St Paul for Girls vs Westminster

[Tom0111]

Hello,
Our daughter received offers from both St Paul for Girls and Westminster (which will become co-ed from Sep 2026). Obviously, they are both very good schools and we are studying the profiles of both; but I’d love to hear any opinion (particularly from those with first hand experience) on whether one could be preferred to the other.
Thank you very much in advance.
Regards,
Tom

Absolutely!

"Large cohort" of girls from SPGS moving to Westminster at 6th form is quite an exaggeration! (I don't know about G&L). A tiny handful of girls apply / move there each year.

They are both great schools and your DD has done brilliantly to get offers from both.
Westminster has fantastic traditions and is steeped in history which has huge appeal.
SPGS is more liberal - it's quite a different atmosphere, so I think you should consider what kind of vibe would suit your DD best.

And I think you have to decide on girls vs co-ed as the key factor. I think there's definitely some risk in being one of the first 7+ entry to take girls at Westminster, but the other positive aspects of the school might outweigh that for you.

Large cohort apply from SPGS and sat Westminster exams, a smaller number were interviewed and a few got places. Not a large cohort moving since places are only given to a few. As mentioned by girls sitting exams since from their school where only 1 or 2 sat it.

It’s very common to see academic students sitting multiple entrance exams at major transition points like 11+ and 16+. Many families do this to broaden their options or simply treat the exams as 'dry runs'; it doesn't always mean they’ve set their heart on a specific school or are determined to leave their current one. Eg. DC kept bumping into familiar faces at different test centres.

I'm intrigued as to where you get you data from. Are you a current parent? I am, and I'm not aware of a "large cohort" of sixth formers applying to Westminster. What do you actually mean by "large cohort"?

Over 20 girls, we know GL girl families sitting the Westminster exams and interview process and they all know each other from sport fixtures and prep schools. etc.

@SPGSParent , also clearly stated by @starfall1 that11+ and 16+ are usual transition points. So to answer @Tom0111 both great schools and if need to DC can move at 16+.

I’m an SPGS parent. From what I’ve seen, it’s largely the girls who have been in single sex since age 4 who are attracted by a move to co-ed sixth forms. And only a handful leave, though how many of them have no offers versus multiple offers, I don’t know.

I’d agree with the PP who said it’s really about the culture and feel - though girls sports (including for non sporty girls eg yoga), commute, music for the beginner / intermediate as well as the stars, Saturday school and uniform (or not) would also be important for me.

Not far off this number a few years ago. Not many actually receive offers at each school, but that’s not a reflection on the girls — places are simply limited and applications come from a very wide national and international pool (including boarding). Westminster typically keen to draw from as wide a pool as possible, not selecting purely on rank order of scores.

My DD was in the first cohort of 25 girls in Year 7 at Highgate. We were so excited she got a place we didn’t think too deeply about what it would actually feel like being one of a sprinkling of girls in a massive boys school! Especially coming from a small girls prep. She lasted one year and joined her sisters school for year 8. (Which caused separate issues joining late etc).
The main issues were that it wasn’t set up for girls. They realised a few weeks in that girls might like netball (hadn’t they thought of this before) so rather late in the term started it! It was all ‘small’ things like that which made it hard. It all felt very Guinea-pig vibes. Unlike WS where it seems all the girls will be in the same form, the 25 girls were split over 4 forms. My DD felt like a goldfish in such a large boys school. She was totally out of her comfort zone. This was a good while ago, and I would be interested in what was mentioned earlier here about the Highgate head? WS might have planned this a lot better but I would be cautious about the amount of girls and it being fully prepped to welcome girls

Out of curiosity, do they increase the number of girls every year until it’s an equal split? What have they offered in terms of sports for the girls?

I'm unimpressed they are starting with 25 'exceptional' girls rather than 50/50 straight away. It sounds like the top of most companies - the women have to be better and there are still fewer of them!

Following with interest, as our daughter will be sitting Westminster 11+ this year.

From what I have seen, Westminster appears to be approaching the transition in a careful and joined-up way. Practical decisions — such as how forms are organised and the appointment of a dedicated lead for girls’ sport — suggest the school has given real thought to how this will work in practice, with girls’ interests clearly in mind.

