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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

Eton college - what type of boys ?

71 replies

bulletpoint · 15/10/2012 21:54

I asked this in the shrewsbury thread but dont want to derail the main subject.

I just wanted to know what type of things they look for generally in boys, ive read that they like musical boys but does that mean everyone must play an instrument and at what grade assuming you are not applying for a scholarship etc. Do boys all have to be in first teams in sports ? Do boys all have to have been prefects at their previous school ? Thanks.

OP posts:

IndridCold · 18/10/2012 17:00

This might answer your question style!

difficultpickle · 18/10/2012 19:15

Very funny

TalkinPeace2 · 18/10/2012 21:56

The current crop of Eton boys ....

difficultpickle · 18/10/2012 22:01

Talkin that is the same as Indrid's link!

TalkinPeace2 · 18/10/2012 22:03

sorry!

I tend to put full links on things and did not spot the purple word :-)

difficultpickle · 21/10/2012 13:57

Showed ds the youtube video and he's decided he wants to go to Eton, even though he thought the uniform was rather odd. I told him he'd have to work very hard at school to get a scholarship ....

dapplegrey · 21/10/2012 17:20

The boys soon get used to the uniform, and they don't have to wear it when they are kicking around in Windsor.

difficultpickle · 21/10/2012 17:40

True, although it does appear to be compulsory to wear checked shirts when they go into Windsor .

I was surprised how surprised ds was by the uniform as he has seen plenty of Eton boys wandering around but clearly hasn't noticed them. At the moment he has the ability but not the application to get into Eton.

TalkinPeace2 · 21/10/2012 20:25

well Harrow boys seem to all wear blue shirts and pale chinos for about ten years after leaving
so at least the non uniform uniforms do not overlap

IndridCold · 22/10/2012 12:57

I saw a documentary about Eton years ago and some of the older boys were grumbling about how they had to conform and everyone turned out the same; yet as soon as they have the chance to express themselves they all want to wear the same stuff as each other !!

How old is your DS bisjo? (If you don't mind me asking ).

difficultpickle · 22/10/2012 16:06

He's 8 (year 4) Indrid so we have a long way to go before we have to make any decisions. If he is keen and his school agree he will probably do the pre-test in year 6.

IndridCold · 22/10/2012 16:29

Oh right, plenty of time then, I wish him (and you!) the best of luck.

I'm glad your DS enjoyed the video, i have to say I laughed out loud. The master in the Rolls is assistant HM at DS's house .

peteneras · 25/10/2012 10:40

"I just wanted to know what type of things they look for generally in boys . . ."

OP, to be honest, there are no particular 'type of things' that Eton are looking for though I hasten to add it helps if a boy is particularly good at something - anything. The former Provost, Sir Eric Anderson once said there are 1300 types of Eton-boys at any one time at Eton. And he?s right, of course - he was David Cameron?s Head Master at Eton and was Tony Blair?s Housemaster at Fettes. So there goes the so-called, ?Eton type? straight out the window!

You may find this 1993 documentary called, (30 mins) by Howard Guard useful. Although it?s almost 20 years since this film was made, I?d say essentially nothing much has changed. In it, you?ll hear comments from people directly associated with the School, from boys to Housemaster/Head Master; handyman to Provost, etc. expressing their views about the School. I particularly like the comment from a boy at around the 22?00 (min) mark. Never fails to make me laugh!

Here?s (26 mins).

Hope the sons of Ingridcold and Colleger (and others) are beginning to settle down and liking the School. I?d say, give it some time. Which reminds me of some people I know coming to the UK for the first time disliking every bit of it from Heathrow to London due to the weather, food, landscape, etc. but after a year or so, they had to be literally dragged to the plane by the Border Agency to leave Britain!

grovel · 25/10/2012 16:41

Peteneras, I enjoyed the documentary. Thanks.

I agree that it probably captures the ethos. Like all these things it does not really capture the daily lives of the boys or show the "boys being boys" but I'm not sure that really matters (or is achievable).

dapplegrey · 25/10/2012 17:39

Bisjo - my ds never had anything as smart as a checked shirt lol. His mufti invariably consisted of jeans, the top of which came between halfway down his buttocks to the bottom of his buttocks, and various scruffy T shirts which were either too big or too small. He had one particularly choice number in bright yellow bearing the legend 'Yummy Mummy'.

IndridCold · 25/10/2012 18:19

Thanks for those links Peteneras , I shall look forward to watching those later.

My DS is home on Long Leave at the moment, but I have to say that he seems to have hit the ground running and is absolutely loving it.

dapplegrey I had initially sent DS off with a couple of smartish polo shirts and a grey jumper for his casual kit, but they are going to be replaced by his most ghastly t-shirts and the dreaded hoodie when he goes back on Sunday < sigh >.

dapplegrey · 25/10/2012 19:00

Oh yes, I'd forgotten about the hoodie!

BadLad · 05/11/2012 05:42

I was reasonably bright, although far from the brightest. Used to finish about just in the top half of the exams list - all boys are ranked in their first few years from 1 to 250 on their exam results unless times have changed. In my first half (term, if you like) they actually got all the boys in the year (F-Block) together and read them out, starting from the bottom! I have never felt such relief in my life as when it wasn't me, getting better and better until finally I was number 101.

Poor kid at 250-odd - nobody ever forgot that it was him.

Anyway, I wasn't the brightest there, as I said, was OK at sport but not going to break any records, and not artistic or musical in the least. However, I apparently did very well in the interview at about 11, and was accepted as long as I passed Common Entrance.

Never had a checked shirt. As already pointed out, the uniform is very quickly something the boys get used to.

kavikila08 · 02/02/2014 12:23

My son is attending his first interview with Eton college September 2014, he is 12yrs at the moment; could anyone please advice me on what he should expect and what the college expectations they require from him.

IndridCold · 02/02/2014 14:24

kavikila08 I really would start a new thread for your question.

I think you will also need to add more details. As your son is 12 I assume he is not taking the ordinary assessment. Is he trying for one of the scholarships? If so, it will help if you say which one so that the right people can answer.

Good luck to your son!

Crowler · 02/02/2014 19:55

Are you an overseas applicant, kavikila?

chimera1 · 10/05/2014 21:46

My son got a kings Scholarship to Eton College this week, should we accept the place in college

IndridCold · 11/05/2014 09:55

For what reasons would you turn it down? What does your DS want? He is obviously up to it, and that is a lot of work to do for something you don't really want.

Does he have a place at the school in another house?

peteneras · 11/05/2014 10:13

Quite honestly, I don't understand the nature of this latest posting at all, do you, IndridCold?

summerends · 11/05/2014 11:09

chimera1 may be having second thoughts about boarding being right for her DS despite his fantastic academic ability.

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