Westminster School 2020 16+

the acceptance email said '8 A/7 grades at GCSE/IGCSE, of which at least 4 are A*/8-9 (preferably in the chosen A Level subjects)' so not too bad, anybody who can get an offer will probably be able to meet those. i don't know much about the scholarship but i think you just need to perform very well across the board in exams and interviews as well as the TSA which you have to do. you just need to tick the box to say you want to be considered for the scholarship when applying

How were your interviews and the TSA?

do u know which house you’re in yet?

yep! they let you know which house you are in after you accept your offer. and there are 2 induction days before the start of term mostly in your houses, one to meet only the other new students and one where you also meet the current students that will be in your year. + you and your parents have a meeting with your housemaster in the summer

i did french, spanish, history and geography. the exams weren't actually too bad; i think with humanities there's a lot more leeway and room for discussion/to impress. all the exams were pretty straightforward, because i did 4 essay subjects they were more difficult to prepare for because there's no such thing as common content for everybody when it comes to history, geography etc. but there is for maths and sciences. i didn't do a lot of prep because i kind of went into the whole process with a 'if it happens it happens' attitude, i was reading a lot of books outside of the curriculum anyway and skimmed over some of my gcse syllabus (although i actually found i used almost none of my gcse knowledge and a lot more of the stuff i'd learnt myself through my own interests!) important thing is that the exams are NOT gcse style at all, they're actually tests of aptitude more so than knowledge. some of my friends who did other subjects said the maths exams are more UMC style and the science questions were applying gcse level concepts to weird/unseen contexts to test your understanding of them. if you enjoy your subjects and have a passion for them you might wind up finding the process quite fun!!

Hi there I was just wondering about the Spanish exam. On their website they mentioned an extension at the end of the paper, would it be possible to understand if you are not fluent and is it above GCSE level?

Thanks

i did french, spanish, history and geography. the exams weren't actually too bad; i think with humanities there's a lot more leeway and room for discussion/to impress. all the exams were pretty straightforward, because i did 4 essay subjects they were more difficult to prepare for because there's no such thing as common content for everybody when it comes to history, geography etc. but there is for maths and sciences. i didn't do a lot of prep because i kind of went into the whole process with a 'if it happens it happens' attitude, i was reading a lot of books outside of the curriculum anyway and skimmed over some of my gcse syllabus (although i actually found i used almost none of my gcse knowledge and a lot more of the stuff i'd learnt myself through my own interests!) important thing is that the exams are NOT gcse style at all, they're actually tests of aptitude more so than knowledge. some of my friends who did other subjects said the maths exams are more UMC style and the science questions were applying gcse level concepts to weird/unseen contexts to test your understanding of them. if you enjoy your subjects and have a passion for them you might wind up finding the process quite fun!!

What standard was the French exam? iGCSE or more towards AS?

So I am not from UK meaning I don't know a lot about the schools there, but I did heard about Concord! I'm really interested, so, say if I want to go there for my 6th form, which subjects would you recommend and which one you wouldn't? Also, how is the environment there? ie. the facilities/teachers/competitiveness/friends.
How many subjects are the student there taking? (3,4,5?) I'm thinking about taking Math, *maybe* FurtherMath, Physics and something else?

Thank you very much! How important is the Personal Statement? I am, admittedly, not very musical or sporty, so I will have very little to write in these sections... will this put me at a major disadvantage or is sufficient performance in the entrance exams, TSA and interviews enough?

Thank you very much! How important is the Personal Statement? I am, admittedly, not very musical or sporty, so I will have very little to write in these sections... will this put me at a major disadvantage or is sufficient performance in the entrance exams, TSA and interviews enough?

Hello! I'm also thinking of applying to Westminster for 6th Form(2020-2022) for English Lit, Latin, History and German. What are the exams and interviews in these particular subjects and how can I prepare for them?

Overall they’re very hard to prepare for. Make sure you’re familiar with as much of the GCSE as possible (if ur from the UK). Even for the same subjects, different people have very different experiences depending on who’s interviewing you. For English, make sure you’re comfortable talking about the books/plays you enjoy and/or have studied recently at school, and make sure you can analyse a poem on the spot. The exam is usually an essay analysing a text and it’s pretty standard stuff. For history it’s a lot different and you might want to think about the wider importance of history on top of just knowing a lot of history. The important thing is to be able to prove your interest in the subject. Latin you need to know your grammar and vocab, and be able to analyse a piece of classically based literature (the text is in english though). For the interview they will most likely ask you about the set texts you’ve studied at school and ask you to translate a hard bit of latin. Don’t be afraid to ask them for help, but make sure you can pick up their hints quickly. German should be grammar and vocab as well, try and get as comfortable speaking it as possible. Hope this helps.