The Student Room Group

Spgs entry 2025

Hi everyone,

I recently received an offer for 16+ entry to St Paul's Girls' School, but I’m unsure whether to accept it as I don’t know much about the school. I currently attend a competitive girls' private school, so I’m confident that transitioning academically wouldn’t be an issue.

However, I’m in a bit of a dilemma because I need to make a decision on the St Paul’s offer within a week. At the same time, I’ve also applied to Westminster School, which is my first choice for 16+ entry, but I don’t know if I’ll get an offer from them in time. I’m concerned about committing to St Paul’s by paying the deposit, only to later receive an offer from Westminster.

Additionally, I’d love some insight into the culture and environment at St Paul’s. For those of you currently attending, what do you like about the school, and what are some challenges or downsides you’ve experienced?

Thanks so much for any advice or input!
hi! i also got an offer from st pauls, haha it's nice to find someone else as well. im finding it difficult to decide, especially with the fact i'll know no one there as an external so its nice to see someone in the same boat!!
I’m sure a lot of other people also don’t know anyone there. If you didn’t take the offer what would be your reasons?
did they already send out the offers?? I don't think I've got an email yet
Original post by kiyonari
did they already send out the offers?? I don't think I've got an email yet


St Paul’s did, Westminster will later but St Paul’s deadline is on Monday so since I’d only have three days to decide if I got a place so I was js tryna see the pros and cons
Reply 5
Original post by Ncndbdbdndkdvdb
Hi everyone,
I recently received an offer for 16+ entry to St Paul's Girls' School, but I’m unsure whether to accept it as I don’t know much about the school. I currently attend a competitive girls' private school, so I’m confident that transitioning academically wouldn’t be an issue.
However, I’m in a bit of a dilemma because I need to make a decision on the St Paul’s offer within a week. At the same time, I’ve also applied to Westminster School, which is my first choice for 16+ entry, but I don’t know if I’ll get an offer from them in time. I’m concerned about committing to St Paul’s by paying the deposit, only to later receive an offer from Westminster.
Additionally, I’d love some insight into the culture and environment at St Paul’s. For those of you currently attending, what do you like about the school, and what are some challenges or downsides you’ve experienced?
Thanks so much for any advice or input!

Hi there, I’m sure I read somewhere that Westminster 16+ results come out tomorrow (Friday) so you should have time to decide before SPGS deadline. Best of luck!
Thank you!!
I was also wondering if anyone who goes to St Paul’s or Westminster or nlcs had any pros or cons of the schools
Reply 8
Original post by Ncndbdbdndkdvdb
Hi everyone,
I recently received an offer for 16+ entry to St Paul's Girls' School, but I’m unsure whether to accept it as I don’t know much about the school. I currently attend a competitive girls' private school, so I’m confident that transitioning academically wouldn’t be an issue.
However, I’m in a bit of a dilemma because I need to make a decision on the St Paul’s offer within a week. At the same time, I’ve also applied to Westminster School, which is my first choice for 16+ entry, but I don’t know if I’ll get an offer from them in time. I’m concerned about committing to St Paul’s by paying the deposit, only to later receive an offer from Westminster.
Additionally, I’d love some insight into the culture and environment at St Paul’s. For those of you currently attending, what do you like about the school, and what are some challenges or downsides you’ve experienced?
Thanks so much for any advice or input!

Hi, I’m thinking of applying next year!
What subjects did you do for Spgs? What were the papers like and the interview? How did you prepare? How smart would you say you are compared to the rest of your year? Thanks xx
(edited 2 months ago)
I did Maths, Further Maths, Politics, and Economics.

For Maths, it was tough—most people only managed about 5 out of the 9 questions. The questions felt like the really hard ones at the end of a higher-level GCSE Maths paper. We were allowed to use a calculator, though, which helped a bit.

Economics was a mix of a logic-based multiple-choice section and two essays—one short and one longer. Both were linked to current events, so keeping up with the news beforehand definitely came in handy.

Politics was more like a comprehension task. You had to read two articles and then write essays based on them. Again, knowing a bit about current affairs made it easier.

