely with regard to the dress. The boys do not wear any particular dress at Eton? Edward Balston: No, with the exception that they are obliged to wear a white neckcloth. Lord Clarendon: Is the colour of their clothes much restricted? Edward Balston: We would not let them wear for instance a yellow coat or any other colour very much out of the way. Lord Clarendon: If they do not adopt anything very extravagant either with respect to colour or cut you allow them to follow their own taste with respect to the choice of their clothes? Edward Balston: Yes. Lord Lyttelton: They must wear the common round hat? Edward Balston: Yes.
The uniform worn today was gradually adopted and standardised towards the end of the nineteenth century. Until 1967, boys under the height of 5'4" (1.63 m) wore a cropped jacket (known as an Eton jacket,
mess jacket The mess jacket is a type of formal jacket that ends at the waist. It features either a non-fastening double breast cut or a single-breasted version that fastens.
, or "bum-freezer") instead of a tailcoat.


Tutors and teaching

Teachers are known unofficially as "beaks". The pupil to teacher ratio is 8:1, which is extremely low by typical UK school standards. Class sizes start at around twenty to twenty-five in the first year and are often below ten by the final year. The original curriculum concentrated on prayers, Latin and devotion, and "as late as 1530 no Greek was taught". Later the emphasis was on
classical studies Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
, dominated by
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
and
Ancient History Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...
, and, for boys with sufficient ability,
Classical Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
. From the latter part of the 19th century this curriculum has changed and broadened: for example, there are now more than 100 students of Chinese, which is a non-curriculum course. In the 1970s, there was just one school computer, in a small room attached to the science buildings. It used
punched tape Five- and eight-hole punched paper tape Paper tape reader on the Harwell computer with a small piece of five-hole tape connected in a circle – creating a physical program loop Punched tape or perforated paper tape is a form of data storage ...
to store programs. Today, all boys must have laptop computers, and the school fibre-optic network connects all classrooms and all boys' bedrooms to the internet. The primary responsibility for a boy's studies lies with his House Master, but he is assisted by an additional director of studies, known as a tutor. Classes, formally known as "divisions" ("divs"), are organised on a School basis; the classrooms are separate from the houses. New blocks of classrooms have appeared every decade or so since New Schools, designed by
Henry Woodyer Henry Woodyer (1816–1896) was an English architect, a pupil of William Butterfield and a disciple of A. W. N. Pugin and the Ecclesiologists. Life Woodyer was born in Guildford, Surrey, England, in 1816, the son of a successful, highly resp ...
and built 1861–63. Despite the introduction of modern technology, the external appearance and locations of many of the classrooms have remained unchanged for a long time. The oldest classroom still in use, "Lower School", dates from the 15th century. Every evening, about an hour and a quarter, known as Quiet Hour, is set aside, during which boys are expected to study or prepare work for their teachers if not otherwise engaged. Some Houses, at the discretion of the House Master, may observe a second Quiet Hour after prayers in the evening. This is less formal, with boys being allowed to visit each other's rooms to socialise if neither boy has work outstanding. The
Independent Schools Inspectorate The Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) is approved by the Secretary of State for Education – under section 106 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 – to inspect independent schools in England. These schools are members of associations, w ...
's report for 2016 says, "The achievement of pupils is exceptional. Progress and abilities of all pupils are at a high level. Pupils are highly successful in public examinations, and the record of entrance to universities with demanding entry requirements in the United Kingdom and overseas is strong." In 2017, a
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is an umbrella term used to group together the distinct but related technical disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The term is typically used in the context of ...
(STEM) schools skills ranking table, designed to show employability, showed the school performed disproportionally badly, falling to 109th place and behind many state schools.
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, the chairwoman of the company producing the report, called for schools to be reassessed based on how suitable pupils are for businesses in the post-Brexit world.


School magazines

''The Chronicle'' is the official school magazine, having been founded in 1863.Nevill, p. 25 It is edited by boys at the school. Although liable to censorship, it has a tradition of satirising and attacking school policies, as well as documenting recent events. ''The Oppidan'', founded in 1828, was published once a half; it covered all sport in Eton and some professional events as well, but no longer exists. ''The Junior Chronicle'' is the official school magazine of Lower Boys (pupils in their first two years at Eton) and it written, edited and designed solely by them. Other school magazines, including ''The Spectrum'' (the Academic Yearbook), ''The Arts Review'', and ''The Eton Zeitgeist'' have been published, as well as publications produced by individual departments such as ''Etonomics'' (economics), ''The Axiom'' (mathematics), ''Scientific Etonian'' (science), ''Praed'' (poetry and song), ''The Ampersand'' (English), ''Biopsy'' (Medicine) and ''The Lexicon'' (modern languages). Some school magazines also have an online presence.


