Students and Houses
The school currently has 860 pupils aged 11–18, of whom 111 are boarders. The school is split into 9 houses, 3 of which are for boarders and dayboys, 6 for day boys only. These are:
- School - 76 boys (36 dayboys, 41 boarders)
- Crescent - 81 boys (35 dayboys, 46 boarders)
- These two houses have all the middle school boarders (aged 13–16) and the majority of the sixth form boarders (aged 16–18).
- Boyd's - 82 boys
- O'Doherty's - 83 dayboys
- Franklin's - 81 dayboys
- Christodoulou's - 83 dayboys
- Southwell-Sander's - 84 dayboys
- Davies' (Situated on the same site as Waste Court) - 101 boys (77 dayboys, 25 boarders)
- This house has the remainder of the sixth form boarders.
- Webb's - 83 dayboys
Day boys from 11–13 belong to the Lower School which has 118 boys.
The day houses (with the exception of Lower School, School House, and Crescent House) take their names from their current Housemasters and are thus prone to change.
In the 20th century, the school owned another upper school boarding house, Larkhill, to the north of the Faringdon Road. Various smaller buildings have also been used for boarders at various times, with the pupils being part of one of the larger houses. The Bath Street house, Lacies Court (rare) and Glyndowr come into this category, see school map.
There are many Inter-House competitions at Abingdon, both sporting and academic. These include Cricket, Singing and Public Speaking. The competitions themselves are held every year, and each house has its traditional strengths. O'Doherty's (which holds the record of most 'tag-rugby' titles held at once, 4 of 5), School House and Crescent House, for example, are known to be particularly strong in the sports competitions, while Davies' (which holds the record of the most public speaking titles held at one time, 3 of 5, while it was known as Phelps'), Boyd's and Franklin's are better known for debating. There is also an annual inter-house singing competition, usually judged by a music department head from another school and by the Headmaster of Abingdon School.
Read more about this topic: Abingdon School
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