Westminster Under school vs City of London

My son loved the very full boarding school type life that Westminster offered. However other boys will prefer getting home promptly and spending more time with family and not having to go into school on Saturdays. (Don't forget there are often matches or play rehersals on Saturday afternoons.)

Horses for courses. However it is definately not a decision that should be hbased on pejorative internet comments about bubbles of "priveledge". Both schools will have good eggs and bad.

I am not sure I agree fully with Mavis.

Westminster has never been obviously a "bubble of priviledge, rubbing shoulders with the wealthy and very wealthy". Indeed DS knew at least three boys who were living in rented ex-Council flats near the school. Boys there are bright. Friendships are formed on common interests, not what your parents do or how much they earn. There are presumably some flash rich kids but they are easy to avoid.

Differences in my mind are:

1. Westminster operates as a boarding school even though only a third are boarders. House system, two full afternoons of games, Saturday school and the ability of day children to come in for breakfast and stay late in the evening either to do homework, use the gym or rehearse a play etc. The City campus closes quite early and most clubs are at lunch time. We thought this was great. Teenage boys like being in each other's company and my son would arive early and leave late. Far better than him being at home playing computer games (though he did a fair amount of that as well.)

1. Girls in sixth form. This changes Westminster altogether. The intake is selective and the girls, who make up about a third of the year group, are bright and ready to make a contribution to school life. A generalisation (and perhaps another difference) is that many Westminster boys fall into the "bright but quirky" MN definition. Being with girls at this point causes the boys to pull their social socks up and provides a good transition to University. Sixth form at Westminster is fun.

1. Cost. Westminster is extra-ordinarily expensive. Though the extra money will been seen in smaller, seminar type classes, and lots of pastoral support, which may be twhy their results are so good.

But again it is about feel. They are very different schools. Where does your DS feel most comfortable.

It seems to come down to:

Education - both good, usual story of bright kid doing well anywhere.

Opportunity - again both have good clubs, societies, sports, trips etc.

Culture - how good a fit for family - especially the boy. One being more of a bubble of priveledge, rubbing shoulders with the wealthy and very wealthy (plus the possible network built over time); the other being more of a mix of social levels, financial situations.

Fees, travel, boarding (if any if these have weight).

Gut feel.

Where do you want him to go afterwards? If you are even considering Westminster, go for WUS. Easier to transfer to col from there than vice versa. If you are thinking of anywhere else super academic, eg boarding Winchester in due course, go for WUS.

Well done him, btw. Bright lad.

If you enter in Year 7 at WUS, you are pretty much guaranteed a place in the Great School. The 11+ exam standard is so high that, if selected, the school doesn't perceive you will have a problem with CE exam in Year 8. If you attend the Open Day, the school will tell you this.

It's only the internal WUS students coming up from Year 3/4 who have no guarantees in terms of passing the Pre-tests in Year 6.

this being said, DS loves his school, and he said that everyone is so nice, he is really happy.

DS is at city with an academic scholarship. We didn't look at Westminster despite the fact that we were told it would be the best school for him as we couldn't afford it. If you can afford it go for Westminster I'd say. Have you already paid your deposit to all these 3 schools? The admission process is finished for 2016.

Bear (grizzly), not bare (naked)

And these days money is a consideration. Good jobs, property, inheritance... It can all go puff overnight, believe me. Unless you have all the fees saved away please bare that as a factor.

It's all about fit for the child then. What does your school say? We were told 'little Mavis is an XX boy' and that's where he got in.

For me it would be City, I just think it's the nicest school I've been to. I concur that it's much less public school and I felt much less comfortable in the surroundings of Westminster. I like that it's an ethnically and relatively socially diverse school and just turns out great boys. I had lots of friends who went to City and they were always a lovely, non arrogant non snobby crowd and remain the same in their 40's. I know lots of boys at City now and they're just lovely.

The £10k saving alone has to be worth serious consideration surely, especially if you've other kids and aren't uber wealthy.

£24k v 15.5k no?

Not an inconsiderable difference either way. It's not just the money though, it's how the way the fees influence who goes there.

If you and your DS really have no real preference, since you are not sure about the added entrance exams for WUS then I would consider how hard your DS has had to work for these entrance exams. If it has been a lot of work for him on top of his school day then choose CLS.

Just FYI WUS splits scholarship and CE only at year 8 (most preps do it in year 7 but Wus can't because of the 11+ intake)
Wus really isn't at all snobbish and you certainly don't have to compete to move on each year, but you do have to win your place at Great school albeit with a. Huge leg up vs the rest of the field and the great majority of boys succeed in doing so

£10k? And the rest!

All the grown ups who went to Westminster are very funny, smart people who say the school was extraordinary with excellent teaching. We went to look at it and like a PP, I had a bit of a reaction to the other parents. You could smell the ambition and I found it a bit overwhelming.

Plus I thought it pretty unlikely my son would get in...

City feels like a completely different school. It's sort of the private school that's most palatable for those who are a bit squeamish about going private. They felt to me like a public school and a grammar/independent school.

I'm really surprised the decision isn't obvious, they feel so utterly different. Isn't the £10k pa saving a factor?

In what way does Westminster sound vile? Surely old prejudices of posh students
are not still around.

I have no experience of WUS but my DD was in the Westminster 6th form and it was fantastic. While there were obviously some people with loads of money, there were also lots of fairly ordinary professional families and probably over 50% Asian pupils. This is becoming the norm at all top UK schools because of their vastly superior work ethic.

Where in the process is your DS?