Online 7+ exam Westminster Under School

[Mumsnot1825]

Is anyone else's son studying for the WUS 7+ next week? It's now going online... so I'm now worried this has basically turned it into a Cheaters' Charter. Surely there'll be loads of parents just completing the tests for their kids? What do you think?

[redtooth]

We don't either. We knew they messed up yesterday so we sent out the query, but the school denied the mess up and lied to us in the email, saying that they haven't made decision yet.
I agree with you @Eitherway, they showed no respect towards us. It's a simple mistake, just admit it! If you are honest, we totally understand. It's a shame for an education provider to behave like this.

[StrugglingPa]

@redtooth@Eitherway
Did you get a letter stating that a place hasn’t been offered? I hope letters are going out to everyone irrespective of the offer status.

In St Paul’s they sent the rejections first I believe

[Sunnysidewalk]

@redtooth What did they do? You mean they put something in the header but denied it?

[Nataly21]

congratulations @StrugglingPa. I understand you have offers at all 3? Which one will you go for?
@Eitherway, @redtooth, eager to know what the mess up was? We're hoping to apply for the 8+ and any information, feedback would be appreciated about the school and application process because who knows, we might still have online assessments next year!

[fionaming]

We got the offer too. They sent really late this time

[TAFZMom]

All - if choosing WUS, which areas do you think are decent distant enough for daily commute either by tube or bus, any pointers?

[redtooth]

In school's email inviting us back to the 7+ second-round, they told us that a Parent Webinar would be on Thursday 21st January between 9:30 and 10:00, to which all parents of boys who are being called back are invited. Like many others, we did not receive the webinar link yesterday morning before 9:30 but some people received. We then emailed the school, asking for the reason why we were missed out and to check whether they only sent the link of the Parent Webinar to those students they decided to offer. The school replied immediately, denying the existence of offer group and claimed that Webinar invitation was sent to all parents. It was further claimed in the email that they have not yet made the decision and a decision meeting on the 7+ offer list would be later the day. It turned out today that only people got the webinar invitation email yesterday were offered a place. For those didn't get email yesterday, they didn't get a place. It is obvious that they messed up the email groups, they supposed to send the Webinar email to all called-back parents, but they sent to the 'offer group'. However, they dared not to admit the mistake, instead, they made up something to cover it.

We can accept the rejection and we already got offers from the other two top schools, but how they treated us and handled the incident made us very upset. The professionalism and honesty are obviously missing on this case.

[Nataly21]

@redtooth sounds horrible. Someone's probably getting fired!

[StrugglingPa]

@Nataly21 Thanks. We have an offer at WUS 7+, DS didn't clear the interview at St Paul's and the Latymer offer is due on 29th (which he should get). WUS is local and hence we will go with that. I did fancy sending him to Latymer based on the interactions I have had at the school.

I see WUS as more academic, St Paul's as more of an all-rounder and Latymer as the hungry one who tries hard. Latymer has the advantage of being a coed. I want a smaller class and a smaller school in terms of nos. and hence WUS makes sense. Happy to answer any questions you may have. Please message directly if you wish. Thanks.

[StrugglingPa]

Did get the Latymer offer. Bowled over with their comms and their x curriculars. DS got in to the top quartile. Not taking it as it's a bit of a trek. Shame that he won't be going to a coed. Hope everyone got something or the other. Btw, 300 applied and 44 offered in case some1 needs the application stats. Expecting reserve to move by at least 11.

[Lazymum78]

Congratulations Struggling Pa! My son got offered as well.. how do you know the quartile ? Did they mention it ?

[OliRules]

@Lazymum78 Congrats. Well done to your son. Did he like the email that was sent to him? I hope he was chuffed with his achievement.

I requested feedback on how DS did as wanted to see if the other tests were a fluke. The school was kind and polite when I spoke but they were a bit reluctant to give out the quartile.

[Lazymum78]

@StrugglingPa Thank you ! I and my son was beaming when he got the personalised letter- one of a kind . It was very sweet. It’s good to know how they performed and it was nice of the school to give it albeit reluctantly. Congratulations to your son for doing so well in all the other exams .

[Lazymum78]

Sorry I meant to address to you Olirules!

[Nataly21]

@RHSRHS Congratulations! Well done! St Paul's is a no brainer. Whilst grades are comparable with other top schools, their exit destinations & alumni network is a class apart. Good luck with your decision.

