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Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

Primary education

Online 7+ exam Westminster Under School

131 replies

Mumsnot1825 · 01/01/2021 17:57

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?

OP posts:

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fionaming · 08/02/2021 13:16

They were quite slow and people did complain. It is a hard year indeed.

StrugglingPa · 08/02/2021 13:41

Interesting comments. DS didn't get through the SPJ interview but one of us was in favour of SPJ and the other in WUS. Finally he is going to WUS.

A school isn't a decision in point. WUS seems to be in a flux with a new head coming in. SPJ will always have the advantage of the space and the STEM focus. WUS will always have history and the niche appeal along with strong acads and a student focus. Both have strong alumnus but SPJ has more passing out each year (except you won't get to know them all as a student).

Tough choice for anyone. Our was going to be determined by distance. I found that shifting wouldn't do us much good (in terms of what we could buy) even though house prices around school are slightly depressed due to the hammersmith bridge closure dampening local market.

StrugglingPa · 08/02/2021 13:42

@Dallydoggy One change is due to health reasons

njshore · 08/02/2021 15:52

"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..."

WUS is an academically-selective school so there's less hand-holding than at other preps; they expect boys to be at a certain caliber unless these boys are over-tutored to get in and can't keep up. Their approach to senior school exams in Y6 is very low-keyed as they expect all boys to easily pass and all the prep is done by the school.

Regarding comment about focus on scholarship class in Y8, this was to some extent true in the past but not anymore. They have restructured the program such that now all boys have the opportunity to be in a scholarship subject class, if they qualify.

MsMeanwhile · 08/02/2021 19:07

@njshore thank you for sharing your experience. Just out of curiosity, how many boys will be qualified for a scholarship subject class?

RHSRHS · 09/02/2021 00:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

happybusymom5 · 09/02/2021 17:50

Just wondering whether someone might be able to tell me the closing date to accept offers for Westminster 7+ this month?

StrugglingPa · 09/02/2021 19:26

@happybusymom5 The last date for WUS is noon 3rd march

Charlie65 · 27/02/2021 00:21

Is anyone turning down WUS 7+ admission spot as deadline approaching? DS is on the wait list.

annalenav · 03/03/2021 22:03

@Charlie65 Did you get a place?

Charlie65 · 04/03/2021 06:35

@annalenav have not as yet. Any insight on RL movement?

annalenav · 04/03/2021 14:34

@Charlie65 don’t have any insights!

JDabhi · 04/03/2021 15:06

Now that deadlines are over for all schools for 8+/7+. is there still a chance for kids to get a place who were on the reserve list at SPJ. I mean if parents had paid deposits at multiple schools and come September they don't opt for SPJ and go for KCS or WUS. Will SPJ offer the place to someone who was on the reserve list or that place goes a waste?

SPJmum · 05/03/2021 09:54

We have known people to be offered places way into the summer. People’s plans change, they move, financial circumstances change or they have been deciding between two or more schools. I would have thought this year that would happen more then usual due to Covid. People are moving out of London, losing their jobs and no the schools had no tours.

I know two families who have paid more than one deposit. It happens every year. The number in a class isn’t an exact science and so the place may be offered or they may just take the hit and be on with two less.

annalenav · 05/03/2021 10:23

@SPJmum out of curiosity what is the reason people pay several deposits? I just can’t understand since they won’t have more or better information to make a better decision than they have now.

JDabhi · 05/03/2021 10:26

@annalenav @Spjmum - This time SPJ didn't give enough time for parents to make a decision to accept offers post 8+. They had less that 24 hrs to accept. So i believe, this may be one of the reasons.

annalenav · 05/03/2021 10:31

@JDabhi but still when you apply you have a preference order. You might be indecisive between two schools but still you’ll have to make a decision and I just don’t understand how more time helps. However I am someone who has rather strong opinions. This probably helps in situations like this. We applied to one school only.

JDabhi · 05/03/2021 10:52

@annalenav complete agree with you. We are in a similar kind of situation post 8+ results.

