Eton's famous students

David Cameron

Former pupils of Eton College are known as Old Etonians.
Eton has produced nineteen British Prime Ministers, including Sir Robert Walpole, William Pitt the Elder, the first Duke of Wellington, William Ewart Gladstone, Arthur James Balfour, Harold Macmillan, and the current Prime Minister, David Cameron.
Old Etonians who have been writers include Henry Fielding, Thomas Gray, Horace Walpole, Aldous Huxley, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Robert Bridges, George Orwell, Anthony Powell, Cyril Connolly and Ian Fleming. The mediaevalist and ghost story writer M. R. James was provost of Eton from 1918 until his death in 1936.

Hugh Lori

 Other notable Old Etonians include scientists Robert Boyle, John Maynard Smith, J. B. S. Haldane, and John Gurdon, the dandy Beau Brummell, economists John Maynard Keynes and Richard Layard, Antarctic explorer Lawrence Oates, politician Alan Clark, cricket commentator Henry Blofeld, explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, adventurer Bear Grylls, composers Thomas Arne, Hubert Parry, and Peter Warlock, and musicians Frank Turner and Humphrey Lyttelton.
Notable Old Etonians in the media include the former Political Editor of both ITN and The Times newspaper, Julian Haviland, the current BBC Deputy Political Editor, James Landale and the BBC Science Editor, David Shukman, the current President of Conde Nast International and Managing Director of Conde Nast UK Nicholas Coleridge, and the former ITN newscaster and BBC Panorama presenter, Ludovic Kennedy, current BBC World News and BBC Rough Justice current affairs presenter David Jessel, former chief ITV and Channel 4 racing commentator John Oaksey, 1950s BBC newreader and 1960s ITN newscaster Timothy Brinton, 1960s BBC newsreader Corbet Woodall, the former Editor of The Daily Telegraph newspaper, Charles Moore, and the former Editor of The Spectator magazine, Ferdinand Mount.

Tom Hiddleston

Notable Old Etonian film and television actors include Eddie Redmayne, Damian Lewis, Christopher Cazenove, Dominic West, Jeremy Clyde, actor and comedian Michael Bentine, Jeremy Brett, Hugh Laurie, Tom Hiddleston, Ian Ogilvy, John Standing, Moray Watson, Jeremy Child, Harry Lloyd and Patrick Macnee.
The school was founded by Henry VI, and is situated next to Windsor Castle. Princes William and Harry are Old Etonians.
A rising number of pupils come to Eton from overseas, including members of royal families from Africa and Asia, some of whom have been sending their sons to Eton for generations. One of them, King Prajadhipok or Rama VII (1893–1941) of Siam, donated a garden to Eton.

Princes William and Harry

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", while the actor Tom Hiddleston says there are widespread misconceptions about Eton, and that "People think it’s just full of braying toffs... It isn’t true... It’s actually one of the most broadminded places I’ve ever been. The reason it’s a good school is that it encourages people to find the thing they love and to go for it. They champion the talent of the individual and that’s what’s special about it".

Witness - Mohamad at Eton

How it's to study at Eton?

The Eton Day

You’ll need to wake up at about 7.30am every weekday (8.30am on Sundays) to give yourself time to wash and dress before breakfast.

After breakfast you have about twenty minutes before Chapel at 8.35am (10.30am most Sundays): time to make your bed, to see if you have any e-mails, to see your house master or dame if necessary, and to organize yourself for the first three schools of the morning.

The weekly morning timetable runs as follows:

	09.00–09.40	1st school
	09.50–10.30	2nd school
	10.40–11.20	3rd school
	11.20	Chambers
	11.45–12.25	4th school
	12.35–13.15	5th school (but a free period on Saturdays)
	13.25	Boys’ Dinner

You go back to your house after the first three schools for Chambers (elevenses) and to organize yourself for the last two schools of the morning.

What happens after boys’ dinner depends on which day of the week it is and on which half it is. It’s too complicated to explain here: you’ll find out when you arrive.

Supper is at about 7.40pm followed by house prayers at about 8.20pm.

Between house prayers and lights out (9.30pm for F block) you have time to finish off your work for the following day, to have a bath or a shower. This is also the time when your house master or dame is likely to drop in to have a chat.

