Academic matters: First-class all round. Outstandingly good teaching - Eton can pick and choose. Boys setted by ability from the first year, and all take GCSE Latin, French and science one year early, then seven or eight more the following year. Plenty of va et vient among sets, so boys are constantly changing beaks (masters) and peer groups. Very highly structured, lots of sticks and carrots, monthly order cards, show-ups and all that. Outstanding languages - one of the most successful departments in the country in terms of results - packs in talk and chalk. Japanese is an option. (NB if Eton offers a subject it really happens - unlike many other schools which often have an element of window-dressing). As elsewhere, maths is a very popular A level subject. Geography is another strong department, so is history. Choice of forty A levels genuinely on offer, and results are a joy to behold. Twice yearly internal exams ('trials'), very detailed reports to parents and work is thoroughly monitored at all stages. Boys need considerable stamina and self-discipline to cope with it all and structured academic day, and occasionally fall by the wayside. NB no quarter is given if this is the case. Increasing numbers of boys are to be found in crammers in the holidays, swotting up exam subjects. Also: this is absolutely not the school for a dyslexic - though there is some support for those who get through the net by accident. Parents still complain of the difficulty of getting at staff for information.

Games, Options, the Arts: Excellent all round: every conceivable extra-curricular activity is on offer to amazing standards in some cases (IT did trail a bit, but a massive £6 million now being poured into making every boy and beak wired to the Intranet.) Music under Mr Ralph Allwood generally acknowledged to be one of the best departments in the country - attracts the brightest and best in music scholarships. Very polished concerts. Wonderful chapel choir. Good art department producing some remarkable work. Very fine drama, and a lot of it, a mixture of 'traditional' and boys plus masters writing their own plays - one at the Edinburgh Festival in '00. Main games are soccer, rugby (usually trounced by Harrow), fives, hockey, cricket (very good), boats (rowing lake), plus Eton's own Wall Game and the Field Game; good fencing, swimming, water polo, sailing, etc. Also judo, polo, beagling, etc, etc but though still successful the school does not appear to be winning the way they once did, and sport is no longer worshipped the way it once was: but head encourages boys to continue with sports through exam terms - brownie points for this. Considerable numbers of outings, visits, field trips, etc, with regular exchanges with schools in France, Germany, Japan, Spain and Russia. Good provision for amusing pupils post exams (school disputes this!). Casa Guidi in Florence recently acquired with study opportunities for boys. Vast numbers of societies (mainly run by boys, often held in the evenings).

Background and Atmosphere: Founded in 1440 by Henry VI (sister college of King's, Cambridge, which was founded a year later), and 70 King's Scholars still live in the original buildings (most elegant dining hall). Buildings of mellow old red brick, grounds run down to the Thames. Magnificent chapel built by Henry VI and a second chapel for Lower boys. Twenty-four boarding houses, including separate one for King's Scholars (single-study bed-sits for all from the start) strung out along the streets. Decor differs - a mother described one as 'like a working brothel'. Boys still wear traditional tailcoats and stiff white collars (NB good second hand trade in High Street tailors); however, much changing and half-changing throughout the day and full-fig is no longer worn out of school hours. Incidents of antagonism between Etonians and the town which were reported in our last edition are 'nil', says head. Atmosphere very much alive, not easy, and every day is highly structured and active. Everyone - boys, beaks - on the go. The school has a well-developed ancient language, which it clings to with child-like fervour, and insists you play along with (eg, halves, beaks). Current slang adds '-age- to everything, eg 'pubage', 'birdage', 'tabage' (tobacco), 'lebage' (as in pleb). In general the school has a solipsistic attitude to life. Quality school mag, the Eton College Chronicle has featured inter alia a funny report on the ISC inspection and an interview with the Spice Girls - scoop.

Pastoral Care and Discipline: Broad-minded and liberal in principle though is quite capable of firing a pupil at a moment's notice, often to the consternation of parents. Drink a perennial problem ('minor problem only' says school),. Drugs policy 'very firm' - random drug testing introduced; head's September '00 newsletter goes into the matter in great detail - five pages on the school's policy, the law, and warning signs - very commendable. Housemaster, dame, division master, academic tutor oversee each boy, 'which means,' said a mother, 'that problems should be spotted early'. However, minimal tradition of parental involvement can and does cause Mummy angst. We have had some reports of bullying (to be expected in a school that is so much run by the boys) but head comments 'absolutely not so', and refers to the ISC inspectors' report…. Boys are allowed out any Sunday (plus official exeats), which is great for going up to town and getting into mischief (eg demonstrating against global capitalism), but a considerable concern for parents without a safe London base for their adventurous young; fewer pupils from the North as a result.

Pupils and Parents: A rich mix of spivs and toffs. Currently 35 per cent sons of Old Etonians, plus first-time Eton buyers, and yuppies. Among numerous Old Etonians: Hubert Parry, 19 Prime Ministers, Captain Oates, the poets Gray and Shelley, Keynes, Feilding. Surprisingly few real stars among the living: politicians (William Waldegrave, Nicholas Soames, Douglas Hurd, Boris Johnson), a clutch of journalists (Charles Moore, Nicholas Coleridge, Craig Brown); also Martin Taylor, Humphrey Lyttelton, Nicholas Charles Tyrwhitt Wheeler, Sir James Goldsmith, Jonathan Aitken, Darius Guppy, Matthew Pinsent and Michael Chance. NB the current entry procedure does not appear to be serving the school well - missing out on mavericks, geniuses, late developers and the less well taught, though evidence that this is changing.

Entrance: Registration by 10 years 6 months; inspection ('interview') and exam (VR) at 11 (one out of three fall at this hurdle) and conditional places offered at this stage. CE at 12+ or 13+ ( 6-7 per cent failure at this stage). Provost comments that the school is 'not just looking for academic ability', but 'leadership qualities', 'sports', 'artistic talent' and that sons of OEs 'are given a small weighting'. Entries for King's Scholarships (14 per annum) accepted until the beginning of May for exam in May at 12+ or 13+. Up to four junior scholarships a year for boys from state schools at 10, at which point Eton pays for three years' prep school education in traditional Eton 'feeds' for successful candidates. Four scholarships for state school pupils at sixth form.

Exit: Average of 70 boys to Oxbridge - but parental angst that political pressures result in many top candidates not getting there. Successful on organ scholarships to Oxbridge. All boys go on to university - to Edinburgh in droves, plus over 70 different institutions in the UK, 10-15 abroad. Lots of gap year pupils. Thereafter, the City, journalism, family estates, politics.

Money Matters: Pots and pots of money and assets, in particular, property. It can afford to, and does, have everything of the best, and to pay its staff very well indeed. Good value. Large numbers of bursaries, etc, for parents on hard times. Also pots of money still in evidence among parents. In addition to scholarships detailed under Entrance, there are also eight music scholarships each year, plus exhibitions.

Remarks: Still the number one boys' public school for social status, and numbers seeking places keep increasing, but potential parents seem less obsessed with the place than they were a few years ago. Can sometimes be a very hard place to be for a boy who is neither one of the lads nor a gifted sportsman - just as it was in Peter Wimsey's day.