Latest Info on the new Westminster Under 4+ Assessments

[MyTwoDads]

Very little clear info has been released on the new 4+ assessment that WUS are going to be holding this autumn, so I spoke to them to find out some more info (why not go straight to the source!). I explained I am a tutor and some of my parents are going for the 4+ assessments this autumn or thinking about it, but are unclear about content, dates, number of places they have etc.

These are the main points:

It will be capped at 500 applications. This is a lot! But they said they are almost reaching this number now (so apply if you haven't already)

They have 32 places available (this was not on the website as all)

There will be 2 classes of 16 pupils starting Reception 2026. Each class will have one teacher and one TA (this is a good ratio)

There will be two rounds (they call them stages) and will be similar in format to other schools that do 2 rounds for their 4+.

Offers will be made at the end of Jan 2026 and they will take into consideration birth month, EAL and proximity to the school.

At least we have some clearer info on numbers now and what the Pre-Prep will look like once it gets going!

Bute publishes its reception data, it is 350 for low 20s places, with 12 on waitlist. Same as previous years.

I was referring to 7+ sorry :)

Quite a few girls I know have done all three and I am not sure everyone would pick WUS if they are successful. There is a question of commute (many people live in chelsea next to Glendower and FH), there are older sisters already attending these schools and then some people are just not very sold on co-ed and / or their daughters being the first small girls in that school. I am personally not convinced what I would choose as the sense of community and being next to the school are very important to me as well as keeping my children in one school while they are small.

There is probably no point spending time disagreeing about things like this online (.) but I don’t think Bute 4+ ballot is a good indicator of how many children are actually sitting exams and filling places in these schools. A lot of parents paid their £100 ballot fee when their daughter was born. Now some of them have relocated to other counties, some have realised they can’t afford private for all their kids (common thread here), some have bought houses in north London and don’t want to commute to Hammersmith (a close friend of mine who was successful at ballot). I think it’s more telling to see how many children actually show up to assessments and how many get callbacks and offers.

I do agree with PP. Bute is an outlier because of its 4+ admissions process. 350 people registered for a ballot, but it doesn't indicate that 350 families are seriously wanting a place there.

Much stronger evidence about whether VAT has affected applications would be from schools who operate a 4+ assessment as to how many children actually showed up this year vs other years.

In that case, you reckon a high proportion of the waitlist will be filled?

I think no one knows really :))

What i do know is that they are recruiting for a reception teacher on LinkedIn. A bit worrying that at least one is not yet in place while we, the parents, are jumping through hoops.

In many discussions comparing Glendower, Ken Prep, and Falkner, people always say not enough space in Glendower and more space in Ken Prep, which are both true, but never mention the same lack of space in Falkner. Why ? Falker and Glendower are basically next to each other and have similar spaces.

I think VAT and the UK exodus will have reduced application numbers, but in reality Bute, FH, G and KP will all remain over subscribed. Waitlists do move, all these schools seem to keep relatively small ones so if you're on it, you've got a good shot. And then of course there are always last minute changes in peoples plans. So if you can stomach losing deposits, it ain't over until first day of term haha

Same size site, but different pupil numbers? FH is single form and G two form

Does anyone know what day the WUS second round assessments finish and whether their DC/DD’s current settings have been approached for a report?

Last day of assessments today that’s for sure
They said they would ask nurseries but I didn’t check with ours if they did

I was told by another family, the school said they would be asking for reports after they see the children for their second round assessment, but if today is the last day, they cannot expect current settings to respond in a day (if results are Monday). In our second round assessment group they also had a huge spread of ages, Sep born right through to summer.

There were two groups being assessed on the day we attended, one at 0800, the other at 1000. If they have seen two groups per day over a 9 day period, are they assessing more than 100 (I think this is what they indicated), maybe we just attended on the only day they had two groups.

@Kind2022 according to your description, things don't look well organised? how about gender spread?

Just curious what kind of report kids’ current nurseries usually provide to schools. Obviously the context differs — for 4+ preps they strongly want kids to get into good schools, while pre-schools with their own prep may prefer children to stay (less motivation). Not to mention the pressure they might get from parents. Just wondering how honest these reports tend to be, and how much impact they actually have on the final decision.

I was surprised wus finished the assessment today which means they take much more than 100 in second round. In our group, we have sep born, Feb born and April Born. 6 girls and 4 boys.

@MarshmallowMint I am presuming they will send their own form for the nurseries to fill in. That way they will get answers to the same questions for everyone. It's common to do it that way for 7+. Sometimes, they just ask the nursery for the child's most recent report - that's what I did when I was Head of Pre-Prep. They are looking to find out what age range they are currently working for the different areas in the EYFS. There will be a comment box for general behaviour too.

@ZanyHare @Kind2022 don't worry too much about the mixed ages - it sounds as if most were Feb-April. They will be comparing the Sept with others of a similar age as they explained in their open morning. It just makes it easier during a session if they are of similar birth months.

Does anyone know if results come out today or Monday..? Good luck to everyone where WUS is the first choice!

will be Monday.

I am not sure it is Monday - the email I got says “next week”

Interesting to hear. My DS did the second round, but I got nothing out of him after we left. Made me wonder what they did in there for nearly two hours!

Haha I know what you mean, lots of children got 'feedback fatigue' from being quizzed after each assessment lol. They did get through a lot in the time though! Although, it was surprising that they had planned for each session to only last an hour!

how do they test phonics/numbers/shapes/drawing that will take 2 hours?

@deanstreet there's a lot more to the assessments than phonics/number/shapes/drawing. Don't forget they will need to work 1:1 with the children to get all that from them while the other half of the group are mingling (and being observed). It is a long assessment at WUS, but, as we all know, they are very new to it which is perhaps why they've had these teething problems. They read 2 stories during the second round - that takes time too. I'm guessing that they threw everything at it to get as fuller picture as possible. All will be revealed this week.😎