St Pauls 13+ vs Westminster 13+ vs KCS 11+

Thank you so much for your reply, we’ve just got our offer yesterday by post! 🙂

I think the decision was taken back in 2021, it's an old thread

I have a ds @ SPJ in year 8. It's very fast paced with fixtures on Saturday mornings. I believe most of the private schools have that too! He has been there since 8+ and is very happy. They move at a fast pace, I would say up to GCSE Level in many subjects already. I can't fault the teaching, they are always willing to help your child explore topics at a deeper level. We turned down KCS as SPJ was much closer to us. IMHO Westminster probably suits less sporty boys as they don't have facilities on site. All 3 of these schools will have high academics. Personally I would choose the school that is closest to you. Good luck with your decision!

Can I ask? Is the offer from St Pauls sent by email or post ?

Same! i have no idea what the format of the exam is, but i'm just assuming it's all written rather than multiple choice and essentially the same as for other schools (but harder).

@ViolettasAria totally in the same boat. I am planning to ask the current school what might be best to take in terms of current work books. I have no clue about their English exam but heard there is some element of writing as well as comprehension.

@ttbn my son has also been invited back and Im quite nervous about the exams too. Cant seem to figure out what it will entail and the fact that they have asked him to bring his school books is also slightly worrying as his school does most of their work on Teams and he doesn't even have books for certain subjects.

is the English a comprehension? or a creative writing piece?

My son is on the 26th too! Good luck everyone.

@Justarrivedlondon feels like it’s alphabetical and I doubt they would make the preferences that obvious or parents would be up in arms! Wish your DS all the best.

My DS's interview is in early Feb. Do you think the interview date has anything to do with the performance in ISEB, or in alphabetical order? My DS's last name is towards the end of the alphabetically order, just to comfort myself.

My son's interview is much earlier. Let's see how it goes. It is quite daunting as it seems to imply the interview is 50 minutes!

@AC7001 Interview on 26th. Really kind of you, happy to share with you too if you’re after us. The odds seems better at Westminster than CoL so maybe keep hope. I’m a firm believer in children rising to challenges if we give them a chance.

No idea, just do the more difficult sample papers elsewhere I suppose? Comprehension, I was advised, was very difficult, with lots of inference questions, not simple fact retrieval.

We won't particularly prepare for it. After failing to get past City of London stage 1, I don't feel too excited to get the email into stage 2 of Westminster as I think my son's chance is very slim (for an even more selective school). We might have been over-ambitious in targeting the very top London schools. Fortunately, we have also applied to the more realistic ones.

When is your interview date? If it is later than mine, perhaps we can give you a hint.

@AC7001 Yes indeed. Not sure if I his is usual for them or a new thing. Do you know whether there are any non-challenge specimen papers anywhere?

I wonder if your son had also been asked to bring 2 school exercise books and also to choose from the same subjects as us, i.e., English, history, geography, science, and RS?

@Tersy You’re so great for encouraging - really appreciate it. I don’t look at these league tables as they make no sense to me but maybe it’s worth a shot as you say?

@ttbn , well done! In terms of schools, St. Paul’s girls (irrelevant!) is no 1 in the times list out today.

Westminster is no 7

whereas kings is no 3 (it was previously no 2, and top of all boys schools)

hampton is no 16.

ie kings, st Pauls, Westminster all tier one. Top of the top. Hampton slightly easier, but still great. All excellent and rest assured the school would not be considering your son if he wasn’t the right standard. In terms of hardness of entrance exams, all much the same I think.

fyi, Eton is no 20.

Hi everyone. I saw this thread and wanted to get your advice on 13+ at Westminster. Our DS has done ISEB and invited to sit their exam. We did not expect this if I am honest! My worry is that DS will go and not be able to cope which may then impact assessments for other schools. Is that silly? How hard is it really? Similar level to KCS and Hampton or harder? I just don’t want to knock him. Thanks for your pearls of wisdom.

Thank you so much. It was an incredible school when my brother was there and the friends he made and still has are some of the most interesting people you will ever meet. Not your typical run of the mill senior lawyers and other professionals but extraordinary, quirky, interesting, curious, successful individuals - and not always in a conventional way. I think the boys they choose and the method of teaching all contributes to this and I also think it would suit my son.

That said we are obviously applying for a spread of schools and will see how he gets on.

Well done. Given your choice I would 100% have picked Westminster and I hope your son has a wonderful time there.

@SARTN congratulations!

My son is in year 5 and we are thinking of sitting him for Westminster 13+. Any tips having been through it recently? What kind of things did they ask in the interview?

My DB went to Westminster but I'm sure it's changed since then. You mentioned some negatives you'd heard about the school and I'm interested to know what those are.

@SARTN glad for you to have made your choice and are out of the woods - congratulations. Thank you and @Skatingpark97 for deposit comments. Both of our 13+ offers have refundable entrance fees/deposits before Jan 2022. Seeing that many boys mentioned had a big say in school choice, I feel it's better for my son to help decide after visits are possible again. That's why I'm curious if anyone else has accepted more than one offer to buy time.

Glad you made the decision... and I know what you mean. All the what-ifs! Someone said to me, let DS have the final decision (unless you really disagree etc etc of course!).