Societies

At Eton, there are many organisations known as 'societies', in many of which pupils come together to discuss a particular topic or to listen to a lecture, presided over by a senior pupil, and often including a guest speaker. At any one time there are about fifty societies and clubs in existence, catering for a wide range of interests and largely run by boys. Societies tend to come and go, depending on the special enthusiasms of the masters and boys in the school at the time, but some have been in existence for many years. Those in existence at present include: Aeronautical, African, Alexander Cozens (Art), Amnesty, Archeological, Architectural, Astronomy, Balfour, Banks (conservation), Caledonian, Cheese, Classical, Comedy, Cosmopolitan, Debating, Design, Entrepreneurship, Francophone, Geographical, Geopolitical, Global, Henry Fielding, Hispanic, History, Keynes (economics), Law, Literary, Mathematical, Medical, Middle Eastern, Model United Nations, Modern Languages, Oriental, Orwell (left-wing), Simeon (Christian), Parry (music), Photographic, Political, Praed (poetry), Rock (music), Rous (equestrian), Salisbury (formerly diplomatic, now colonial history), Savile (Rare Books and Manuscripts), Shelley, Scientific, Sports, Tech Club, Theatre, Wellington (military), Wine and Wotton's (philosophy). Among past guest speakers are
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, Kevin Warwick, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Vivienne Westwood, Terry Wogan and Alan Yau.


Grants and prizes

Prizes are awarded on the results of trials (internal exams), GCSE and AS-levels. In addition, many subjects and activities have specially endowed prizes, several of which are awarded by visiting experts. The most prestigious is the Newcastle Scholarship, awarded on the strength of an examination, consisting of two papers in philosophical theology, moral theory and applied ethics. The second most prestigious is the Rosebery Prize for History – this is awarded on the same day as the Newcastle Scholarship, and follows a similar format of a 3-hour exam during the Lent Half (although the Newcastle Scholarship is awarded on the basis of two such examinations). Also of note is the Gladstone Memorial Prize and the Coutts Prize, awarded on the results of trials and AS-level examinations in C block (Year Twelve, Year 12); and the Huxley Prize, awarded for a project on a scientific subject. Other specialist prizes include the Newcastle Classical Prize, which was formerly the same prize as the Newcastle Scholarship, but the two were separated as a decreasing number of philosophers were fluent in Latin and Classical Greek; the Queen's Prizes for French and German; the Duke of Newcastle's Russian Prize; the Beddington Spanish Prize; the Strafford and Bowman Shakespeare Prizes; the George_Tomline_(politician)#Tomline_Prize, Tomline and Russell Prizes in Mathematics; the Sotheby Prize for History of Art; the Waddington Prize for Theology and Philosophy; the Birley Prize for History; the Rorie Mackenzie Prize for Modern Languages; the Robert Boyle Prize for Physics. The Lower Boy Rosebery Prize; the Wilder Prize for Theology and The Hervey Verse Prize for poetry in senior years. Prizes are awarded too for excellence in such activities as painting, sculpture, ceramics, playing musical instruments, musical composition, declamation, silverwork, and design. Various benefactions make it possible to give grants each year to boys who wish, for educational or cultural reasons, to work or travel abroad. These include the Busk Fund, which supports individual ventures that show particular initiative; the C. M. Wells Memorial Trust Fund, for the promotion of visits to classical lands; the Sadler Fund, which supports, among others, those intending to enter the Foreign Service; and the Marsden Fund, for travel in countries where the principal language is not English.


