Is Westminster School the best school on Earth? STATESMOM returns

[statesmom]

I have a lot to say, don't know if anyone remembers the thread. Let me know if you want to hear from me.

Well, maybe I'm missing something, but if I look at the annual report here it shows about £9 million of total investments!!! Compared to Eton's £600 million.

Westminster is a poor school:

https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-details/3954475/accounts-and-annual-returns

You say you're happy with your choices OP.

You don't sound very happy at all.

You're so defensive and abrasive when there's no need to be. You're coming across as massively insecure despite repeatedly labelling other people as such.

People aren't necessarily jealous of you if they don't like your tone or don't agree with your opinions. Not everyone can like everyone else.

You're happy, your son is happy, all is well.

If that's the case, chill out and enjoy your day instead of being combative to strangers online 🤷🏻‍♀️

I really hope my daughter would not end up with a prince like this. Pretty sure that would have been taken care off by the mother micromanaging everything . However, the thought of such a terrible fate fills me with horror.

Page 30-32?

The latest account, from 2022, has only 18 pages.

In any case, I am pretty sure that Westminster's endowment is around £10-20 million. Not much more than that.

With that kind of money there is very little they can do.

Eton has 70 boys who pay nothing to the school and the school even pays for uniforms and trips.

Money brings opportunity. It does so at Eton and it does so at US universities.

Mike Bloomberg sent a billion dollars to Johns Hopkins this week; he has provided opportunity and freedom to tens of thousands of people in perpetuity.

In the United States, the term 'scholarship' is properly reserved for awards which are not conditioned on financial need. You could be the child of a billionaire but, if you're sufficiently accomplished in a specific field, which could be sport or academics, you'll be eligible for a scholarship. Scholarships are distinct from need-based aid, i.e., bursaries. As a practical matter, most top US schools have moved away from 'merit' scholarships to need-based aid because they don't want to further advantage the advantaged, e.g., children from wealthy families who have had massive resources thrown at their training.

The Ivy League is a sports league which has agreed, in order to maintain competitive balance, not to give sports scholarships. As a PP noted, they do, however, offer a great deal of need-based aid to accepted candidates and it's well documented that they give a substantial preference to strong athletes in admissions. However, once admitted, athletes are offered the same financial aid package as any other admitted students, based solely on family resources.

All Ivies work on 100% needs met for all admitted students.

@ChimneyPot, as a minor quibble, that may be true for all 8 schools for US students (I'm not sure), but it's true for only about half of the schools for international students.

And at the last count, 43 boys and girls received full support at Westminster for the same. So arguably more is being done pro-rata at Westminster than Eton. As an ex parent you would know this.

But obviously it doesn’t fit your narrative so I expect no comment.

OP, just because I am a stickler (often unhelpfully) for fairness, you have dismissed the many posts from people explaining why they wouldn’t want to live in the US or see their children go there, or even talking about Americans they know who prefer it outside the States, as no argument against your facts about the dominance of the US. Anecdotes v statistics. Feeble arguments being advanced against your juggernaut.

But if you frame your argument, as you’ve consistently done, as asking why anyone wouldn’t want to live there, or send their kids there, of course individuals are going to give you their own personal reasons. And the reasons people are giving you will stand for many others, as the simple fact is that people value different things, and there are aspects of America that deter people, over and above any economic argument you might make. Whether some of your economic arguments are sound is another issue (I suspect many Americans experience a far worse standard of living than people in Western Europe whatever GDP figures might suggest - the concept of average being what it is).

You are telling me that 43 students are on a full ride at Westminster?

Where is the data for that please? I find that very hard to believe but am quite interested. Thank you

I mean this is from 10 years ago when Eton had 70 kids on zero fees:

https://www.etoncollege.com/news-and-diary/school-news/eton-reaches-target-of-70-free-places/

It's probably more than that now. Westminster cannot match that, sadly.

You never looked at their accounts when your DS was a student?

