St Pauls 13+ vs Westminster 13+ vs KCS 11+

[SARTN]

Please can anyone advise with above school offers St Pauls 13+ (offer received) Westminster 13+ (pending results) and KCS 11+(offer received) - what are your opinions about these school choices. Very nice dilemma to be in and with no options of visiting school before deadline 5/3/21 was wondering if anyone can share their thoughts and experience.

@Jumpalicious yes done that and will need to make amendments will all the additional info from this thread. thank you very much

@Jumpalicious yes done it but just need to amend it with the additional info from this thread.
thanks again

Since many (most?) schools will refund acceptance deposits within 9-12 months, what does everyone think about accepting two 13+ offers now to buy time to figure out where to go, until school visits become possible again? Is that what the refund policy is for? Really difficult to ask DS choose between schools he hasn't visited.

@PeppaPercy , you can forget the refund but of course you can accept pay 2 deposits for 13+ and decide nearer the time. Perhaps run it past your prep school head first. Well done to your ds.

@SARTN what have you decided?

Westminster it is for us!!!! I can't believe when you have all this top schools as a choice I thought we should be happy to choose but it ended up to be soo stressful at home re worrying making a wrong choice. My son was even tearful to school saying he had he heart sat to westminster but we kept asking him about KCS (yes he was on waiting list for 2 years and it is strange how he suddenly doesn't want to accept the offer). So we decided he remains at his prep for next 2 years and moves to westminster in 2023. We look forward to joining him in his journey in westminster. Thank you for all the support in this thread....very helpful. Finally my head is clearer and house is relaxed and not stress and tensed. Gosh never expected this period of decision to be like this....no one warned us. We were only prepared that if you don't get certain schools to get our son prepared etc. I believe we have made a right decision....only time will tell now.

Re deposits please read the offers of all the school - terms and conditions differ for each school. It is much easier if you email the school registrar directly asking all the deadline for payments -e.g entrance fee, deposits etc and which are refundable and which is not refundable. KCS, westminster and St Pauls all different terms and conditions

Glad you made the decision... and I know what you mean. All the what-ifs! Someone said to me, let DS have the final decision (unless you really disagree etc etc of course!).

@SARTN glad for you to have made your choice and are out of the woods - congratulations. Thank you and @Skatingpark97 for deposit comments. Both of our 13+ offers have refundable entrance fees/deposits before Jan 2022. Seeing that many boys mentioned had a big say in school choice, I feel it's better for my son to help decide after visits are possible again. That's why I'm curious if anyone else has accepted more than one offer to buy time.

@SARTN congratulations!

My son is in year 5 and we are thinking of sitting him for Westminster 13+. Any tips having been through it recently? What kind of things did they ask in the interview?

My DB went to Westminster but I'm sure it's changed since then. You mentioned some negatives you'd heard about the school and I'm interested to know what those are.

@LondonMummer westminster first stage is ISEB, second stage maths & english writing and interview (ethical question, other straight forward question - subject interest, what other schools you have applied for, extra activities). Interview was fairly straightforward compared to SPS.

Re negative I found a very helpful parent in this thread - who have boys at the school and she told me one thing which I will never forget 'there is always a small proportion of people in these top schools who will always complain/negative feedback' it is in all schools. e.g people take the style of teaching at westminster as a negative - more seminar like small group discussions but actually if u think about it - benefit kids as smooth transition to uni and also some kids learn well through group discussions rather than traditional method of been told facts and that's it. I also heard parents were kept at a distance but when you speak other current boys at the school and other current parent they seem to be happy with report received and housemater support etc. So somethings can be negative to some parents and the same issue can be taken as positive as some parents. it is very good to discuss so you have insight to the school and analyse it yourself if all this info you got will suit your child. I have no idea if I made the right deicision but time will tell and shall go in with an open mind.
Tried to answer your Qs as best as i can with my recent experience fresh in my mind

Thank you so much. It was an incredible school when my brother was there and the friends he made and still has are some of the most interesting people you will ever meet. Not your typical run of the mill senior lawyers and other professionals but extraordinary, quirky, interesting, curious, successful individuals - and not always in a conventional way. I think the boys they choose and the method of teaching all contributes to this and I also think it would suit my son.

That said we are obviously applying for a spread of schools and will see how he gets on.

Well done. Given your choice I would 100% have picked Westminster and I hope your son has a wonderful time there.

Hi everyone. I saw this thread and wanted to get your advice on 13+ at Westminster. Our DS has done ISEB and invited to sit their exam. We did not expect this if I am honest! My worry is that DS will go and not be able to cope which may then impact assessments for other schools. Is that silly? How hard is it really? Similar level to KCS and Hampton or harder? I just don’t want to knock him. Thanks for your pearls of wisdom.

@ttbn , well done! In terms of schools, St. Paul’s girls (irrelevant!) is no 1 in the times list out today.

Westminster is no 7

whereas kings is no 3 (it was previously no 2, and top of all boys schools)

hampton is no 16.

ie kings, st Pauls, Westminster all tier one. Top of the top. Hampton slightly easier, but still great. All excellent and rest assured the school would not be considering your son if he wasn’t the right standard. In terms of hardness of entrance exams, all much the same I think.

fyi, Eton is no 20.

@Tersy You’re so great for encouraging - really appreciate it. I don’t look at these league tables as they make no sense to me but maybe it’s worth a shot as you say?

I wonder if your son had also been asked to bring 2 school exercise books and also to choose from the same subjects as us, i.e., English, history, geography, science, and RS?

@AC7001 Yes indeed. Not sure if I his is usual for them or a new thing. Do you know whether there are any non-challenge specimen papers anywhere?

No idea, just do the more difficult sample papers elsewhere I suppose? Comprehension, I was advised, was very difficult, with lots of inference questions, not simple fact retrieval.

We won't particularly prepare for it. After failing to get past City of London stage 1, I don't feel too excited to get the email into stage 2 of Westminster as I think my son's chance is very slim (for an even more selective school). We might have been over-ambitious in targeting the very top London schools. Fortunately, we have also applied to the more realistic ones.

When is your interview date? If it is later than mine, perhaps we can give you a hint.

@AC7001 Interview on 26th. Really kind of you, happy to share with you too if you’re after us. The odds seems better at Westminster than CoL so maybe keep hope. I’m a firm believer in children rising to challenges if we give them a chance.

My son's interview is much earlier. Let's see how it goes. It is quite daunting as it seems to imply the interview is 50 minutes!

My DS's interview is in early Feb. Do you think the interview date has anything to do with the performance in ISEB, or in alphabetical order? My DS's last name is towards the end of the alphabetically order, just to comfort myself.

@Justarrivedlondon feels like it’s alphabetical and I doubt they would make the preferences that obvious or parents would be up in arms! Wish your DS all the best.

My son is on the 26th too! Good luck everyone.

@ttbn my son has also been invited back and Im quite nervous about the exams too. Cant seem to figure out what it will entail and the fact that they have asked him to bring his school books is also slightly worrying as his school does most of their work on Teams and he doesn't even have books for certain subjects.

is the English a comprehension? or a creative writing piece?

@ViolettasAria totally in the same boat. I am planning to ask the current school what might be best to take in terms of current work books. I have no clue about their English exam but heard there is some element of writing as well as comprehension.