Incentives and sanctions

Eton has a well-established system for encouraging boys to produce high-standard work. An excellent piece of work may be rewarded with a "Show Up", to be shown to the boy's tutors as evidence of progress.McConnell, p. 84 If, in any particular term, a pupil makes a particularly good effort in any subject, he may be "Commended for Good Effort" to the Head Master (or Lower Master). If any boy produces an outstanding piece of work, it may be "Sent Up For Good", storing the effort in the College Archives for posterity. This award has been around since the 18th century. As Sending Up For Good is fairly infrequent, the process is rather mysterious to many of Eton's boys. First, the master wishing to Send Up For Good must gain the permission of the relevant Head of Department. Upon receiving his or her approval, the piece of work will be marked with Sent Up For Good and the student will receive a card to be signed by House Master, tutor and division master. The opposite of a Show Up is a "Rip". This is for sub-standard work, which is sometimes torn at the top of the page/sheet and must be submitted to the boy's housemaster for signature. Boys who accumulate rips are liable to be given a "White Ticket", a form of a progress report which must be signed at intervals by all his teachers and may be accompanied by other punishments, usually involving doing domestic chores or School punishment#Writing lines, writing lines. In recent times, a milder form of the rip, 'sign for information', colloquially known as an "info", has been introduced, which must also be signed by the boy's housemaster and tutor. Internal examinations are held at the end of the Michaelmas half (i.e. autumn term) for all pupils, and in the Summer half for those in the first, second and fourth years (i.e. those not taking a full set of public examinations). These internal examinations are called "Trials". A boy who is late for any division or other appointments may be required to sign "Tardy Book", a register kept in the School Office, between 7:35 am and 7:45 am, every morning for the duration of his sentence (typically three days). Tardy Book may also be issued for late work. For more serious misdeeds, a boy is placed "on the Bill", which involves him being summoned by the sudden entry of a prefect into one of his divisions, who announces in a loud and formal tone that at a given time a certain pupil must attend the office of the Head Master, or Lower Master if the boy is in the lower two years, to talk personally about his misdeeds.McConnell, pp. 83–84 The most serious misdeeds may result in expulsion, or Rustication (academia), rustication (suspension) or in former times, beating. Conversely, should a master be more than 15 minutes late for a class, traditionally the pupils may claim it as a "run" and absent themselves for the rest of its duration, provided they report their intention so to do at the school office. A traditional punishment took the form of being made to copy, by hand, Latin hexameters. Offenders were frequently set 100 hexameters by Library members, or, for more serious offences, Georgics (more than 500 hexameters) by their House Masters or the Head Master. The giving of a Georgic is now extremely rare, but still occasionally occurs.


Corporal punishment

Eton used to be renowned for its use of school corporal punishment, corporal punishment, generally known as "beating". In the 16th century, Friday was set aside as "flogging day".Nevill, p. 9. A special wooden birching block was used for the purpose, with the boy being directed to fetch it and then kneel over it. John Keate, Head Master from 1809 to 1834, took over at a time when discipline was poor. Until 1964, offending boys could be summoned to the Head Master or the Lower Master, as appropriate, to receive a birching on the bare posterior, in a semi-public ceremony held in the Library, where there was a special wooden birching block over which the offender was held.
Anthony Chenevix-Trench Anthony Chenevix-Trench (10 May 1919 – 21 June 1979) was a British schoolteacher and classics scholar. He was born in British India, educated at Shrewsbury School and Christ Church, Oxford, and served in the Second World War as an artillery of ...
, Head Master from 1964 to 1970, abolished the birch and replaced it with caning, also applied to the bare buttocks, which he administered privately in his office. Chenevix-Trench also abolished corporal punishment administered by senior boys. Previously, House Captains were permitted to cane offenders over the seat of the trousers. This was a routine occurrence, carried out privately with the boy bending over with his head under the edge of a table. Less common but more severe were the canings administered by Pop (see Eton college#Prefects, Eton Society below) in the form of a "Pop-Tanning", in which a large number of hard strokes were inflicted by the President of Pop in the presence of all Pop members (or, in earlier times, each member of Pop took it in turns to inflict a stroke). The culprit was summoned to appear in a pair of old trousers, as the caning would cut the cloth to shreds. This was the most severe form of physical punishment at Eton. Chenevix-Trench's successor from 1970, Michael McCrum, retained private corporal punishment by masters but ended the practice of requiring boys to take their trousers and underpants down when bending over to be caned by the Head Master. By the mid-1970s, the only people allowed to administer caning were the Head Master and the Lower Master. Corporal punishment was phased out in the 1980s. The film director Sebastian Doggart claims to have been the last boy caned at Eton, in 1984.


