It has educated prime ministers, world leaders, Nobel laureates, Academy Award and BAFTA award-winning actors, and generations of the aristocracy, and has been referred to as "the nurse of England's statesmen".

[8] It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI as Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore,[9][10] making it the 18th-oldest school in the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC).

Construction of the chapel, originally intended to be slightly over twice as long,[18] with 18, or possibly 17, bays (there are eight today) was stopped when Henry VI was deposed.

The important wall paintings in the chapel and the brick north range of the present School Yard also date from the 1480s; the lower storeys of the cloister, including College Hall, were built between 1441 and 1460.

[26] Questioned by the commission in 1862, Head Master Edward Balston came under attack for his view that in the classroom little time could be spared for subjects other than classical studies.

[citation needed] 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.

[45] 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.

Pupils are highly successful in public examinations, and the record of entrance to universities with demanding entry requirements in the United Kingdom and overseas is strong.

Edwina Dunn, the chairwoman of the company producing the report, called for schools to be reassessed based on how suitable pupils are for businesses in the post-Brexit world.

The Oppidan, founded in 1828,[88] was published once a half; it covered all sport in Eton and some professional events as well, but ceased to exist until a recent revival in 2023.

The Junior Chronicle is the official school magazine of Lower Boys (pupils in their first two years at Eton) and it is written, edited and designed solely by them.

[93] Various benefactions make it possible to give grants each year to boys who wish, for educational or cultural reasons, to work or travel abroad.

Boys who accumulate rips are liable to be given a "White Ticket", a form of a progress report which must be signed at intervals by all his teachers and may be accompanied by other punishments, usually involving doing domestic chores or writing lines.

A boy who is late for any division or other appointments may be required to sign "Tardy Book", a register kept in the School Office, between 7:35 am and 7:45 am, every morning for the duration of his sentence (typically three days).

Conversely, should a master be more than 15 minutes late for a class, traditionally the pupils may claim it as a "run" and absent themselves for the rest of its duration, provided they report their intention so to do at the School Office.

Anthony Chenevix-Trench, Head Master from 1964 to 1970, abolished the birch and replaced it with caning, also applied to the bare buttocks, which he administered privately in his office.

Notable ex-members of Pop include the Prince of Wales (unlike his younger brother the Duke of Sussex, who failed to be elected[108]), Eddie Redmayne, Arthur Hallam, William Ewart Gladstone, Stafford Northcote, Lord Rosebery and Tom Hiddleston.

[98] Members of Sixth Form Select also perform "Speeches", a formal event held five times a year, most notably on Fourth of June.

The running track was controversial as it was purchased with a £3m National Lottery grant with the school getting full daytime use of the facilities in exchange for £200k and 4.5 acres (1.8 hectares) of land.

The bursar claimed that Windsor, Slough and Eton Athletic club was "deprived" because it did not have a world-class running track and facilities for training and the Sports Council agreed, saying the whole community would benefit.

However Steve Osborn, director of the Safe Neighbourhoods Unit, described the decision as "staggering" given substantial reduction in youth services by councils across the country.

In July 1935, the "Public School Rivalry" was reported thus: "Charterhouse, Harrow, Winchester, Eton, Rugby and Clifton, all previous winners, were determined to add to their laurels" in the competition.

Both the choir (and its complementary boy-run a cappella group, the "Incognitos") and the orchestra regularly tour internationally to countries such as France, Spain, Portugal, Romania, Latvia, the USA and Hong Kong.

Former Precentor Ralph Allwood set up and organised Eton Choral Courses, now the Rodolfus Foundation, which run at the School, as well as at Oxford and Cambridge amongst other venues, every summer.

The film followed an Etonian, Alex Stobbs, a musician with cystic fibrosis, as he worked toward conducting the difficult Magnificat by Johann Sebastian Bach.

The School has produced many famous musicians in its history, including Hubert Parry, the writer of the hymn "Jerusalem" and the coronation anthem "I was glad".

The most recent one was held in October 2023, which hosted a wide variety of plays, from a comedy sketch, to a double bill of a musical and Eton's first dance performance.

Boys from the School are also responsible for the lighting, sound, stage management, costume and set design, and makeup of all the productions, under the guidance of several professional full-time theatre staff.

The School has produced many famous actors as well, including Dominic West, Tom Hiddleston, Eddie Redmayne, and Damian Lewis.

After a normal chapel service, boys may attend a series of musical concerts, film screenings, sports displays, and "Speeches" performed by Sixth Form Select, before they gather on Agar's Plough for lunch in stalls.