Eton College

Eton College is a large and prestigious boarding school for boys aged 13 to 18, located in Berkshire, about 20 minutes from Heathrow airport. Founded in 1440 by King Henry VI, Eton has a strong academic focus, offers extensive extracurricular opportunities, emphasises on character development. Most Etonians come from the United Kingdom, and the College is known for its strong links with the British royal family whose members regularly attend. There is a small minority of students from international backgrounds and around 20% are scholarship or bursary recipients which has increased the socio-economic diversity of the school.

In 2022, A Levels were 55.4% at A* and 83.6% at A* to A; GCSEs were 83.3% at grades 9-8 and 94.2% at 9-7. After Eton, many pupils attend the world’s best universities, with around one-third taking a gap year first. Over 15% of each cohort applies to the US – in 2021/2022, 39 boys received offers from US universities including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton, Columbia, Brown and Dartmouth.

Excellence in sporting and cultural endeavours is encouraged. Eton troupes have been a regular feature at the Edinburgh fringe festival for 25 years, and the school counts a number of Olympians amongst its alumni. Music also plays a huge part in school life, recognised in the large number of 129 music scholars and exhibitioners. Boys regularly arrange their own concerts across all musical genres.

Eton has 25 houses for its 1,340 full boarding students, each accommodating around 50 students and “College” being home to the 70 King’s Scholars. Each house is run by a resident Housemaster who is an experienced member of the teaching staff. He has a comprehensive view of all aspects of an individual student’s development; in this way a boy benefits from a strong pastoral base within the larger, varied school community.