Prefects

In addition to the masters, the following three categories of senior boys are entitled to exercise School discipline. Boys who belong to any of these categories, in addition to a limited number of other boy office holders, are entitled to wear winged collars with bow ties. * Pop: officially known as 'Eton Society', a society comprising the most popular, well-regarded, confident and able senior boys. It is a driving ambition of many capable Eton schoolboys to be elected to Pop, and many high-performers who are refused entry to this society consider their careers at Eton a failure.
Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...
was a member of Pop, whilst
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
(unlike his elder brother Alexander Cameron (barrister), Alexander) failed to be elected, which possibly fed their later political rivalry. Over the years its power and privileges have grown. Pop is the oldest self-electing society at Eton. The rules were altered in 1987 and again in 2005 so that the new intake are not elected solely by the existing year and a committee of masters. Members of Pop wear white and black houndstooth-checked trousers, a starched stick-up collar and white bow-tie, and are entitled to wear flamboyant waistcoats, often of their own design. Historically, only members of Pop were entitled to furl their umbrellas or sit on the wall on the Long Walk, in front of the main building. However, these traditions have died out. They perform roles at many of the routine events of the school year, including school plays, parents' evenings and other official events, and generally maintain order. Notable ex-members of Pop include the
Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
(unlike his younger brother the Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex , Duke of Sussex, who failed to be elected); Eddie Redmayne; Tom Hiddleston; and Boris Johnson. * Sixth Form Select: an academically selected prefectorial group consisting, by custom, of the 10 senior King's Scholars and the 10 senior Oppidan Scholars. Members of Sixth Form Select are entitled to wear silver buttons on their waistcoats. They also act as Praepostors: they enter classrooms in mid-lesson without knocking and ask in a loud and formal tone, "Is (family name) in this division?" followed by "He is to see the Head Master at (time) on the bill" (the ''Bill'', see above). Members of Sixth Form Select also perform "Speeches", a formal event held five times a year. * House Captains: The captains of each of the 25 boys' houses (see above). There are usually either one or two per house. They have little responsibility at a school level, but within their house are more senior than Pop or Sixth Form Select members. House Captains are entitled to wear a mottled-grey waistcoat. It is possible to belong to ''Pop'' and ''Sixth Form Select'' at the same time. It is less common for a House Captain to belong to Pop but it still happens fairly often. In the era of Elizabeth I of England, Queen Elizabeth I there were two praepostors in every form, who noted down the names of absentees. Until the late 19th century, there was a praepostor for every division of the school.


Sport

Sport is a feature of Eton; which has nearly 200 acres of playing fields and amenity land. The names of the playing fields include Agar's Plough, Dutchman's, Upper Club, Lower Club, Sixpenny/The Field, and Mesopotamia (situated between two streams and often shortened to "Mespots"). * During the Michaelmas Half, the sport curriculum is dominated by soccer, football (called ''Association'') and rugby union, with some rowing for a smaller number of boys. * During the Lent Half it is dominated by the Eton Field Game, field game, a football, code of football, but this is unique to Eton and cannot be played against other schools. During this half, Collegers also play the Eton wall game; this game received national publicity when it was taken up by Prince Harry. Aided by AstroTurf facilities on Masters' field, field hockey has become a major Lent Half sport along with Rugby 7's. Elite Rowing (sport), rowers prepare for the Schools' Head of the River Race in late March. * During the Summer Half, sporting boys divide into ''dry bobs'', who play cricket, tennis or sport of athletics, athletics, and ''wet bobs'', who row on the River Thames and the rowing lake in preparation for The National Schools Regatta and the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. The Dorney Lake, rowing lake at Dorney was developed and is owned by the college. It was the venue for the Sport rowing, rowing and Canoeing at the 2012 Summer Olympics, canoeing events at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the World Junior Rowing Championships. The Eton v Harrow, annual cricket match against Harrow at Lord's Cricket Ground is the oldest fixture of the cricketing calendar, having been played there since 1805. A staple of the London society calendar since the 1800s, in 1914, its importance was such that over 38,000 people attended the two days' play, and in 1910 Fowler's match, the match made national headlines but interest has since declined considerably, and the match is now a one-day Limited overs cricket, limited overs contest. In 1815, Eton College documented its football rules, the first football code to be written down anywhere in the world. There is a running track at the Thames Valley Athletics Centre and an annual steeplechase (athletics), steeplechase. The running track was controversial as it was purchased with a £3m National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lottery grant with the school getting full daytime use of the facilities in exchange for £200k and of land. The bursar claimed that Windsor, Slough and Eton Athletic club was "deprived" because it did not have a world-class running track and facilities for training and the Sports Council agreed, saying the whole community would benefit. However Steve Osborn, director of the Safe Neighbourhoods Unit, described the decision as "staggering" given substantial reduction in youth services by councils across the country. The facility which became the Thames Valley Athletics Centre opened in April 1999. Among the other sports played at Eton is Eton Fives.


