Westminster school 2022 16+ entry

Hi All,

I am in year 10 and am hoping to apply to Westminster school at 16+ for Chemistry, Biology, Latin and Ancient Greek.

I just wanted to know a little more about the school, exam process as I would take the exam winter 2021. I would apply for a boarding place... Is it a good environment? Is it hard joining from a girls POV. I’ve seen the forums discuss Chemistry and a small amount on biology; However have not heard anything about the classical subjects...

Any information would be great and much appreciated!

hello!
I'm a year ahead, and will be joining westminster september 2021, so I've just been through the applications process. obviously it was a little different for me, given that I did the exams online, but hopefully I still have some applicable experience. my subjects are chemistry, biology, latin, and history (I also learn ancient greek, though it isn't one of my a-level subjects), so I seem rather well equipped for this! one thing is that, whilst the sixth form is two-thirds boys, you're joining with a large group of other girls, which certainly makes it easier to arrive. it's also worth bearing in mind that, if you get in at 16+, you're probably smarter than a lot of the boys who've been at the school since 13. the boys tend to act quite cocky, but they settle down quite quickly, and it certainly helps if you can outperform them . I'm a day pupil, so I'm afraid I can't answer your boarding question, but I can talk a lot about the applications process! is there anything in particular you want to know?

otherwise, this was my experience of applying to study latin:
the paper I sat had three parts. all of westminster's application papers are written to be challenging - it'll definitely be harder than your gcse content, but you're supposed to find it that way. the first section was pretty much straight grammar: you're given a number of sentences in latin, alongside their english translations, and asked to spot the two grammatical errors in each sentence. some were easy (just the wrong tense, for example), but a number of them were pretty tricky. it's definitely worth checking over your endings before you sit the exam! section two was objectively the most fun, and was a translation. they usually give you something quite interesting. this featured a lot of complicated constructions, and some unfamiliar vocab, but it was really interesting to figure out and put together, requiring more lateral thinking and puzzling out than most translations. the final section involved searching for specific forms within the previous text. it was certainly the quickest.
in the interview, I was shown a text in latin (mine was specifically focused on ablatives and their many uses), and had to talk through it. like the translation, this involved a bit of puzzling about, but it was mostly there for the teachers taking the interview to see how you approached the challenge, and what your thought process was. I found it rather fun!
all in all, I found the process incredibly rewarding, and I'm really looking forward to studying latin at the school. if you have any more specific questions, don't hesitate to ask!

hello!
I'm a year ahead, and will be joining westminster september 2021, so I've just been through the applications process. obviously it was a little different for me, given that I did the exams online, but hopefully I still have some applicable experience. my subjects are chemistry, biology, latin, and history (I also learn ancient greek, though it isn't one of my a-level subjects), so I seem rather well equipped for this! one thing is that, whilst the sixth form is two-thirds boys, you're joining with a large group of other girls, which certainly makes it easier to arrive. it's also worth bearing in mind that, if you get in at 16+, you're probably smarter than a lot of the boys who've been at the school since 13. the boys tend to act quite cocky, but they settle down quite quickly, and it certainly helps if you can outperform them . I'm a day pupil, so I'm afraid I can't answer your boarding question, but I can talk a lot about the applications process! is there anything in particular you want to know?

otherwise, this was my experience of applying to study latin:
the paper I sat had three parts. all of westminster's application papers are written to be challenging - it'll definitely be harder than your gcse content, but you're supposed to find it that way. the first section was pretty much straight grammar: you're given a number of sentences in latin, alongside their english translations, and asked to spot the two grammatical errors in each sentence. some were easy (just the wrong tense, for example), but a number of them were pretty tricky. it's definitely worth checking over your endings before you sit the exam! section two was objectively the most fun, and was a translation. they usually give you something quite interesting. this featured a lot of complicated constructions, and some unfamiliar vocab, but it was really interesting to figure out and put together, requiring more lateral thinking and puzzling out than most translations. the final section involved searching for specific forms within the previous text. it was certainly the quickest.
in the interview, I was shown a text in latin (mine was specifically focused on ablatives and their many uses), and had to talk through it. like the translation, this involved a bit of puzzling about, but it was mostly there for the teachers taking the interview to see how you approached the challenge, and what your thought process was. I found it rather fun!
all in all, I found the process incredibly rewarding, and I'm really looking forward to studying latin at the school. if you have any more specific questions, don't hesitate to ask!

hi! i'm applying to westminster for 2022 entry, probably sitting maths, econ, history, and english. anyone know what those exams are like?

i've heard that u should keep up to date on current events for econ and some of the past questions have been general current events/politics related things uk students would know but i'm american so i'm a bit worried about that. should i be reading british papers and such?

also, is it worth taking practice gcses for history and english and ukmt olympiad past papers for maths?

