Eton is typical of many English public schools. For a start, it’s a boarding school, with 25 boys’ houses (each with a housemaster). The school is also very expensive – with fees of about £30,000 per year. As in many other public schools, pupils have to wear a school uniform. But Eton’s uniform is special, consisting of a black tailcoat (or morning coat), a waistcoat, and pinstriped trousers.
Like many other public schools, Eton once had a system of fags. Fags were younger boys who act as personal servants to more senior boys. “Fagging” jobs involved cleaning, cooking and running errands. The world-famous author Roald Dahl remembers being ordered to warm toilet seats for older boys at Repton School. Other chores included making toast, polishing shoes, ironing clothes and cleaning cups. The practice of personal fagging faded away during the 1970s and 1980s.