Olympic rowing

In 2006, six years before the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2012 London Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Paralympics, London 2012 Summer Paralympic Games, Eton completed the construction of Dorney Lake, a permanent, eight-lane, 2,200 metre course (about 1.4 miles) in a 400-acre park. Eton financed the construction from its own funds. Officially known throughout the Games as ''Eton Dorney'', Dorney Lake provided training facilities for Olympic and Paralympic competitors, and during the Games, hosted the Olympic and Paralympic Rowing competitions as well as the Olympic Canoe Sprint event. It attracted over 400,000 visitors during the Games period (around 30,000 per day), and was voted the best 2012 Olympic venue by spectators. Thirty medal events were held on Dorney Lake, during which Team GB won a total of 12 medals, making the lake one of the most successful venues for Team GB. The International Rowing Federation, FISA President, Denis Oswald (sports official), Denis Oswald, described it as "the best-ever Olympic rowing venue". In June 2013, it hosted the World Rowing Cup. Access to the parkland around the Lake is provided to members of the public, free of charge, almost all the year round.


Music and drama


Music

The current "Precentor" (Head of Music) is Tim Johnson, and the School has eight organs and an entire building for music (performance spaces include the School Hall, the Farrer Theatre and two halls dedicated to music, the Parry Hall and the Concert Hall). Many instruments are taught, including obscure ones such as the didgeridoo. The School participates in many national competitions; many pupils are part of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, National Youth Orchestra, and the School gives scholarships for dedicated and talented musicians. A former Precentor of the college, Ralph Allwood set up and organised Eton Choral Courses, which run at the School every summer. In 2009, the School's musical protégés came to wider notice when featured in a TV documentary ''A Boy Called Alex''. The film followed an Etonian, Alex Stobbs, a musician with cystic fibrosis, as he worked toward conducting the difficult ''Magnificat (Bach), Magnificat'' by Johann Sebastian Bach.


Drama

Numerous plays are put on every year at Eton College; there is one main theatre, called the Farrer (seating 400) and 2 Studio theatres, called the Caccia Studio and Empty Space (seating 90 and 80 respectively). There are about 8 or 9 house productions each year, around 3 or 4 "independent" plays (not confined solely to one house, produced, directed and funded by Etonians) and three school plays, one specifically for boys in the first two years, and two open to all years. The school plays have such good reputations that they are normally fully booked every night. Productions also take place in varying locations around the School, varying from the sports fields to more historic buildings such as Upper School and College Chapel. In recent years, the School has put on a musical version of ''The Bacchae'' (October 2009) as well as productions of ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'' (May 2010), ''The Cherry Orchard'' (February 2011), ''Joseph K'' (October 2011), ''Cyrano de Bergerac (play), Cyrano de Bergerac'' (May 2012), ''Macbeth'' (October 2012), ''London Assurance'' (May 2013), ''Jerusalem (play), Jerusalem'' (October 2013), ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (May 2014), ''Antigone (Sophocles play), Antigone'' (October 2015), ''The Government Inspector'' (May 2016) and ''Romeo and Juliet'' (May 2017). On top of this, every three years, the School holds a fringe-style School Play Festival, where students and teachers write, direct and act in their own plays, hosted over the period of a week. The most recent one was held in October 2016, which hosted a wide variety of plays, from a double bill of two half an hour plays, to a serialised radio drama, written by a boy in F block (the youngest year.) Often girls from surrounding schools, such as St. George's School, Ascot, St George's, Ascot, St Mary's School Ascot, Windsor Girls' School and Heathfield St Mary's School, are cast in female roles. Boys from the School are also responsible for the lighting, sound and stage management of all the productions, under the guidance of several professional full-time theatre staff. Every year, Eton employs a 'Director-in-Residence', an external professional director on a one-year contract who normally directs one house play and the Lower Boy play (a school play open solely to the first two-year groups), as well as teaching Drama and Theatre Studies to most year groups. The drama department is headed by Scott Handy (taking over from Hailz Osbourne in 2015) and several other teachers; Simon Dormandy was on the staff until late 2012. The School offers GCSE drama as well as A-level "English with Theatre Studies".


