Westminster 16+ 2024 Entry

Hi,
I am sitting the entrance exams this year and am looking at doing chemistry and maths - do you have any tips revising for it?

Hi,

Sorry for the late reply but I hope this helps
For maths I recommend practicing imc questions but the actual maths focused ones and not the logic or trial and error ones because when I did it most of the questions were solving algebraic equations and then the last 5 or 10 questions were wordier maths problems. Altogether there were 30 multiple choice questions but I forgot the timing sorry.

for chemistry, I recommend practicing the rsc chemistry Olympiad. Remeber this is aimed at year 13 so please don’t expect to do really well because it’s really hard and requires a level knowledge which is not necessary for the Westminster exam. Everyone found the Chen exam rlly hard but first it’s good to be confident with all your GCSE topics and then practice the Olympiad questions. They’ll only require you to complete 2 or 3 questions in the paper, sorry i forgot how many questions it was, out of like 5 but it’s up to choosing the right questions and it’s quite time pressured. I recommend doing a questions without a graph if there is one because you score quite a few marks from just drawing the graph but the Chemistry exam is really hard so maybe practicing a few olymapid questions will help.

good luck and if you need anything else pls feel free to reach out 😊

Reply 21

bicompton

10

Original post by Stephhhhhhhh

I also plan to do philosophy and history, so any advice would be appreciated :smile:

Hey same! I want to do maths/phil/history/econ - what are you doing rn in history? My teacher set us homework to watch documentaries lol

Reply 22

leila2008

5

Original post by Ashirs

Hi,
I did the entrance exam last year and got offered a place. I did the exam for bio chem maths and physics. If you’re doing any of these subjects and want any advice or want to know what came up for these subjects, feel free to ask and I’ll try to help as much as I can. Good luck!!

what marks did you get on each one of your respective papers?

Reply 23

Ashirs

14

Original post by leila2008

what marks did you get on each one of your respective papers?

I didn’t get my marks

Reply 24

clouds…

1

Original post by Ashirs

Hi,
I did the entrance exam last year and got offered a place. I did the exam for bio chem maths and physics. If you’re doing any of these subjects and want any advice or want to know what came up for these subjects, feel free to ask and I’ll try to help as much as I can. Good luck!!

Hi,
What are the timings for the exams roughly? And how’s the physics exam, cause I’m planning on taking it but it’s probably my weakest subject out of my four choices (I’m taking bio, chem, physics, maths)? Also, slightly weird question, what did most people wear (I’m a girl)?

(edited 8 months ago)

Reply 25

bicompton

10

Original post by clouds…

Hi,
What are the timings for the exams roughly? And how’s the physics exam, cause I’m planning on taking it but it’s probably my weakest subject out of my four choices (I’m taking bio, chem, physics, maths)? Also, slightly weird question, what did most people wear (I’m a girl)?

Not the person you replied to, but exams this year will be nov 4th. For the exam wear business casual (they aren’t meeting you, but it’s still nice to look dressed up), and Mr No Nonsense (a few years ago) said for the interview wear business-y clothes. Suit ish? He said maybe a skirt for girls (I’m a girl too).

Reply 26

Ashirs

14

Original post by clouds…

Hi,
What are the timings for the exams roughly? And how’s the physics exam, cause I’m planning on taking it but it’s probably my weakest subject out of my four choices (I’m taking bio, chem, physics, maths)? Also, slightly weird question, what did most people wear (I’m a girl)?

Hi sorry for the late reply. I’m really sorry but I can’t remember the timings but I took the exact same subjects as you. For biology, I recommend practicing NSAA questions which is one of the Cambridge entrance exams for natural sciences but some of those questions came up in the exam. There were also some long answer questions for biology where you have to write short essays.

I’ve given advice to other people about physics chemistry and maths but if you have other questions please do reach out. The physics exam was hard but tbh I found all the exams quite hard I just recommend attempting as many questions as you can on the paper and if you don’t understand just move on bc there will be some parts you can do or short mark questions which are ok and can get you marks. For practice as I said you can practice questions from the intermediate physics challenge.

I’m also really sorry I don’t remember what many girls wore but I recommend just wearing something comfortable. I wore trousers and a shirt I think it doesn’t have to be too formal because you’re not meeting anyone but Yh ig just to follow the dress code given. Don’t worry too much about what you’re gna wear bc I overthank it but when I got there there were literally thousands of people so no one cared. Don’t be overwhelmed by the number of people in the exam hall there were WAYYY more than I expected Lool but it’s fine anyway because I could only do what I could.

Anyways sorry I went on a tangent but I hope it helped u in some way and good luck if you have any questions feel free to ask here!!!

Reply 27

bicompton

10

Just curious — is anyone applying for art? I’m nowhere near dedicated/talented enough for it but it’d be really cool to see some people applying for any of the humanities because basically everyone is applying to do the stem subjects.

re: econ, I had a pretty hectic first few days back but all good now so whenever you all are free! Maybe we can start with a 2023/2022 past paper and work our way back or something? Or the opposite and start in 2018?