SPJmum · 05/03/2021 11:13

@annalenav There are lots of reasons people want to keep their options open. They may want to move and are finding it difficult. If you have more than one child the logistics of the school run are important. Some don’t think of the questions they need to ask until offered a firm place and want more time to check out the schools in detail when it’s a reality. They don’t give much time to make up your mind. Some wait to see where their friends (or enemies!) are going. Some want to know who will be in their son’s class. Some just like to keep their options open in case something comes up. It’s a big decision.

annalenav · 05/03/2021 16:42

@SPJmum thanks for sharing! It is a big decision and some families obviously include considerations that would never cross my mind.

motherandson1 · 18/04/2021 22:14

@StrugglingPa

Firstly, a huge congratulations on the amazing offers your DS received, its incredible and very impressive indeed! Just hoping you could enlighten us a little bit as we are considering applying WUS for our DS for 7+ entry in 2022, and was worried about the English skill level required e.g. should they be at the Year 3 or 4 standard of English at the entry exams?

Reading the other parents comments, we are not sure if our DS can handle very intense preparation at this stage, so may drop this dream for now...
Our DS is already attending a prep school, but wanted to understand whether additional extra-curricular preparation is recommended from your experience?

Many thanks for your time, and really appreciate any advice you can share 😊

Best Regards

motherandson1

StrugglingPa · 20/04/2021 12:03

Hey motherandson1

Best of luck with your prep journey.

The English prep was at par with year three. Having discussed it with non-WUS teachers and seeing the year three curriculum, I think it was on par with Term 2 of year 3. The vocabulary of some of the children I have witnessed prepping up seemed to be at v high level (at least yr 4) compared to my DS. I think such children read a lot (which my DS does) and are more aware of frequently using the words they come across. The extra-curricular were not delved into deeply. What they were looking for was genuine enthusiasm for non-classroom activities rather than no. of activities and accomplishments. Almost all the children appeared to be excellent in maths. Since it wasn't easy to assess how good he was in English while prepping for it, we focussed on making sure he gets his maths 100% right. Use this strategy to offset any losses in English assessment.

The schools try hard, but I don't think it's a fair process all the time. Please apply to at least 2-3 schools even if you are focused on WUS. At least you will know how well you guys did, which would help you understand better what worked well.

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motherandson1 · 06/05/2021 13:13

@StrugglingPa

Hey motherandson1

Best of luck with your prep journey.

The English prep was at par with year three. Having discussed it with non-WUS teachers and seeing the year three curriculum, I think it was on par with Term 2 of year 3. The vocabulary of some of the children I have witnessed prepping up seemed to be at v high level (at least yr 4) compared to my DS. I think such children read a lot (which my DS does) and are more aware of frequently using the words they come across. The extra-curricular were not delved into deeply. What they were looking for was genuine enthusiasm for non-classroom activities rather than no. of activities and accomplishments. Almost all the children appeared to be excellent in maths. Since it wasn't easy to assess how good he was in English while prepping for it, we focussed on making sure he gets his maths 100% right. Use this strategy to offset any losses in English assessment.

The schools try hard, but I don't think it's a fair process all the time. Please apply to at least 2-3 schools even if you are focused on WUS. At least you will know how well you guys did, which would help you understand better what worked well.

Dear StrugglingPa,

Apologies for the delay in response, I just had a spell in the hospital, and just returned home, but all ok now.

Just wanted to say a massive thank you for taking the time to respond to my query, I really appreciate it, and very useful to know indeed!
Fingers crossed, I will be able to share some good news next year ;)!! ( LOL, I am joking! we will go with the flow, if it happen, it happens.)
Thank you so much again for your response.

7PlusPP1234 · 11/12/2021 22:25

Hi StrugglingPa

We are in similar boat as yours with my DS doing well at SPJ exam but didn’t do well in interview so we are hoping to get through WUS

Would be great to get some tips from you ahead of exams in first week Jan

SoNervousForHim · 02/01/2022 13:50

@StrugglingPa , @Relieved1234 , @annalenav , @fionaming , @Lazymum78 and others... Reading through this thread has somewhat calmed my nerves about my DS sitting the WUS 7+ next week, but anxiety levels are still very high...

Do you have any last minute advice?? He is very strong in both maths & reasoning but struggles with English (mostly because he is just not so keen on it.... he usually gets to 75% but hates the story writing). Did they do a story last year and if so did they get 25min to do it? At KCS this year they only got 15min for the story.

Is it worth spending a bit more time in the next few days going over diary entry / letter / newspaper report?

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