The interview had six parts:
1. Group activity: It started with a short problem-solving activity in a group. Honestly, it felt more like an icebreaker to help us relax rather than a proper assessment.
2. Subject-specific interviews:
For Economics and Maths, the teachers didn’t really ask me questions—they just gave me problems to solve. The main thing they wanted was for me to think out loud. Even if you’re struggling, they just want to see how you approach things.
In the Maths interview, the teacher actually taught me a bit of an A-level topic and had me apply it. I struggled with it, but they weren’t looking for perfection—they just wanted to see how I learn.
The Politics interview was more of a chat. The teacher asked about my interests and why I chose the subject. They were really easy to talk to and seemed more interested in getting to know me than testing me.
3. General interview: This was definitely the hardest part for me. I was expecting questions like, “Why do you want to join the school?” or “Why are you leaving your current school?” Instead, they asked really casual, open-ended questions like:
If you could invite three people (alive or dead) to a dinner party, who would you choose? And what would you serve?
What does your ideal weekend look like?
If you could go anywhere in the world for as long as you wanted, with no budget limit, where would you go?

To prepare, I tried looking up past interview questions, but I didn’t find much. My advice would be to make sure you know your reasons for wanting to join the school and just be ready to talk about your interests.

Oh, and keep in mind that everyone’s experience is different—it really depends on the teacher you get.
Reply 10
Original post by Ncndbdbdndkdvdb
I did Maths, Further Maths, Politics, and Economics.
For Maths, it was tough—most people only managed about 5 out of the 9 questions. The questions felt like the really hard ones at the end of a higher-level GCSE Maths paper. We were allowed to use a calculator, though, which helped a bit.
Economics was a mix of a logic-based multiple-choice section and two essays—one short and one longer. Both were linked to current events, so keeping up with the news beforehand definitely came in handy.
Politics was more like a comprehension task. You had to read two articles and then write essays based on them. Again, knowing a bit about current affairs made it easier.
The interview had six parts:
1. Group activity: It started with a short problem-solving activity in a group. Honestly, it felt more like an icebreaker to help us relax rather than a proper assessment.
2. Subject-specific interviews:
For Economics and Maths, the teachers didn’t really ask me questions—they just gave me problems to solve. The main thing they wanted was for me to think out loud. Even if you’re struggling, they just want to see how you approach things.
In the Maths interview, the teacher actually taught me a bit of an A-level topic and had me apply it. I struggled with it, but they weren’t looking for perfection—they just wanted to see how I learn.
The Politics interview was more of a chat. The teacher asked about my interests and why I chose the subject. They were really easy to talk to and seemed more interested in getting to know me than testing me.
3. General interview: This was definitely the hardest part for me. I was expecting questions like, “Why do you want to join the school?” or “Why are you leaving your current school?” Instead, they asked really casual, open-ended questions like:
If you could invite three people (alive or dead) to a dinner party, who would you choose? And what would you serve?
What does your ideal weekend look like?
If you could go anywhere in the world for as long as you wanted, with no budget limit, where would you go?
To prepare, I tried looking up past interview questions, but I didn’t find much. My advice would be to make sure you know your reasons for wanting to join the school and just be ready to talk about your interests.
Oh, and keep in mind that everyone’s experience is different—it really depends on the teacher you get.

Thank you so much! how much did you prepare leading up to the assessments? x
Honestly, I didn’t prepare extensively for the assessment. For maths, I focused mainly on practicing GCSE paper questions and a few SMC (Senior Maths Challenge) problems. I found this approach helpful, but it wasn’t as thorough as others I know who did full past papers for their subjects.

For politics and economics, my preparation was even more relaxed—I mainly kept up with current affairs by reading articles, which helped me stay informed about recent developments in those fields.

From what I’ve observed, people preparing for science subjects seemed to rely heavily on having a solid understanding of GCSE-level content, as the assessments were closely tied to that foundational knowledge.

In terms of the overall process, there weren’t actually that many people in the in-person assessment stage compared to the earlier online round, where there was much higher competition. Many candidates didn’t make it past the online assessment, so I would recommend focusing on preparing for that stage carefully. It’s worth practicing the specific format and types of questions used in the online round to maximize your chances of advancing further.

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