120-130 at the exams. On the list of new entrants there are 20 Asians. There were around 40-50 asians at interview. There were around 100 at the interview. I slightly surpirsed but yeah figures because some of my friends at school who are Korean said that Westminster has been popular with koreans for years now.
I have a grade 3 in piano and i do judo but i haven't got any further belts. I play the miruthangam which is an indian carnatic music instrument and i've got a grade 1 in it. I was on the school rugby team last year and i participated in the J8 Competition at my school. Do you think that is enough?
do westminster have to admit a certain number of boys into the sixth form? if so will it not improve my chances since so few boys apply at this level compared with girls? i read the 10 boys got in out of the 20 that applied. this means that chances of getting a place are hugely increases
No they don't have to but at most they'll admit 60 girls. They want to keep a 2:1 boys to girls ratio. They might not even accept a single boy if none of the male candidates are good enough. I found that amongst the boys almost all were very clever and I serioiusly doubted my chance after meeting them. The main tough part is that there is a cost of £125 for the exams this is to ensure that people think before applying, i.e. self selected. As I say ECs will mainly come in when being compared with a candidate of similar academic ability.. btw Saran35 and Rupertj will you only apply for Westminster.
Do you think it would be significant to them if I didn't do very much that's not academic? I do play tennis, and i should be in the cricket team this year, while i recently took up piano lessons, and i'm doing the duke of edinburgh award scheme.
yeah but you probably read it for interest not for preparing for Westminster. As I said in my previous post EC will only be used to decide between similar standard candidates.But I think you should have a hobby that you would be able to talk about for 15 minutes in an interview. Do you have a particularly interesting hobby or interest.
you don't have to think about this so much! it will be obvious if you have. just relax, give it a shot and if you don't get in it's not the end of the world, it's not just about you being good enough but also about whether it's right for you and they'll be able to tell that whereas you might not be able to right away!
when you say that you cannot prepare for the exams what do u mean is it that the syllabus is too difficult, the questions are completely random etc. etc.
there is no syllabus. they are not random, they are designed to judge your potential and skill and not just your knowledge - they know everyone does different exam systems/boards etc. just relax. no preparation required. tbh if you have to prepare for the entrance exams the place isn't for you. work is something that gets done at westminster but it's not the be all and end all.
Well judging by this thread neither of you seem like weirdos so you should be fine. In the case St Pauls unlike Westminster they don't have a limit on the places numbers and genuinely the boys who get rejected from Westminster got there. Half the boys who got into St Pauls didn't even get called for interview. So basically if you get called for interview at St Pauls you should get in. As I said in my previous posts St Pauls really do care about ECs. St Pauls is probably the best school in the country all round i.e. in terms of sport, music and academic. In terms of the St Pauls exams now those you can prepare for. For the sciences I suggest look at the IGCSE science syllabus. THe science papers were just parts of different edexcel IGCSE past papers. The maths exam is just silly though the question are normal textbook questions unlike Westminster's maths exam but there are loads. IT was as long as a 2 hour GCSE maths paper but you had to do it in 45 minutes it's just a test of accuracy really. btw guys for Westminster as dinkymints says don't bother preparing. RupertJ your doing physics aren't you. In the exam there was a question where they taught you some relativity and then asked you questions therere was also a questioin where they taught you about parsecs and again you answered questions. Half of it was just maths. I mean in the parsecs question it lead to a geometry problem.
I do not feel daunted, I'm simply looking for anything I could do that would enhance my chances of being accepted by the schools. Now that I know what the written exams will be like, I would be interested to know what sorts of questions are asked during the interviews.
If you do really well in the exams the place should be in your hands really. It would be yours to lose. Especially with St Pauls. If you really impress the interviewers at St Pauls they do something pretty cheeky. There is a rule from the HMC (Headmasters/headmistresses conference) that they're not allowed send out acceptance letters before December. I had St Pauls interview on the 17th and the Westminster interview on the 24th both of which were saturdays. On the 23rd of November I got a letter from St Pauls saying (exact words) ' Dear Wilbur, We would like to congratulate on your excellent performance in exams and subsequent interviews in which the teachers including myself were very impressed with your maturity and intelligence, we will provide you with further details.' What a subtlty. My friend who did eventually get in didn't get this letter.
If you do really well in the exams the place should be in your hands really. It would be yours to lose. Especially with St Pauls. If you really impress the interviewers at St Pauls they do something pretty cheeky. There is a rule from the HMC (Headmasters/headmistresses conference) that they're not allowed send out acceptance letters before December. I had St Pauls interview on the 17th and the Westminster interview on the 24th both of which were saturdays. On the 23rd of November I got a letter from St Pauls saying (exact words) ' Dear Wilbur, We would like to congratulate on your excellent performance in exams and subsequent interviews in which the teachers including myself were very impressed with your maturity and intelligence, we will provide you with further details.' What a subtlty. My friend who did eventually get in didn't get this letter.
