intramural level, the School Council, comprising the headmaster, heads of department, staff and student representatives from each house, is responsible for legislating and discussing school policies. Every house holds a vote to send four student representatives to the council. Each house is run by a housemaster or a housemistress, along with a house captain and a team of prefects. The housemistress is assisted by a matron known as "The Dame", who provides pastoral care for pupils, some of whom take several weeks to adjust fully to life in a boarding school, particularly given Doon's monastic lifestyle and strict routine. The homes of housemasters and housemistresses are adjacent or physically attached to their houses to enable close supervision and support. One senior boy serves as school captain, chosen by teachers and students at the start of the year by voting in a secret ballot. Houses Doon follows the house system; there are five main houses (Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kashmir, Tata and Oberoi) and two 'holding houses' (Foot and Martyn, named after former headmasters), for boys in their first year. The original four houses (Oberoi was added in 1991) were named after the largest initial donors: Hyderabad House was named after Akbar Hydari, who secured a contribution from Nizam of Hyderabad's government; Kashmir, after Maharajah Hari Singh, then ruler of Jammu and Kashmir; Tata, after the Tata Trusts; and Jaipur, after Rai Bahadur Amarnath Atal arranged for contributions from the Durbar of Jaipur. Boys are assigned to houses at the time of admission and develop great loyalty to them, since all intramural sports involve fierce competition between houses. Those who have a family history with a particular house are assigned to the same house. All houses have rooms, dormitories, kitchen, library, study rooms, and a Common Room for recreation. Admission, fees and financial aid The school receives about 540 applications every year and admits 80 students in seventh grade and 14 in eighth grade, although these numbers have varied over time. Once admission is secured, after passing the entrance examination and interview, a student may apply for around 30 scholarships or bursaries. Some are reserved for boys proficient in sports or arts, and others for those from particular regions or the children of armed forces personnel. As of August 2022, the annual school fees for Indian students was 11,20,000, and 14,00,000 for foreign nationals or non-resident Indians. The monetary value of financial aid