Is Westminster School the best school on Earth?

[statesmom]

Just looking at their website and they have 97 places for their students at Oxford and Cambridge this year?!

We have an 8 year old son and want to focus on getting him into this place, just next to the Palace of Westminster. It looks amazing! Any thought on parents with children at the school very welcome indeed, especially any thoughts on the application process. Thank you for someone new to London.

Oh dear statesmom I do hope that you are not going to make your DS your project because with the logic skills like the ones that have gone into your analysis your DS isn't going to stand much chance of solving the more demanding problems, requiring logical and lateral thinking, that these schools use to determine ability and potential. Lots of evidence for you to use to do that on here but I don't suppose you will get it.

You're seeing ad hominems where none exist. It's not about you, it's about your flawed arguments and demonstrated uninterest in listening to what people are telling you, eg that you've got your maths wrong

Don't be so harsh Shooting....statesmom does wear her erudition on her sleeve by dropping a good many Latin bon mots in...

My 10 year old who is not applying to Westminster could have told Statesmom straight away that her probability calculations were flawed ....

But not by making up words 'revelational '

Or she could have tried Fallaces sunt rerum species et hominum spes fallunt

Scarlett Johannssen came out with that, or part of it anyway, in Iron Man so it must be clever 'innit.

Or of course families might choose between the Big Three based on the commute to school, the fees and whether they want IB or A levels.

And whether they want the one which has 100% hit rate in medical school applications (clue: not Westminster). OP seems to be very hung up about one year's Oxbridge stats as the be-all-and-end-all of relative school performance. But it should not be assumed that, even if that were a valid viewpoint, in choosing a school for your off-the-scale brilliant boy it will be an importnat (let alone the important) factor for every family.

This:"But against its natural competitors, who are all likely choosing from the same pool, I stand by the statement that the conditional probability I discussed is correct." Reminds me of people who flat out refuse to believe in the birthday problem in stats or the false positive paradox.

scaevola yes indeed.

Our choice was very much led by journey, choir and a few other fairly random factors, particular to our family and our boy.

I was unlikely to be swayed by a few more DC getting in or not getting in to Oxbridge.

The reality is that a. all these pupils have a great chance and b. Oxbridge being what it is, there is still a lottery element to whether your boy will get an offer.

scaevola....curious - who are the Big Three? Are we talking in London only i.e. W, St P and KCS...or a set of schools beginning with W, W and E or some other Big Three?

IME people journey is the biggest factor in choosing between the other 2, but W appeals to those most adverse to doing sport. It is still compulsory to do rugby for the first term at SP and this puts a lot off. Apparently it isn't compulsory at KCS, but it is thought to be and they haven't thought to advertise that it isn't!
I am sure OP does not intend her DS to become a lowly GP so medical school applications will be of no interest.

The other thing about those stats is that a lot of KCS boys do medicine, very rarely at Oxbridge so perhaps that needs to be factored into the stats too.

Well our choice, of girls' schools though, was dictated by the DDs, such irresponsible parenting!!

I meant the three exceptionally academic London boys/partlycoed schools ie (and in alphabetical order) KCS, StP and W.

But shooting if you were a truly excellent parent you would have only conceived sons so they could go to the best school in the world.

And they all go up and down. Westminster post Rae was in the doldrums when we were looking for DS. KCS last year was 4th in the league table of top indy schools, the year before it was 2nd. Westminster didn't feature.

I think for statesmon (sic) what she can't understand is a cultural difference between the states and the UK.

In the States, its absolutely acceptable for people rich enough to buy the best education to do so. And there are no apologies for it. Witness, according to many acquaintences, the fight to get into the best preschool in New York to get into the best feeder etc.

What amazes me about the OP is that she seems to operated outside of these pressurised norms for US kids, and to assume that money will buy the best education. Where any 'normal' wealthy parent will be well versed in the States as to the best route to their notion of the best education. I find it extremely hard to believe that any on the ball, wealthy parent in the US, has not only a pretty firm grip on what it takes to get into pre prep, prep and ultimately high school of ones choice, but to have not done the same kind of thorough investigation regarding prep choices leading to optimal secondary choices in the UK. In fact, most parents from the US use a private service to sort that out for them. They do not come on MN squeaking about how great it would be to see the Queen,

So, for my money, the OP is deluded. Or possibly just bored.

I have friends in New York, both high flying lawyers ...and what you describe is so true... ...it pays to be well versed and well connected to get in the best Manhattan pre -schools and prep-schools. It is obsessive.

both deluded and bored...

Hiding this thread now. It's not for real, of that I am sure and I've got kids to benignly neglect

What on earth is KCS?

Kings College School, Wimbledon.

Getting bored. Night all.

, ah happy days... I was once in a KCS drama production many years ago! I rocked as Lydia Languish, totallt!

Well, statesmom may have a difficult decision on her hands, when St. Gove's Comprehensive comes up on the outside, having presumably had funding doubled, class sizes halved, and the Common Entrance introduced!