[Lazymum78]

@ RHSRHS congratulations ! We are in the very same position . Our DS has made it to both WUS and SPjS. We thought this through and will be accepting St Paul’s. Our reasons are many- it’s a brilliant mix of sports and academics (I personally think they have a stronger STEM curriculum) , excellent facilities - we toured both schools and hands down St Paul’s wins in that regard , they even have rowing which will be an excellent option for DS in older years , they will be refurbishing the Junior school we were told, loved their cafe, and the very active support for entry into US universities should DS choose to study in US after senior school. Lastly I felt St Paul’s had a more modern , with the times outlook compared to WUS. While WUS is also lovely but St. Paul’s just has a lot more to offer.

[fionaming]

[quote]Hi everyone,

We are in the fortunate position of having offers from WUS and St Paul’s and I was wondering for people in the same position, which school will you choose and why?

Many thanks good luck to everyone[/quote]
Congratulations. There are a few things to take into consideration. First, logistics. Go for the one which is closer to you unless you don't mind moving or traveling. It's a long term commitment for years to come and long daily travel is both time consuming and very tiring. Second, Spj is much bigger, the boys are more sporty and it has better facilities. Plus, it's STEM is strong. If these are what you are after, then go for SPJ. WUS is much smaller and seems slightly more academic overall with more traditions, esp. in the great school. another thing to bear in mind is you need to ask which one your son prefers and it should be school he wants to go to and is happy with. Did you visit the schools? If so, you could feel they are quite different. We were in the same position last year and we chose WUS simply because my son set his heart to it. This year we made the same choice again because logistically it's easier.

[Hitoyou]

Dropping in here from Senior School thread. We went through your pain when my son did the 7+. He was the only boy in his school to get invited back to WUS for an interview but we didn’t get an offer. I remember feeling absolutely crushed. That his life was ruined etc.

We went to what could be described as a second tier prep school. He only got in on the waiting list, but he has absolutely thrived. He regularly gets in top quartile in exams and it has really helped his confidence. There is one boy in his class who turned down an offer at WUS to go there because his friend was at WUS and found it hard. They ask boys to leave who aren’t up to it. I remember thinking she was mad but now completely see why she did it.

One last point, St Paul’s guarantees you get through to the senior school without the trauma on 13+ (and believe me 13+/11+ makes 7+ look like a walk in the park) so definitely think about that when weighing up St P vs WUS.

[Lazymum78]

@ Hitoyou - this is an excellent point about SPJ guaranteeing a place to senior school without having to resent those dreaded exams!

[Lazymum78]

I resit not ‘resent’ the exams !

[mnuser2012]

Interesting comments. Agree that logistics and DS view are v important. I'm WUS parent and am happy but also agree that there is a lot of chat saying that SPJ now has clear advantages. DS is still in juniors which is nurturing, but many parents higher up the school are frustrated and say that when you leave juniors in Year 5 you and your son are on their own. It's all about subject specialists, exam results, and not looking after each boy as individual. Almost a whole year is spent on entrance to the senior school and then I hear in the last year they are focused on scholars. But we haven't seen that yet and are still having an ok experience. Also the communication with parents is not great as mentioned with the mishap over the 7+ webinar which sounds familiar. They do get the message to you but it's always last minute and emails come out late at night or with little notice so it seems they are disorganised and not always prioritising parents. SPJ meant to be much slicker experience. Both still seem to have a strong brand name and I don't think that will change even if parents are getting frustrated at WUS. Good luck!

[fionaming]

I do agree that 13+ is an important point to take into consideration if that is what you would like to avoid. We also thought about this last year. DH believes it's good for us to have an option at 13. What fits them at 7 might not fit them at 13 and it might be not easy to foresee 5 years ahead. Meanwhile, most kids go to the great school anyway with around ten going boarding somewhere else each year. You could find the info. on school website. So 13+ is not something as hard because you are already in the under school but I might be wrong. We heard they are also considering let the kids go through without 13+ in the future as other schools currently do. Meanwhile, some St. Paul's parents complain that because there is no 13+ , the senior school teaching staff face much greater pressure to make things up and kids work really late at night, etc.

There will be a new head the coming September at WUS so it will be a new start for the school.

It's not an easy decision because both are brilliant schools and both schools have happy parents and unhappy parents.

[MsMeanwhile]

Have to say from what we have experienced this year, have to say WUS is not very organised at least for exams.

[Dallydoggy]

Sorry to jump in but we were put off by the fact that there has been quite a change in Headteachers at WUS in the last ten years. Is the new one coming in making a good impression? We don’t have to make a decision yet as DC are younger but have been watching this thread!