Sussex House versus Westminster Under

[Michaelahpurple]

V London-centric, but trying to wrestle the pros and cons of Sussex House and Westminster Under schools.
Any thoughts or comments v gratefully received, esp given new head at Westminster.

does your son have offers at both or are you trying to decide whether or not to apply to both? if the latter, the simple answer is to apply to both (as well as to colet court, eaton house the manor, etc). they are great schools. WU is a bit more academic and new head seems to favor academics over extra-curricular activities (lots of reference to "cerebral" boys at the open day in the autumn). sussex house also has very good teachers but seems to pride itself on a strong arts programme, too, so perhaps offers a broader education overall (but you have to be prepared to make packed lunches every day for the next 6 years!).

WUS - very academic, fantastic teachers who are good at making learning fun. Lots going on all the time (not true about just academic) e.g. school plays, chess competition, model competition, photo competition, inter-house football match etc. No changes so far with the new head (she was not brought in to make any changes so hopefully nothing is broken, nothing needs to be fixed). But I think it might only suit certain types of boys, it's a tough environment in the sense that there are lots of confident and intelligent boys. And work load does get quite heavy as they move up the years.

Sussex - I know boys who are there now and are very happy but I also know one mum who took her DS out because of bullying (could be specific to that child though, I don't know the details). Lack of outdoor space and packed lunches are key negatives in my opinion. Less academic than WUS but academic strong enough to lead to good CE results, especially if you want boarding schools.

I think LM123's descriptions of the two schools are very helpful. I have several friends with sons at both schools and hear very good reports about both.

One additional consideration is whether you're thinking about a day school or boarding school later on. Many boys from SH go to boarding schools while 80% of the boys at WUS go to day schools (usually, but not always, Westminster). Both schools prepare well for CE but there might be some sense in chosing SH if you plan on boarding school.
If you don't yet have offers and are just thinking about options for 8+ next year, then obviously there are other possibilities, too, which are worth considering.

Thank you so much gang. We do have offers for both and have made the plunge and gone for Westminster. Really helpful feedback.

As I am interested in sending my Ds to one of those school can you please tell me which pre-prep did your ds go to?

DS s are at cameron house. Not a majory feeder traditionally, as goes to 11+, but this year one is going to WUS, one Colet and 3 Sussex

Thanks

suspect westminster will start to experience a downturn under the new head was not impressed by her speech at open morning. she doesn't seem to have a feel for the school and don't think she has the same ethos as the previous head who was very popular

We went last October. To be honest, we were shocked: WUS is generally held up as close to the ne plus ultra in terms of academic education in London at that age and yet the whole experience felt desperately amateur and under-prepared for prospective parents and boys. There's an internal debate about boarding or day pre-CE raging in our family at present: the WUS experience on that open day certainly didn't help the "day" camp! We're pretty much set on boarding at some stage; the question is when? Would be very interested to hear why Sussex House might be a better bet?