The house system is a traditional feature of schools in the United Kingdom. The House is not just an educational entity, or a mere place to provide accommodation – what they provide students with is a centre of sporty, communicative and habitable activities. Students in the same house can have different majors and in different grades.

学院制是英国中世纪大学运作的一个传统模式。学院不是单纯的教育实体，也不是单纯提供住宿的场所——他们为学生提供的是一个运动，交际和适合于居住的活动中心。大家分在同一个学院，可以是不同专业，不同年级的。

The primary purpose of the house system is to provide pastoral care to the students. Separated from parents for long periods, children will rely on the school to fulfil their socio-emotional needs, in addition to meeting their basic physical care. The smaller within-school structure of the house facilitates this, by promoting personalised care, with more frequent interactions, and lower child-to-adult-carer ratios, than within the wider school.

学院制度的主要目的是为学生提供人文心智关怀服务。对于与父母长期分离的学生，学校除了需要满足他们基本的衣食住行的需求之外，还需要满足他们的社会情感需求。相比于整所学校的制度和管理，组织结构较小的学院制通过对学生的个性化护理、和学生更紧密的联系和更高的“成人照顾儿童”的比例，更好地实现对学生的社会情感需求的满足。

Peer relationships and fostering of community feeling are also aims of house systems. One headmaster of an English-style school – Brighton College Bangkok – David Tongue, writing in an editorial, described the team-spirit engendered by school houses this way: "This camaraderie and solidarity is second to none and the benefits of this vertical interaction, where the young look up to the elder and where the elder look out for and support the younger, are profound."

同伴关系的增进和社区情感的培养同样是学院制度的目标。曼谷布莱顿大学（Brighton College Bangkok），一所英式学校的校长David Tongue在一篇社论中这样描述学院制度所产生的团队精神：“友情和团结精神是垂直互动的学院制的最大好处，后辈尊重和敬仰前辈，前辈照顾和支持后辈， 学院制的意义极为深远。” 

The House system emphasizes shared ambition, character strengths, and a spirit of cooperation. Learners' achievements, and positive actions and responses to others are encouraged through the house points tracking system.

学院制度强调共同的抱负、性格优势和合作精神。学院积分系统，鼓励了学习者们的成就、积极的行动和对他人的回应。

Different schools will have different numbers of houses, with different numbers of students per house depending on the total number of students attending the school. Facilities, such as pastoral care, may be provided on a house basis to a greater or lesser extent depending on the type of school.

不同的学校根据学生总数会有不同的学院数量，每个学院的学生人数也不同。设施设备与人文心智关怀服务等也会根据学校类型并以学院为单位组织。

Houses may be named after saints, famous historical alumni or notable regional topics (e.g. in international schools, houses are sometimes named in honour of local celebrities). Each house will usually also be identified by its own symbol, logo, or colours.

学院的命名可以是圣人、著名的历史校友或著名的区域性话题（例如，在国际学校，学院有时以当地名人的名字命名）。每个学院通常也会有属于自己学院的符号、徽标或颜色。

Another feature of house systems is the competition between houses. For example, the school sports day is usually an inter-house competition. Merit points for behaviour and academic achievement may also be totalled up for comparison between houses.

学院制的另一个特点是学院间的比赛。校运会就是典型的院际比赛。行为分和学业成绩分也会算入学院间比赛。