The Student Room Group

Westminster School? Do I stand a good chance?

Heya~dunno if any of u goes there~

I am a girl so i guess I wont stand a better chance of getting in (?)

My current grades are 6 A*s(triple science, mandarin, RE, Maths), 3 As (Geography, music, english lit), 3Bs (history, French and English lang). I have also got Cambridge certificates in Latin. I am in year10 at the moment. I don't know what my predicted grades are yet ^^

Do I hav any posibility of getting into Westminster ?

I plan to do French, further Maths (I hav done GCSE maths already nd I am doing AS maths now - the GCSE exam is scheduled for the end of yr 10 (this year) and the AS one is scheduled for the end of yr 11), the three sciences, critical thinking for VIth form

Thnx everybody~:smile:

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Don't know anything about Westminster School but all I can say is WHOA! Year 10 and got all that already :eek:

But thinking about it, I suppose if more people was given that sort of opportunity, I'm sure alot could hack it.
Well, if you're on 6 A*s, 3 As and 3 Bs already and you're only in Year 10, I'd say you stand a pretty good chance in terms of grades, but like the above poster, I don't know anything about the school either, so that's just a guess really. The only thing I would say is that you'll most likely need to be predicted A*s in the subjects you want to do at A-level, so you'll need to work on the French.
DoubleOSeven
this sounds well thick but whats westminster school :s-smilie:
isit a private school?


Yep, one of the top public schools.
Rukia

Do I hav any posibility of getting into Westminster ?



Yes.
"16+ Entry

* Entry to the sixth form is open to boys and girls.
* Sixth formers study A Levels after passing their GCSEs.
* Some means-tested bursaries are available.

Year before entry to the sixth form

* Jun: Details and registration forms available.
* Sep/Oct: Open days organised: A chance to meet teachers and visit the School.
* Oct: Submit registration forms (deadline second Wednesday in October).
* Nov: Prospective sixth formers interviewed and take entry exam.
* Dec: Prospective sixth formers notified of places.

Year of entry to the sixth form

* May/Jun: GCSEs taken.
* Aug: GCSE results: Candidates must obtain at least six GCSEs (including five ‘A Grades’ and one ‘B Grade&#8217:wink:
* Aug/Sep: Pupil starts sixth-form studies Prospective pupils generally register two to three years before entry to Westminster. In the term before entry, candidates take the Common Entrance or The Challenge (Westminster scholarship examination) to ensure the required standard is met. "

And check:

Do I Qualify?
http://www.westminster.org.uk/entryprocess/registration.asp
Entry at 16+
http://www.westminster.org.uk/entrylevels/16plus.asp
Scholarships
http://www.westminster.org.uk/entryprocess/bursaries.asp

Good luck. It is an excellent school. I know some students who went there and they seem rather decent people.
Reply 5
Good luck. It is an excellent school. I know some students who went there and they seem rather decent people.

Thanks to everyone who replies

I have checked the website for many times already but thank you anyways~

The reason I asked was because although it says 6As are fine but I suppose everyone who applied would at least be something better, do u see what I mean?

So I just thought maybe some people who used to apply or know someone who applied would probably see the 'actual' general grades of people who Westminster accepts~

Anywayz~I really am not trying to show off my grades or anything because I am not even the No.1 in my year group in my school~so~to be honest I post this thread only cos I am not confident enough!!^^
Reply 6
Its not easy to get in to but your grades are sound for it. I know a couple of guys who didn't get in but had worse grades than you, and one who did but had better. For the subjects you are doing you are pretty well qualified. Good luck westminister is a tough school academically but well worth it if you are going for a good university.
my sister did the tests for westminster failed did not get in, solid A student from a private school, so be wary of those tests.
Reply 8
Realist101
my sister did the tests for westminster failed did not get in, solid A student from a private school, so be wary of those tests.


It means I need to work alot harder then..............:wink:
Reply 9
Good choice :p: I'm currently at Westminster, in my last year, and you look as though you're super-bright, so we'll probably snap you up. Typically, perhaps, the girls have better GCSEs than the website lets on - most have 8+A*s, but there are definitely a few who bombed on GCSEs, and are still amazingly bright - GCSEs are only about learning vast amounts, and so aren't that reliable. Be wary of the interviews, since they'll be pretty hard - generally they'll ask you questions (that don't require knowledge but hard thought) from the AS and A2 of the prospective subjects. Also, there are a few character test questions, like "What would you do with a million pounds?", but I don't think these are particularly important.

The workload, however, is HUGE. Thankfully, you're principally a scientist, and so the workload can only be as much as 6/7 hours / week / subject for you. French will require a lot of work, partially because all the boys will already have the AS level, partially because it becomes comparatively hideous at A-level in comparison to the GCSE. Maths and Further Maths is a good choice - how much homework you get really depends on your teacher. Last year I got a 5 hour homework every week for Pure, 2 hours for Mech and about 1/2 an hour for Stats. This year, I haven't yet been set a Pure prep, Mech preps take about 20 minutes but Stats homeworks take maybe 2 hours. The stuff seems to infiltrate your brain regardless!