Uniform

The school is known for its traditions, including a uniform of black tailcoat (or morning coat) and waistcoat, false-collar and pinstriped trousers. Most pupils wear a white tie that is effectively a strip of cloth folded over into a starched, detachable collar, 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 claim that the present uniform was first worn as mourning for the death of George III is unfounded. "Eton dress" has undergone significant changes since its standardisation in the 19th century. Originally (along with a top-hat and walking-cane), Etonian dress was reserved for formal occasions, but boys wear it today for classes, which are referred to as "divisions", or "divs". As stated above, King's Scholars wear a black gown over the top of their tailcoats, and occasionally a surplice in Chapel. Members of the teaching staff (known as Beaks) are required to wear a form of school dress when teaching.

From 1820 until 1967, boys under the height of 5'4" were required to wear the 'Eton suit', which replaced the tailcoat with the cropped 'Eton jacket' (known colloquially as a "bum-freezer") and included an 'Eton collar', a large, stiff-starched, white collar. The Eton suit was copied by other schools and has remained in use in some, particularly choir schools.

Entry to Eton: Registration, Selection and House Placement

The Eton prospectus has two parts: the main prospectus is a document describing the school in general terms that will remain substantially valid for a number of years; The "Admissions Booklet" is a document that contains information that changes from year to year including such things as changes to the specifics of the curriculum, changes to fees, and the most recent published examination results.

Most of Eton’s 1300 students enter the school at age 13. An old system under which boys could be registered at birth with a future house master was abolished some years ago, and virtually all candidates now go through a pre-assessment at age 11 (during year 6 in UK educational terms). The assessment consists of an interview, a reasoning test and a report from the boy’s current school. Those offered conditional places must then pass the qualifying examination (Common Entrance) at age 13 to secure their place, or do at least reasonably well in the more challenging King’s Scholarship examination.

We are usually able to offer conditional places to about one third of the candidates at age 11. Others are placed on a waiting list to replace any who may withdraw later.

In order to take the assessment boys must be registered by the age of 10 years 6 months at the latest. This is a firm deadline. Click here to request a registration form.

Introductory tours can be arranged through the Admissions Office. This is best done when a boy is aged 10.

Boys are placed in houses by mutual agreement between families and house masters, after a series of meetings following the award of a conditional place. A contract is then signed with the school, and an entry fee (currently £1600) is paid to secure the place. £1100 of that deposit is returned when the boy leaves the school at age 18 with all fees settled. Both the registration fee and the entrance fee may be waived in case of parental need.

A small number of boys who have not secured conditional places may enter at age 13 by winning a King’s Scholarship orMusic Scholarship. Both scholarships are highly competitive.

Entry at age 16 : we have a Sixth Form Scholarship scheme for boys at UK schools, and in some years we can also take a small number of fee-paying Sixth Form Entrants.

The entry system is managed by the tutor for admissions on the Head Master’s behalf. The Head Master reserves the right to refuse to admit any boy.

It is essential that the Admissions Office is kept up to date with any change of address, guardianship or preparatory school. Eton cannot accept responsibility for correspondence which goes astray.

About 20% of the boys currently at the school are receiving financial support, and some of them are paying substantially reduced fees or indeed no fees at all. Financial support can come through a scholarship or through a bursary. No parents with a talented boy should feel that Eton is necessarily beyond their means. These are the ways in which a candidate can secure a funded place:

In year 6 (age 11): a conditional place offered for entry to Eton  in year 9 can lead to a bursary award. Some preparatory schools offer funded places for years 7 and 8.

In year 8 (age 13): a boy with great academic strength from any educational background can win a King’s Scholarship, and an outstanding musician with good academic qualities can win a Music Scholarship. We also award  New Foundation Scholarships; an entry opportunity for a small number of boys from UK state schools at age 13. Although such boys might find preparation for the King’s Scholarship difficult to achieve, they will have intellectual potential comparable to that of a King’s Scholar, and sit a special examination based on the national curriculum but designed to draw out that flair.

In year 11 (age 16) : UK students expected to gain outstanding GCSE results can compete for a Sixth Form Scholarship. Boys under the age of 17 on 1 September after taking GCSEs and who are attending a maintained (State) school are eligible to apply. Candidates receiving substantial bursarial assistance at fee-paying schools with no provision for Years 12 and 13 may also apply.

