Eton is a college that has the status of the most prestigious secondary school in Britain. Boys aged 13 to 18 are accepted here for training. According to the rules of the educational institution, all students are required to live in a boarding house, which is located in a fenced area. An average of 1,300 students reside here throughout the year.
Eton (college) and its history
Specialized school for boys was founded back in 1440 by special decree of King Henry VI. Initially, the purpose of opening an educational institution was to prepare guys from noble families to study at the University of Cambridge.
During the medieval period, the college was known as a place where Spartan methods of education were practiced. The students were required to observe the strictest rules of conduct. At present, the attitude towards students here has significantly softened. However, maintaining self-discipline is still considered an essential trait that a true gentleman possesses.
Eton College in England is famous for its famous alumni. At one time, numerous offspring of royal families, the nobility, public and statesmen successfully graduated from the educational institution. In particular, in the entire history of the existence of the institution, 20 future prime ministers of Britain came out of it, including the most recent, David Cameron. Other notables who attended college include writers Ian Fleming, Aldous Huxley and George Orwell, famous actor Hugh Laurie, composer Thomas Arne, and naturalist and explorer Lawrence Oates.
Eton (college): where is it?
The educational institution is located in the county of Berkshire, at a distance of 30 kilometers from the center of London. The main buildings are located on the banks of the River Thames. Near the college is Windsor Castle.
Equipment
Today the British college Eton is equipped according to the latest standards. There are high-class laboratories of chemistry, physics, biology. The Center for the Development of Innovative Technologies works in an educational institution. The institution has a design center, a recording studio. There is a theater on the territory of the institution, the hall of which can accommodate about 400 people.
Eton is a college where all conditions for sports are created. Pupils have access to numerous playgrounds, green fields, a large indoor pool, as well as a whole host of specialized equipment. Docks are concentrated close to the Thames, where students come to row boats andcanoe.
Accommodation
As noted above, Eton is a college where only male students are enrolled. For them, accommodation is organized in the format of a boarding house. In other words, students are not allowed to be placed outside the college.
There are more than 20 residential buildings on the territory of the educational institution. Each student gets a separate room. At the same time, the guys are settled according to age categories. The behavior of students and living conditions in residential buildings is constantly monitored by the so-called housemaster.
Admission conditions
On what conditions are enrolled at Eton (college)? Admission here is possible when the applicant reaches the age of 13. Until the middle of the last century, parents registered their children in an educational institution from birth. Today this option has been cancelled. This made it possible to give a chance to go to college to everyone.
Eton is a college that is known for its fairly high competition. There are on average 3-4 applicants for one place here.
The procedure for entering the college is different from other educational institutions in the country. First of all, an application in which a student expresses a desire to be here in the future is submitted as early as 11 years of age. After 2 years, if the request is approved by the management of the institution, the guys are interviewed, after which they pass the entrance exam. Moreover, boys who apply for a place in the college are required to give the rector a positive reference from the previous educational institution.
Only a third of the total number of applicants manage to get intoEton College. Delivery may take place with some delay. So, the best of the applicants who did not pass the competition are on the waiting list. Subject to the availability of a place, such applicants receive an appropriate mail notification of an invitation to the college.
Extracurricular activities
The college pays increased attention to organizing exciting and useful leisure activities for students. An individual approach is applied to each student, aimed at developing inclinations and talents. From the widest list of various circles, clubs and sections, guys have the opportunity to choose an activity for themselves.
So, Eton College in England offers students to attend circles:
- archeology;
- astronomy;
- singing;
- cooking;
- chess;
- computer science and electronics;
- business;
- foreign languages;
- applied arts;
- oratory.
Among the available sports sections, it is worth noting athletics, basketball, football, volleyball, tennis, badminton, martial arts, horseback riding, rowing, rock climbing, swimming, fencing.
Tuition fees
Tuition per year here is 55,600 dollars, which corresponds to 35,700 British pounds. There are also enough students at Eton who don't pay a dime for an education. All of them are holders of a royal scholarship.
When entering an educational institution, students may be chargedan additional fee that goes to registration, confirmation of a place in the building for living. Separate amounts can be paid by the parents of students for additional lessons, organization of excursions and recreational activities, appointment of a guardian, medical insurance.
Scholarship
You can get to Eton, the college, the photo of which is presented in the material, on a musical or royal scholarship. In both cases, there is serious competition between the applicants.
Students who apply for a royal scholarship are required to achieve the highest marks in math and English exams, as well as good scores in science. In particular, in order to be enrolled in free education, applicants must pass history, theology, geography, and Latin. If a young person has successfully passed all these tests, he is exempt from the general entrance examination.
As for the music scholarship, applicants who have extraordinary talent can get it. The academic achievements of the student are also taken into account.
Structure of an educational institution
How is Eton (college) organized? The structure of the institution is based on a special ratio, in which there must be one teacher for 8 students. In the first year, up to 25 students can be in one class. By the last course, their number is reduced to 10 or even less. The rest of the students are eliminated due to non-compliance with the requirements of the institution, poor discipline,poor learning outcomes.
The head of the college is in charge of the management. Senior management assistants are tutors who contact students directly and report on progress and any incidents.
Uniform
What clothes are allowed to attend Eton (college)? The uniform of the institution consists of a strict waistcoat, over which a black jacket is put on. In addition, each student is required to wear pinstriped trousers. This suit is complemented by a white tie. An alternative to the latter is a white butterfly. However, only upperclassmen are en titled to use it in combination with a uniform.
Rewards and sanctions for students
Eton College is known for its well-established student reward system. Excellent work is marked by the tutor. High performance in a particular subject is awarded a special diploma by the head of the college.
If a student presented an outstanding work to the teacher, the latter, by decision of the high council, can be sent to the archive of the institution. Thus, in the future, new Eton students can familiarize themselves with it. This form of rewarding success has been operating here since the beginning of the 18th century. However, works that are handed over to teachers are rarely recognized as outstanding. In order for the work to be awarded and sent to the archive, teachers must receive an appropriate decree from the college leadership.
Guys who come to class withbelatedly, must put a signature in the register. With the systematic nature of such violations of discipline, students are subject to certain sanctions by the decision of the tutors. In case of serious misconduct, students are absent from classes and called for a personal conversation with the head of the college.
However, the requirement regarding the timely attendance of classes applies not only to students, but also to teachers. For example, if the teacher is late for 15 minutes, those present in the class get the right to go about their business for the entire duration of the lesson.
Corporal punishment
From the very beginning of its existence, Eaton has been known to use corporal sanctions on students both for specific misconduct and for no objective reason. For example, in the Middle Ages, teachers organized selective beatings of students in order to intimidate them and maintain discipline. These events were traditionally organized on the Friday just before the weekend and were known as "whipping day".
Corporal punishment was practiced for Eton students until the 80s of the last century. Previously, rods were used for this, with which students were beaten on their bare buttocks. Former head of the institution Anthony Trench, who ran the college from 1964 to 1970, decided to replace the cane with a cane. From that time on, punishments were carried out not in front of the audience, but in the classrooms of teachers. The last demonstrative beating of a college student with a cane dates back to January 1984.
How realistic is it to enter Eton for a student from anothercountries?
Due to the numerous requirements for the applicant and the duration of the enrollment procedure, it is not so easy for a foreigner to do this. An applicant for a place in a college hailing from another country must be fluent in English both in speaking and in writing tests. The same goes for knowledge of British history and literature.
The only real chance for a foreigner to enter Eton is to move to live in England no later than the age of nine. To learn how to think like a Brit, the boy will have to be trained in one of the local boarding schools. At the same time, you will need to study according to a special program aimed at entering college.