But what sort of questions do they ask? Do they give you problems to solve, or do they ask you why and how you express an interest in that subject?
Well for physics they tested your practical skills in front of the teacher and predict the results. I my case it was a circuit. The interviews are quiet relaxed really and the teachers spent more time thinking of questions than i spent answering them. i was prepared to answer questions such as 'why do you want to do physics' etc but i wasn't asked. In the general interviews they just ask you about extra curricular really.
Slightly off topic, but I was at Westminster in November for the exams. I didn't get beyond the exams. However, when I first went round to have a look, I didn't get a good feel for the place. The other issue I had is that it seemed like the place was pretty deserted after lessons were over because 2/3rds of students leave, and so there isn't much for the boarders to do after hours. Not being there I don't actually know, but that's what it appeared like (any Westminsters got anything to say about this?).
Well anyway, this is the bit where you all go, "Well you would say that about Wesminster, because you got rejected". Well you're all very welcome to say that, but I assure you that this is not the case. Well anyway, the weekend after the Westminster exams (before I'd got the results) I went and visited Winchester College. I have to say that I much preferred the place, and got a much better feel for it.
Then in January I went through their admissions process, which was pretty comprehensive - 6 exams (two general papers - one IQ test thing and an essay question with funny things such as "When the Judge sentenced Lavoisier (who discovered oxygen) to death, he said, 'The Republic has no need for Scientists'. What do Scientists contribute to Democracy?" and then 4 subject papers) and 6 interviews over 3 days. I got offered a place, so I'm happy! I'm really looking forward to going there, but I imagine it will be different to what it would have been like in Westminster
Slightly off topic, but I was at Westminster in November for the exams. I didn't get beyond the exams. However, when I first went round to have a look, I didn't get a good feel for the place. The other issue I had is that it seemed like the place was pretty deserted after lessons were over because 2/3rds of students leave, and so there isn't much for the boarders to do after hours. Not being there I don't actually know, but that's what it appeared like (any Westminsters got anything to say about this?).
Well anyway, this is the bit where you all go, "Well you would say that about Wesminster, because you got rejected". Well you're all very welcome to say that, but I assure you that this is not the case. Well anyway, the weekend after the Westminster exams (before I'd got the results) I went and visited Winchester College. I have to say that I much preferred the place, and got a much better feel for it.
Then in January I went through their admissions process, which was pretty comprehensive - 6 exams (two general papers - one IQ test thing and an essay question with funny things such as "When the Judge sentenced Lavoisier (who discovered oxygen) to death, he said, 'The Republic has no need for Scientists'. What do Scientists contribute to Democracy?" and then 4 subject papers) and 6 interviews over 3 days. I got offered a place, so I'm happy! I'm really looking forward to going there, but I imagine it will be different to what it would have been like in Westminster
I wasn't sure either but strangely enough my mum said she thought it was perfect for me (my brother had looked round there when he was 13 and she said she knew it definitely wasn't right for him). When I got there I loved it and I wouldn't swap it for the world. I was a day girl in a boys' boarding house and there was loads on - between tea and supper (ie between about 4.30 and 6) people would do whatever - go out for coffee, over to st james' park, play football in yard or on green, sit in yard/houses chatting. Then again free time from 6.30 til 7.15 (and obv you can go out for dinner instead, in older years of course) then prep (the library is incredible. prefer it even to my college library at oxford) then 9-10 was again free time when people would socialise in house common rooms/friends' rooms/yard etc. 10 onwards had to be in house. There were loads of boarders trips to theatre, cinema, laser quest etc and at the end of term, house trips for the boarders on the house budget And during prep if you wanted to go out with family, to theatre or concerts or do music practice etc you could. Housemaster dependent, it was fairly laid back. I loved being a day girl in a boarding house/school coz there was always stuff going on - I'd often stay and chat til the boys went to supper, sometimes went with them too, and a few times I even stayed and did prep there if i was struggling to make myself work. There are also loads of concerts and plays at school so people stay in school for those rather than going home and coming back - there were always a fair few day people at supper.
Oh and the location is unrivalled. Seriously, everything is within reach - restaurants, shops, coffee shops, theatres, cinemas, concert halls, museums, art galleries... right between Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament, can't get much better than that.
*edit* and I also have perspective from the other side, having boarded for a week - it really is a great place to be, some people even board just so that they can take full advantage of everything there is to do rather than wasting time commuting - far from there being nothing for boarders to do!
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Re: Westminster School? Do I stand a good chance?
And during prep if you wanted to go out with family, to theatre or concerts or do music practice etc you could. Housemaster dependent, it was fairly laid back. I loved being a day girl in a boarding house/school coz there was always stuff going on - I'd often stay and chat til the boys went to supper, sometimes went with them too, and a few times I even stayed and did prep there if i was struggling to make myself work. There are also loads of concerts and plays at school so people stay in school for those rather than going home and coming back - there were always a fair few day people at supper.
