Editing Eton College (section)

===Houses===
[[File:. Widok z ulicy - Eton College - panoramio (5).jpg|thumb|A view of College (the boarding house for academic scholars), College Chapel and College Field from the north]]

The school contains 25 boys' [[house system|houses]], each headed by a [[housemaster]], selected from the more senior members of the teaching staff, which numbers some 155.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.etoncollege.com/TheEtonCurriculum-TheStaff.aspx |title=College staff |publisher=Eton College |access-date=7 December 2016}}</ref> Almost all of the school's pupils go on to universities, about a third of them to the [[University of Oxford]] or [[University of Cambridge]].<ref name=engines>{{Cite book |title=[[Engines of privilege : Britain's private school problem]] |last1=Green |first1= Francis |last2=Kynaston| first2= David |author-link2=David Kynaston |isbn=978-1-5266-0127-8 |year=2019 |location=London |publisher=Bloomsbury |oclc=1108696740}}</ref><ref name="bbc">{{cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4634031.stm |title=What is it like at Eton College? |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=4 July 2005 |access-date=3 September 2011}}</ref>

==== King's Scholars ====
{{Main|King's Scholar}}
One boarding house, ''College'', is reserved for 70 King's Scholars,<ref>{{Cite web |title=King's Scholarship Awards (13+) |url=https://www.etoncollege.com/admissions/scholarships-and-awards/kings-scholarships/ |access-date=26 April 2022 |website=Eton College |language=en-GB}}</ref> who attend Eton on scholarships provided by the original foundation and awarded by excelling in an examination prior to entry. Today, the scholarship is only by name and no financial incentive is automatically provided. Still, 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.{{citation needed|date = September 2024}}

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]]s, giving them the nickname 'tugs' (Latin: ''togati'', wearers of gowns); and by a [[surplice]] in Chapel. The house is looked after by the [[Master in College]]. They include many of the most academically gifted boys in the school.{{citation needed|date = September 2024}}

==== Oppidans ====
As the school grew, more pupils 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 pupils became known as Oppidans, from the [[Latin]] word ''[[oppidum]]'', meaning "town".<ref>McConnell, pp. 19–20</ref> 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 simply regarded as Oppidans. However, they may still earn a non-financial award that recognises their academic capabilities. This is known as an [[Oppidan Scholar|Oppidan Scholarship]]. The title of [[Oppidan Scholar]] is awarded for consistently performing with distinction in school and external examinations ("Trials"): to earn the title, a boy must obtain either three distinctions in a row or four throughout his school career.<ref>McConnell, p. 177</ref> Within the school, an Oppidan Scholar is entitled to use the [[post-nominal letters]] ''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),<ref name=autogenerated1>Pevsner op. cit.</ref> Hawtrey House, [[Richard Durnford|Durnford]] House (the first two built as such by the Provost and Fellows, 1845,<ref name=autogenerated1 /> 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 ====
[[File:MK17840 Eton College.jpg|thumb|The Porter's Lodge of Eton College]]
In addition to the housemaster, each house has two house captains, two house captains of games and a house captain of arts. All house positions are entitled to "Stick-Ups" (a white bow tie and winged collar). Some houses may have more house captains than the standard rule. 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 and living space. 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&nbsp;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]], 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.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Education: Eton Bids Farewell to Fagging |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,951513,00.html |access-date=24 February 2022 |magazine=Time |date=26 May 1980 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201182756/http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,951513,00.html |archive-date=1 December 2021}}</ref>

There are many inter-house competitions, mostly in sports but also in academics, drama and music.