Old Boys

The term Old Boys or Old Girls are the usual expressions in use in the United Kingdom for former pupils or alumnus of the school. While these are associated traditionally with UK independent schools, they are also used for some schools in the public sector in the UK. The term is also used for, New Zealand schools, Sri Lankan schools, a few universities in the UK, and to a lesser extent in Australia and Canada.

The Old Boy form is given a specific identification for each school. Some schools use an adjectival form of the school school name, such as "Old Etonian," "Old Harrovian," or "Old Reptonian" (old boys of Eton College, Harrow School, and Repton School). Some use a Latin form derived from conjunction with the Latin form "Alumni" as "Old Novocastrian" (old boys of Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne). Some are based on the name of the founder such as "Old Wykehamist" of "Old Alleynian" (for old boys of Winchester College or Dulwich College). Some are based in the location or street in which they are based such as "Old Gowers" (for University College School. Many of the schools have histories dating back several hundred years and the Old Boy forms have been in use for over 100 years. Other more recently established schools have devised Old Boy names that are distintive to prevent confusion with other...
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