Reply 28

tobybrennan

Original post by Ashirs

Hi,
I did the entrance exam last year and got offered a place. I did the exam for bio chem maths and physics. If you’re doing any of these subjects and want any advice or want to know what came up for these subjects, feel free to ask and I’ll try to help as much as I can. Good luck!!

Hi! Do you have any advice for biology?

Reply 29

Stephhhhhhhh

1

Original post by bicompton

Hey same! I want to do maths/phil/history/econ - what are you doing rn in history? My teacher set us homework to watch documentaries lol

Hii Documentaries sound quite cool actually. We're just doing cold war stuff... Nothing too fun. We're actually studying really similar subjects! Expect it's theatre studies rather than econ for me. I really wish I can get more advice on preparing for history

Reply 30

div_ko

OP

5

Original post by bicompton

Just curious — is anyone applying for art? I’m nowhere near dedicated/talented enough for it but it’d be really cool to see some people applying for any of the humanities because basically everyone is applying to do the stem subjects.

re: econ, I had a pretty hectic first few days back but all good now so whenever you all are free! Maybe we can start with a 2023/2022 past paper and work our way back or something? Or the opposite and start in 2018?

Hey, about econ, I have to go back to school in about 2 weeks so it'd be nice to start before then if everyone's comfortable, but if not, it's completely fine as well.

Reply 31

bicompton

10

Original post by Stephhhhhhhh

Hii Documentaries sound quite cool actually. We're just doing cold war stuff... Nothing too fun. We're actually studying really similar subjects! Expect it's theatre studies rather than econ for me. I really wish I can get more advice on preparing for history

Hi!! The cold war is a really interesting period! I think we’re doing that too in a few months - doing war in the pacific atm! I’m actually reading a book on the ussr right now: the shortest history of the soviet union. It’s really interesting and I highly recommend it if you’re looking for extra reading!
It’d be great to talk about preparing for history with you. I don’t think many are applying for it? Really doesn’t seem like it’s as popular as maths/econ but also people say it’s a really hard a level. I think theatre studies is so so cool! The department at WS seems amazing and they apparently have a ton of plays which is amazing!

Reply 32

bicompton

10

Original post by div_ko

Hey, about econ, I have to go back to school in about 2 weeks so it'd be nice to start before then if everyone's comfortable, but if not, it's completely fine as well.

Hi, yeah I’d like to start as soon as everyone’s free too. Can everyone just confirm if they’re in and we can make a gc/new thread or something so we don’t fill this one up with econ stuff? So far we’ve got
@div_ko @zziawoo and I? Anyone else?

Reply 33

tofuknight

4

Original post by div_ko

Hey, about econ, I have to go back to school in about 2 weeks so it'd be nice to start before then if everyone's comfortable, but if not, it's completely fine as well.

Hi, that sounds good! My school also starts pretty soon and I’m worried that once it starts it’ll be hard to find time for practice economics because it’s not offered at school. I think we should try making a group chat so it’ll be easier to send files etc.

Also for international applicants: are there anyone doing the entrance examination for Westminster (or other schools) at their local British Council because they live abroad, or is everyone travelling to to Westminster to take it?

Reply 34

username6248730

7

Original post by bicompton

Hi, yeah I’d like to start as soon as everyone’s free too. Can everyone just confirm if they’re in and we can make a gc/new thread or something so we don’t fill this one up with econ stuff? So far we’ve got
@div_ko @zziawoo and I? Anyone else?

yep 👍

Reply 35

div_ko

OP

5

Original post by bicompton

Hi, yeah I’d like to start as soon as everyone’s free too. Can everyone just confirm if they’re in and we can make a gc/new thread or something so we don’t fill this one up with econ stuff? So far we’ve got
@div_ko @zziawoo and I? Anyone else?

yep and @tofuknight as well

Reply 36

Stephhhhhhhh

1

Original post by bicompton

Hi!! The cold war is a really interesting period! I think we’re doing that too in a few months - doing war in the pacific atm! I’m actually reading a book on the ussr right now: the shortest history of the soviet union. It’s really interesting and I highly recommend it if you’re looking for extra reading!
It’d be great to talk about preparing for history with you. I don’t think many are applying for it? Really doesn’t seem like it’s as popular as maths/econ but also people say it’s a really hard a level. I think theatre studies is so so cool! The department at WS seems amazing and they apparently have a ton of plays which is amazing!

Thanks so much for the book rec! I'll definitely check it out- I loved the USSR unit when we did it. For me, the cold war is just a tiny bit duller than the other topics we've studied? It's still really really interesting though and not the hardest (you can answer with "relationship worsened"/ "tension increased" to literally any question lol)
I think that history is probably one of the most content-heavy subjects but I'm sure you'll get on very well! I was so impressed by the Theatre Studies department too- they put on so many productions it's so cool.

Reply 37

tofuknight

4

Original post by bicompton

Hi, yeah I’d like to start as soon as everyone’s free too. Can everyone just confirm if they’re in and we can make a gc/new thread or something so we don’t fill this one up with econ stuff? So far we’ve got
@div_ko @zziawoo and I? Anyone else?

And me too!

Reply 38

bicompton

10

Original post by tofuknight

And me too!

Yep, sorry!!! Not having any noticeable/or at all propfile pictures really throws me off. I’ll try and make us all a gc here now!