hi!!! well i’m english so i have no idea how to help you entirely but i would suggest doing so. there are different types of question formats you’ll need to know. also if you get any info about econ/maths/history exams for westminster please let me know!! thank you x

here's what the prospectus says on econ: answer
questions on a newspaper article, to
interpret a graph, do some GCSE-style
Mathematics questions, write an essay
on a non-economic topic such as
‘Is it justified to insist that people’s faces
should be visible in public places?’
or ‘Should an individual be able to sell
his or her kidney?

here's what the prospectus says on econ: answer
questions on a newspaper article, to
interpret a graph, do some GCSE-style
Mathematics questions, write an essay
on a non-economic topic such as
‘Is it justified to insist that people’s faces
should be visible in public places?’
or ‘Should an individual be able to sell
his or her kidney?

hello!
I'm a year ahead, and will be joining westminster september 2021, so I've just been through the applications process. obviously it was a little different for me, given that I did the exams online, but hopefully I still have some applicable experience. my subjects are chemistry, biology, latin, and history (I also learn ancient greek, though it isn't one of my a-level subjects), so I seem rather well equipped for this! one thing is that, whilst the sixth form is two-thirds boys, you're joining with a large group of other girls, which certainly makes it easier to arrive. it's also worth bearing in mind that, if you get in at 16+, you're probably smarter than a lot of the boys who've been at the school since 13. the boys tend to act quite cocky, but they settle down quite quickly, and it certainly helps if you can outperform them . I'm a day pupil, so I'm afraid I can't answer your boarding question, but I can talk a lot about the applications process! is there anything in particular you want to know?

otherwise, this was my experience of applying to study latin:
the paper I sat had three parts. all of westminster's application papers are written to be challenging - it'll definitely be harder than your gcse content, but you're supposed to find it that way. the first section was pretty much straight grammar: you're given a number of sentences in latin, alongside their english translations, and asked to spot the two grammatical errors in each sentence. some were easy (just the wrong tense, for example), but a number of them were pretty tricky. it's definitely worth checking over your endings before you sit the exam! section two was objectively the most fun, and was a translation. they usually give you something quite interesting. this featured a lot of complicated constructions, and some unfamiliar vocab, but it was really interesting to figure out and put together, requiring more lateral thinking and puzzling out than most translations. the final section involved searching for specific forms within the previous text. it was certainly the quickest.
in the interview, I was shown a text in latin (mine was specifically focused on ablatives and their many uses), and had to talk through it. like the translation, this involved a bit of puzzling about, but it was mostly there for the teachers taking the interview to see how you approached the challenge, and what your thought process was. I found it rather fun!
all in all, I found the process incredibly rewarding, and I'm really looking forward to studying latin at the school. if you have any more specific questions, don't hesitate to ask!

hi love what was the history exam like?? like what was the application process like, how do you revise for it, any good resources or tips? x
thank you so much

hello!
I'm a year ahead, and will be joining westminster september 2021, so I've just been through the applications process. obviously it was a little different for me, given that I did the exams online, but hopefully I still have some applicable experience. my subjects are chemistry, biology, latin, and history (I also learn ancient greek, though it isn't one of my a-level subjects), so I seem rather well equipped for this! one thing is that, whilst the sixth form is two-thirds boys, you're joining with a large group of other girls, which certainly makes it easier to arrive. it's also worth bearing in mind that, if you get in at 16+, you're probably smarter than a lot of the boys who've been at the school since 13. the boys tend to act quite cocky, but they settle down quite quickly, and it certainly helps if you can outperform them . I'm a day pupil, so I'm afraid I can't answer your boarding question, but I can talk a lot about the applications process! is there anything in particular you want to know?

otherwise, this was my experience of applying to study latin:
the paper I sat had three parts. all of westminster's application papers are written to be challenging - it'll definitely be harder than your gcse content, but you're supposed to find it that way. the first section was pretty much straight grammar: you're given a number of sentences in latin, alongside their english translations, and asked to spot the two grammatical errors in each sentence. some were easy (just the wrong tense, for example), but a number of them were pretty tricky. it's definitely worth checking over your endings before you sit the exam! section two was objectively the most fun, and was a translation. they usually give you something quite interesting. this featured a lot of complicated constructions, and some unfamiliar vocab, but it was really interesting to figure out and put together, requiring more lateral thinking and puzzling out than most translations. the final section involved searching for specific forms within the previous text. it was certainly the quickest.
in the interview, I was shown a text in latin (mine was specifically focused on ablatives and their many uses), and had to talk through it. like the translation, this involved a bit of puzzling about, but it was mostly there for the teachers taking the interview to see how you approached the challenge, and what your thought process was. I found it rather fun!
all in all, I found the process incredibly rewarding, and I'm really looking forward to studying latin at the school. if you have any more specific questions, don't hesitate to ask!

thanks for sharing your experience, how about personal statement? is there a word limit? submit which stage?

I'm also applying for entrance in 2022! Is anyone interested in
an instagram group chat?
I'm probs going to do Maths, Spanish, Philosophy and History - If anyone has done these and could share any info about how to prepare/what comes up I would rly appreciate it! Thanks!

I'm a bit confused, why are people talking about personal statements? Could someone please clarify? Thank you!