Pg 12
"In 2022/23, a total of 154 pupils in both schools, entry to which is based solely on academic performance and interview, benefited from academic or music scholarships and/or bursaries. Excluding concessions to six children of the teaching staff, 56 bursaries were awarded in 2022/23 which were financed by the School or by benefactors, such as the Westminster School Society, or individual donors, most of whom have long-standing connections to the School. Of those receiving bursary support, 50 pupils received 100% remission, two received between 50% and 100%, and four received up to 50%." (my emphasis)

https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search?ppid=ukgovccewoneregcharitydetailswebportletCharityDetailsPortlet&pplifecycle=2&ppstate=maximized&ppmode=view&ppresourceid=%2Faccounts-resource&ppcacheability=cacheLevelPage&ukgovccewoneregcharitydetailswebportletCharityDetailsPortletobjectiveId=A15039222&ukgovccewoneregcharitydetailswebportletCharityDetailsPortletprivrpmvcRenderCommandName=%2Faccounts-and-annual-returns&ukgovccewoneregcharitydetailswebportletCharityDetailsPortletprivrporganisationNumber=312728

Thank you for this!!!! Very interesting in many ways. I was way off on their endowment it seems. Thanks again.

Yes I am telling you this because it is fact. And your insistence that everything is better elsewhere (but notably Eton of which I have no experience of and have nothing against) is becoming quite tiresome. The information you are asking for is made available to ex alumnae of which you claim your son is. I would imagine the information is publicly available somewhere but is definitely available for ex pupils and their families….

At this point it would be interesting if you’d like to share with the room how much you donated to the Westminster bursary scheme (over and above leaving your initial deposit for them)? Because if you were truly altruistic, believed in philanthropy to the level of those you admire so much and are apparently now concerned for the less well-off who have a place at top schools you would presumably be at the front of the queue donating? It would be incredibly crass to be boasting about the cost of your ‘top college coach’, your private chef etc but then suddenly be coy about how much you give back - surely?

But then again, not actually knowing (even roughly) let alone questioning how many kids are financially supported at the school your own Son went to less than 10 years ago does raise some questions for me tbh.

Huh, so I'm looking on page 52 and it looks like they spent £25 million on a new building (this is for the Under School I assume) and so their endowment is now £53 million.

More than double what I thought, but unfortunately a pittance to what they should have. Such a badly mismanaged history.

It's like the Duchy of Lancaster. On wikipedia it says it is valued at £652 million in 2022. That is a disgrace!!!!!!

It was formed in 1399. If they had invested £1 (ONE POUND) in 1399 and it grew at 5%, it would be worth, wait for it:

£17,511,039,138,472

today.

That is 17 trillion pounds. =(1.05)^625

The King should behead his finance people.

I donated exactly £0.00 to the Westminster bursary scheme.

Why should I? It's not my school, nor my husband's.

It is my son's school. He can donate there if he wishes to if he has the ability at some stage in his life.

You do realise you're not the only American in the UK, right? Some of us are intimately familiar with the system, have engaged with it very successfully and are capable of having a nuanced view of different countries and different educational settings, but don't feel the need to shout about it.

I think you're a deeply troubled person and that those of us who have made the mistake of engaging with you are deepening your issues further, so I'm bowing out. Good luck OP.

I don’t think they are actually an ex parent…there are now too many point which lead me to this conclusion. Maybe someone whose son didn’t get a place at either 13 or 16 but some other boy at their prep did. And probably a KS place at that 😉

No I didn't!!! I thought I was the only American in the UK.

Thank you for the information!!!!!!

Most helpful.

Well said. I’m right behind you. The football beckons..

Account and TAR - click download report. There are 40 pages. The endowment value is significantly higher than 20 millions based on tje report.

Some of us do know how the US system works -we have family members at Ivy Leagues and some of DT’s classmates went.

What makes you think someone from UK has a better chance? Is it just because competition in those cities are at another level? Don't the schools take more people from those cities though? Just curious

Lady, I can almost guarantee you that my family is more successful than yours. I don't know if that makes us clueless or not.

Highly unlikely - my DD is on a full scholarship to the top institution in the world for her subject. She got that purely on her own merit - no fancy consultant required......

Neither of you can win this argument if you don't agree what constitutes 'success'.