Anyway - I hope all goes well. Best of luck with your remaining exams and tests and interview! I'll be long gone by then, but let me know if you do get in. I'll probably still be frequenting the corridors of TSR even then!!
Reply 10
henryt
Anyway - I hope all goes well. Best of luck with your remaining exams and tests and interview! I'll be long gone by then, but let me know if you do get in. I'll probably still be frequenting the corridors of TSR even then!!


Thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much~:wink: ~these things are really really helpful to me~

I will definitely let you know if I will get into westminster or not by~~~~when the results come out~~~~~~so probably a year later?

LOL~Thank you again
Woah! You're in year 10 and you have more qualifications than most of the girls in my year (year 12!!)

So yes, I'd say you did.

One of my best friends' girlfriends goes there, btw, and it seems lovely. :smile:
Reply 12
Hello, I am also a year 10 student interested in joining Westminster School at Sixth Form. I would like information on:

-The difficulty of the examinations
-How I will be examined for Economics if I opt for that since I've never done it before and am not studying it for GCSE
-the number of male entrants and available place for males
-Where I can get hold of past or practice entrance papers

The most helpful information on the first bullet point. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Reply 13
I got into Westminster this year and I will be taking maths, further maths, physics, chemistry and electronics. In regarding to your questions rupertj.

Single maths and maths with further maths people do the same exams. The exam consisted of 16 word problems. I found out later that those doing just maths were expected to get just over half of the questions while the further maths people were expected to get close to all of the questions. Many of the candidates doing just maths were in for a shock and I will never forget their faces after the exams. I myself got full marks in this but maths in why strongest subject. Most of the questions were
algerbra based. If you are expecting to get and a* in GCSE this paper shouldn't be much of a problem as long as you stay calm. The English exam so I hear consisted of two poems which the candidates had to analyze. My friends who took the economics exam say that it mostly consisted of interpretating graphs.

Most of the applicants for sixth form entry are girls and I was oe of 20 boys out of the 350 applicants. They accept 60-70 people. There are specific places allocated to boys and both sexes are considered equally. However the school's policy states that up to 60 girls can be admitted. So this year I think there were 60 girls and 10 boys admitted. However if none of the boys are up to their standards the school will just accept girls.

I will be a day commuting pupil.

There are no past papers. In general you can't really prepare for the Westminster exams. They are designed to test your potential and aptitude rather than your current knowledge.
Reply 14
rupertj:

I'm the thread starter and I got into Westminster this year. The subjects which I took exams in were: Economics, Maths and Physics.

Economics: There were four questions. A simple maths calculation questions; a graph interpreting question; a short essay on what effects food price inflation might have in Zimbabwe and a long essay on your opinions on a proposed government plan of giving 10,000 pounds to women who don't have kids before the age of 25. Honestly the economics exam was quite tricky but don't worry about them testing your general knowledge as there wasn't any in my paper. I heard a few years ago the long essay (worth 65% of the total marks) was: what effects might doubling Westminster's school fees have?

Maths: I guess wilbsz has explained quite alot. Basically they were maths challenge like questions - much easier than maths challenge though. Not hard as long as you manage your time well. Some of my friends didn't find them hard but failed the exam because they couldn't finish the paper.

English: I myself did not take the exam. I heard it was poem analysis and you have a few choices of what to analyse.

I was offered a boarding place at Westminster.

After the entrance exam, about half of the applicants were selected to go to the interview and half of the interviewees are offered places. I am not sure about how many boys are admitted this year.

Past papers of the entrance exam aren't available, but frankly there is no way that one can prepare or revise for these exams (to my opinion). You might need to be familiar with current affairs for the economics interview.

Afterall good luck on your entrance exams~~~~~
Heya, I joined Westminster in sixth form and am now in my first year at uni after a gap year so if any of you have any questions feel free to ask :smile:

Trust me, you'll love it - it's like nothing you've ever experienced before. You'll see what I mean when you get there!
Reply 16
Hey I'm in Year 10 and I'm interested in joining Westminster School at Sixth Form. I'm male and i want to know what kind of competition there is for subjects such as Maths Economics Biology Chemistry and History
Thanks
Saran
erm i very much doubt there is a set quota for each subject. if there are x places, the people who are ranked in the top x after exams and interviews get in regardless of subject.
holy ****tt that school is expensive! how do people afford to go there?!
watermelon sugar
holy ****tt that school is expensive! how do people afford to go there?!


It varies. Some people's parents are super rich (heads of business empires, CEOs of major world banks etc - just take a glance at a Rich List and there'll be at least 4 or 5 Westminster families in the first 100), others aren't so rich but they'd rather spend their money on their kids' educations than on nice houses/cars/holidays/handbags etc; and then some couldn't afford it without a bursary - these can be very generous, and if you're good Westminster want you whether or not you can afford it, and will do everything they can to help out. I know people who paid nothing, or next to nothing, with a combination of scholarships and bursaries. I also know families with 3 or so kids all boarding there - now that is a ridiculous amount of money per year...