Celebrations

Eton's best-known holiday takes place on the so-called "Fourth of June", a celebration of the birthday of George III of the United Kingdom, King George III, Eton's greatest patron. This day is celebrated with the Procession of Boats, in which the top rowing crews from the top four years row past in vintage wooden rowing boats. Similar to the Queen's Official Birthday, the "Fourth of June" is no longer celebrated on 4 June, but on the Wednesday before the first weekend of June. Eton also observes St. Andrew's Day, on which the Eton wall game is played.


Charitable status and fees

Until 18 December 2010, Eton College was an ''exempt charity'' under English law (Charities Act 1993, Schedule 2). Under the provisions of the Charities Act 2006, it is now an ''excepted charity'', and fully registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, Charities Commission, and is now one of the 100 largest charities in the UK. As a charity, it benefits from substantial tax breaks. It was calculated by David Jewell (headmaster), David Jewell, former Master of Haileybury and Imperial Service College, Haileybury, that in 1992 such tax breaks saved the school about £1,945 per pupil per year, although he had no direct connection with the school. This subsidy has declined since the 2001 abolition by the Labour Government of state-funded scholarships (formerly known as "assisted places") to independent schools. However, no child attended Eton on this scheme, meaning that the actual level of state assistance to the school has always been lower. Eton's former Head Master, Tony Little, has claimed that the benefits that Eton provides to the local community free of charge (use of its facilities, etc.) have a higher value than the tax breaks it receives as a result of its charitable status. The fee for the academic year 2021–2022 was £44,094 (approximately US$60,000 or Euro, €52,000 as of November 2021), although the sum is considerably lower for those pupils on bursaries and scholarships.


Support for state education


London Academy of Excellence

Eton co-sponsors a state sixth-form college, the London Academy of Excellence, opened in 2012 in the London Borough of Newham in East London, the second most deprived borough in England, and just over a mile from the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the main venue for London's 2012 Summer Olympics. In 2015–2016, it had around 440 pupils and 32 teachers. The college is free of charge and aims to get all its students into higher education. The college's close relationship with Eton has led it to be described as 'the Eton of the East End'. In 2015, the college reported that it had been named best sixth form in the country by ''The Sunday Times''.


Holyport College

In September 2014, Eton opened, and became the sole educational sponsor for, Holyport College, a new purpose-built co-educational state boarding and day school that provides free education for around 500 pupils. It is located in Holyport, near Maidenhead in Berkshire. Construction costs were around £15 million, in which a fifth of places for day pupils have been set aside for children from poor homes, 21 boarding places for to youngsters on the verge of being taken into care, and a further 28 boarders funded or part-funded through bursaries.


State school pupils

The above-described developments are running alongside long-established courses that Eton has provided for pupils from state schools, most of them in the summer holidays (July and August).


Universities Summer School

Launched in 1982, the Universities Summer School is an intensive residential course open to boys and girls throughout the UK who attend state schools, are at the end of their first year in the Sixth Form, and are about to begin their final year of schooling.


Brent-Eton Summer School

Launched in 1994, the Brent-Eton Summer School offers 40–50 young people from the London Borough of Brent, an area of inner-city deprivation, an intensive one-week residential course, free of charge, designed to help bridge the gap between GCSE and A-level.


Eton, Slough, Windsor and Heston Independent and State School Partnership

In 2008, Eton helped found the ''Eton, Slough, Windsor and Heston Independent and State School Partnership'' (ISSP), with six local state schools. The ISSP's aims are 'to raise pupil achievement, improve pupil self-esteem, raise pupil aspirations and improve professional practice across the schools'. Eton also runs a number of choral and English language courses during the summer months.