A brief history of Eton College

Eton was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor” to provide free education to 70 poor boys who would then go on to King's College, Cambridge, which he founded 1441.

When Henry founded the school, he granted it a large number of endowments, but when he was deposed by Edward IV in 1461, the new king removed most of its assets and treasures to St George's Chapel, Windsor, on the other side of the River Thames.  Construction of the chapel, originally intended to be slightly over twice its current length was stopped hurriedly, but by this time the chapel in its current form and the lower storeys of the current cloisters, including College Hall, had been completed. With reduced funds, little further building took place until around 1517 when Provost Richard Lupton built the tower which now bears his name together with the range of buildings which now includes Election Hall and Election Chamber. 

The earliest records of school life date from the 16th century and paint a picture of a regimented and Spartan life. Scholars were awakened at 5 am, chanted prayers whilst they dressed, and were at work in Lower School by 6am. All teaching was in Latin and lessons were supervised by “praepostors”, senior boys appointed by the headmaster. There was a single hour of play, though even at that time football appears to have been popular, for a sentence set for Latin translation in 1519 was “We will play with a bag full of wynde”. Lessons finished at 8pm and there were only two holidays, each of three weeks duration at Christmas (when the scholars remained at Eton) and in the Summer. These holidays divided the school year into two “halves” a word which has survived despite the change to a three-term year in the 18th century.

From the earliest days of the school, the education received by the scholars was shared by others who did not lodge in College, but who lived in the town with a landlady. By the early 18th century the number of such “Oppidans” (from the Latin “oppidum” meaning “town”) had grown to the extent that more formal arrangements were needed, and the first of the “Dame’s Houses”, Jourdelay’s, was built in 1722. By 1766 there were thirteen houses, and increasingly the responsibility for running them fell to masters as much as to the dame.

The school continued to grow and flourished particularly under the long reign of George III (1760-1820). George spent much of his time at Windsor, frequently visiting the school and entertaining boys at Windsor Castle. The school in turn made George’s birthday, the Fourth of June, into a holiday. Though these celebrations now never fall on that day, Eton’s “Fourth of June”, marked by “speeches”, cricket, a procession of boats, and picnics on “Agar’s Plough” remains an important occasion in the school year.

By the middle of the 19th century reform was long overdue; the Clarendon Commission of 1861 investigated conditions in the major boarding schools of the day and led to significant changes including improved accommodation, a wider curriculum and better-qualified staff. Numbers continued to grow, and by 1891 there were over 1000 boys in the school, a figure which grew pretty steadily until the 1970s, by which time the school had reached its present size of around 1300 boys.

The new millennium saw the introduction for a more meritocratic entry system, with boys no longer being entered on house lists at birth – from 2002, all boys had to win their places through the current procedure of an interview, reasoning test and reference from their previous school.

In the 21st century, emphasis continues to be on widening access, with boys joining us from more and more schools and growing numbers receiving substantial fee remissions. During the academic year 2012/13 20% of boys received some help with fees, and 50 boys paid no fees. Our current target is to increase this over time to 25% who do not pay the full fee and, in line with the Founder’s original wishes, 70 paying no fees at all.

"Eton boys are taught they were born to rule.
It's a shame so many are not".

Matthew Holehouse

ETON COLLEGE

Country: England

City: Windsor

Location: Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 6DW

Type of training: Boys

Age: 13 - 18

Quantity: 1316 students

Eton is one of nine English independent schools, commonly referred to as "public schools", included in the original Public Schools Act 1868. Following the public school tradition, Eton is a full boarding school, which means all pupils live at the school, and is one of four such remaining single-sex boys' public schools in the United Kingdom (the others being Winchester College, Harrow School and Radley College) to continue this practice. It has educated nineteen British Prime Ministers and generations of aristocracy, and has been referred to as the chief nurse of England's statesmen.

Subjects: 

ancient history, classical civilization, art, biology, chemistry, computers, design and technology, performing arts, economics, English literature, higher mathematics, geography, politics, history, art history, Latin, mathematics, music, physics, religion, English, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, Greek, Arabic languages.