Historical relations with other schools

Eton College has links with some private schools in India today, maintained from the days of the British Raj, such as The Doon School and Mayo College. Eton College is also a member of the
G30 Schools G30 Schools, formerly known as G20 Schools, is an informal association of secondary schools initiated by David Wylde of St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown, South Africa and Anthony Seldon of Wellington College, Berkshire, United Kingdom in 2006. A ...
Group, a collection of college preparatory boarding schools from around the world, including Turkey's Robert College, the United States' Phillips Academy and Phillips Exeter Academy, Australia's Melbourne Grammar School and Launceston Church Grammar School, Singapore's Raffles Institution, and Switzerland's International School of Geneva. Eton has fostered a relationship with the Roxbury Latin School, a traditional all-boys private school in Boston, USA. Former Eton headmaster and provost Eric Anderson (educator), Sir Eric Anderson shares a close friendship with Roxbury Latin Headmaster emeritus F. Washington Jarvis; Anderson has visited Roxbury Latin on numerous occasions, while Jarvis briefly taught theology at Eton after retiring from his headmaster post at Roxbury Latin. The headmasters' close friendship spawned the Hennessy Scholarship, an annual prize established in 2005 and awarded to a graduating RL senior for a year of study at Eton. Hennessy Scholars generally reside in Wotton house. Eton College funded the Chapel of Trinity College, Kandy, Trinity College in Kandy, Sri Lanka. In 1927 with underground construction proving to be expensive, the project was strapped for funds. The administration led by Principal John McLeod Campbell (priest), Rev John McLeod Campbell appealed far and wide for funds. The captivating edifice finished eight years later is the fruit of the generosity of many colleges in the UK including Eton College. In appreciation of the contributions, the coat of arms of Eton College adorns the inner pillars of the Trinity College Chapel, Kandy Bishop James Chapman (bishop), James Chapman, a former alumnus of Eton College, would go on to become the 1st Anglican Bishop of the Diocese of Colombo (Anglican), Diocese of Colombo. He was instrumental in establishing two prominent schools in Sri Lanka: S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, a fee-levying Anglican Selective school, selective entry boys' private school based on the Etonian model in 1851, and Bishop's College, Colombo, a private girls' school in 1875.


The Doon School, India

The Doon School, founded in 1935, is an all-boys' public school (United Kingdom), public school in India that was modelled along the lines of Eton and Winchester. The School's first Head teacher, headmaster was an Englishman, Arthur Foot, Arthur E. Foot, who had spent nine years as a science master at Eton College before joining Doon. In Doon's early years, teachers from Eton travelled to India to fill the academic posts. Peter Lawrence (teacher), Peter Lawrence was one of the first few masters to go to Doon. This led to similar slang being introduced in Doon which is still in use today, such as ''trials'', ''dame'', ''fagging'', and ''schools'' (as opposed to 'periods'). In February 2013, Eton's headmaster Tony Little visited Doon to hold talks with the then headmaster of Doon, Peter McLaughlin, on further collaboration between the two schools. Both schools participate in an exchange programme in which boys from either school visit the other for one academic term. Doon has often been described as the 'Eton of India' by media outlets such as ''The New York Times'', BBC, Channel 4, ''The Guardian'', ''The Daily Telegraph'', and ''Forbes'', but the school eschews the label.


Old Etonians

Former pupils of Eton College are known as Old Etonians.


Politics

Eton has produced twenty British List of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom by education, prime ministers. Eleven of them are shown above.


Royalty and nobility

A number of Nobility, blue-blooded pupils come to Eton from Aristocracy (class), aristocratic and Royal family, royal families from six continents, some of whom have been sending their sons to Eton for generations. British: * William, Prince of Wales, The Prince of Wales (born 1982) * Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (born 1984) * Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster (1879–1953) * Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (1900–1974) * Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester (born 1944) * Alexander Windsor, Earl of Ulster (born 1974) * Prince William of Gloucester (1941–1972) * Edward, Duke of Kent, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (born 1935) * George Windsor, Earl of St Andrews (born 1962) * Edward Windsor, Lord Downpatrick (born 1988) * Prince Michael of Kent (born 1942) * Lord Frederick Windsor (born 1979) * James Ogilvy (born 1964), son of Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy, Princess Alexandra and the Hon. Sir Angus Ogilvy * Samuel (1996) and Arthur Chatto (1999), sons of Lady Sarah Chatto, and Princess Margaret's grandsons. * George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood (1923–2011), the son of Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood * Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer (born 1964), brother of Diana, Princess of Wales * Charles Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley#Personal life and family, Charles Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley (born 1999) * John Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke of Marlborough (1926–2014) * Lord William Beauchamp Nevill (1860–1939) Foreign: * Prajadhipok, King Prajadhipok or Rama VII of Siam (1893–1941) * Tokugawa Iesato, Prince Tokugawa Iesato (1863–1940) * Leopold III of Belgium, King Leopold III of Belgium (1901–1983) * Nirajan Bir Bikram Shah Dev, Prince Nirajan Bir Bikram Shah Dev of Nepal (1978–2001) * Aga Khan III (1877–1957) * King Birendra of Nepal (1945–2001) * Dipendra of Nepal, King Dipendra of Nepal (1971–2001) * Crown Prince Zera Yacob Amha Selassie of Ethiopia * Prince Nicholas of Romania (1903–1978) * Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia (born 1945)


Writers


Scientists


Journalists


Actors

Actor Dominic West has been unenthusiastic about the career benefits of being an Old Etonian, saying it "is a stigma that is slightly above 'paedophile' in the media in a gallery of infamy", but asked whether he would consider sending his own children there, said "Yes, I would. It's an extraordinary place. ... It has the facilities and the excellence of teaching and it will find what you’re good at and nurture it".


Music


Others

*Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Nazi SA Obergruppenführer *Francis Bertie, 1st Viscount Bertie of Thame, ambassador *Henry Blofeld, cricket commentator *Beau Brummell, dandy *Guy Burgess, diplomat and spy *Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy, WWI commander and Governor-General of Canada *Alan Clark, Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament and author *James Colthurst, radiologist and friend of Diana, Princess of Wales *Charles Douglas-Home, 13th Earl of Home, Charles Douglas-Home, father of Prime Minister Sir Alec Douglas-Home *Ranulph Fiennes, explorer *Alexander Fiske-Harrison, bullfighter and author *Ivo Graham, comedian *Bear Grylls, adventurer *William Inge (priest), William Inge, Dean of St Paul's Cathedral *John Maynard Keynes, economist *Richard Layard, economist *Oliver Leese, WWII commander 8th Army *Stanley Maude, Frederick Stanley Maude, WWI commander *Stewart Menzies, WWII head of MI6. *Alexander Nix, CEO of Cambridge Analytica. *Nigel Oakes, CEO of Behavioural Dynamics Institute and SCL Group. *Lawrence Oates, Antarctic explorer *Derek Parfit, philosopher *Herbert Plumer, 1st Viscount Plumer, WWI commander *Paul Raison (art historian), Paul Raison, art historian and a Chairman of Christie's *Timothy Raison, MP and Government minister *Charles Studd, C.T. Studd, cricketer and missionary *Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury *Henry Maitland Wilson, World War II commander Thirty-seven Old Etonians have been awarded the Victoria Cross—the largest number to alumni of any school (see List of Victoria Crosses by school).


Partially filmed at Eton

Here follows a list of films partially filmed at Eton. * ''Henry VIII and His Six Wives'' (1972) * ''Aces High (film), Aces High'' (1976) * ''Chariots of Fire'' (1981) * ''Young Sherlock Holmes'' (1985) * ''The Fourth Protocol (film), The Fourth Protocol'' (1987) * ''Inspector Morse (TV series), Inspector Morse'': ''Absolute Conviction'' (1992 TV episode) * ''Lovejoy'': "Friends in High Places" (1992 TV episode) * ''The Secret Garden (1993 film), The Secret Garden'' (1993) * ''The Madness of King George'' (1994) * ''A Dance to the Music of Time'' (1997 TV mini-series) * ''Shakespeare in Love'' (1998) * ''Mansfield Park (1999 film), Mansfield Park'' (1999) * ''A History of Britain (TV series), A History of Britain'' (2000 TV series documentary) * ''My Week With Marilyn'' (2010) * ''The English Game'' (2020 TV miniseries)


Controversies


See also

* Eton and Castle, the electoral ward that includes the College * Eton Boating Song * Eton College Collections * Eton mess * Eton Montem * Eton Racing Boats * "The Eton Rifles", a 1979 song by the Jam * Eton Summer Course * List of head masters of Eton College * List of the oldest schools in the world


Notes


References

* Nevill, Ralph (1911). ''Floreat Etona: Anecdotes and Memories of Eton College''. London: Macmillan. . * McConnell, J.D.R. (1967). ''Eton: How It Works''. London: Faber and Faber. .
Term Dates
[accessed 19 August 2021]


Further reading

* Card, Tim, ''Eton Established: A History from 1440 to 1860'' (London, John Murray, 2001, ) * Lionel Cust, Cust, Lionel
''A History of Eton College''
third edition, London, 1899, * * Fraser, Nick, ''The Importance of Being Eton'' (London, Short Books, June 2006, ) * * * Osborne, Richard, ''Music and Musicians of Eton: 1440 to the present'' (London, Cygnet Press, 2012, ) * Parker, Eric, ''Playing Fields: School Days at Eton'' (London, Philip Allan, 1922, )


External links

*



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