It also feels quite different from the Highgate transition more than twenty years ago. At that time, Highgate did not already have a co-ed Sixth Form, nor was the school operating from buildings designed with mixed cohorts in mind.

The key difference, however, in my view is leadership. Mr Kennedy, although widely respected, moved from Westminster (then a boys’ school with a co-ed Sixth Form) to lead the integration of girls across Highgate, from pre-prep through to Sixth Form. Westminster, by contrast, has appointed leaders with recent and direct experience of co-ed settings - Dr Savage from Alleyn’s (and previously a deputy at Westminster, so well acquainted with the school), Mrs Jefferson from a co-ed primary, and Mrs Fryer from a co-ed prep.

I work closely with schools (though not as a teacher), and in my experience leadership matters more than anything else when institutions go through change on this kind. When handled well, transitions can be hugely positive for the wider school community and offer a genuine opportunity for individual growth.

I am also aware that current parents there with daughters hoping to join in future years, as well as girls themselves in the Sixth Form, have been actively sharing ideas and feedback along the way. That kind of constructive dialogue tends to occur only where leadership is open and genuinely willing to listen.

I remember those early days! I really hope your daughter settled well after the move and went on to thrive and I hope she’s doing brilliantly now.

Has anyone on the waitlist got an offer yet?

Hi @Tom0111, how did you and your daughter find the two schools at the offer holders events and have you booked the small tour for chapter house?
At Westminster it seemed many offers (definitely all I have spoken to) overlapped with SPGS and most were still on the fence.

That's very interesting to know @RareWinter . Could you please elaborate on why they were on the fence, as in what were the pros and cons in their minds apart from the obvious one of first girl cohort and numbers of girls vs boys.

We’re planning to accept Westminster. DD was on the fence because her close friends are going to SPGS. She was the only one in her group offered Westminster as well and did worry about losing touch. I think she’s come around and knows that real friendships don’t just disappear. Another downside (at least for us) is fees!! The smaller number of girls doesn’t bother us. She’s not going there just to make friends with girls, and within a year or two there will be girls across most years anyway. We actually like the idea of a smaller yea group, and the two years at the under school feel like a boost. That said, I genuinely liked SPGS too and probably would have chosen it if it had been co-ed, since we live so close.

Thanks for explaining, it's very helpful to know your reasoning. Congratulations and good luck to your daughter at Westminster 🎉

We have also accepted Westminster over SPGS. That was a clear decision for us. Have spoken with a few parents who are also going to go with Westminster, when I visited the new building this week (which is quite cool) and a mum said "Not sure what to do, it is very difficult. You do not say no to Westminster". That sums it all.

It's been interesting to see a good number on here accepting Westminster after the initial flurry of posts saying most accept SPGS. We are still sitting on the fence (and time is running out!). After the offer events at the beginning of this week, my daughter chose Westminster, which is absolutely fine with her mum and me. But then in the middle of the week, SPGS sent my daughter a handwritten postcard on why she would flourish there (very specific, quirky details from her interview), which made me think that they really see the individual. I then remembered that at the SPGS event, the head of admissions remembered her name and said hi to her, whereas Westminster was less personal, although we really liked the Head's speech. So, who knows. I had no idea that this bit of the process would prove to be difficult.

mmm, I'm really dubious about that sort of gimmick, @Migraining. I'm more impressed by schools putting their efforts into the children who they have, not the children they seek to attract...

Heh heh, @Yellowingtrees, my wife thinks it's just marketing, too. But I simply appreciate that they have taken the time to try and recruit a student with something personal rather than resting on their laurels (which are substantial) and just assuming it's a done deal.

Besides, that is literally the admissions department's job -- to recruit new students. They're not the ones teaching / nurturing the children already there. There's no trade-off.

Westminster has a stellar reputation for educating boys.

SPGS has a stellar reputation for educating girls.

As a function of the same it has long been 'understood' that a ('sensible') parent of girls 'did not say no' to SPGS - just as it has long been 'understood' that a ('sensible') parent of boys 'did not say no' to Westminster.

As things currently stand, both statements (IMHO: always questionable) are actively being reevaluated. That seems both reasonable and fair.

Ultimately, whether SPGS would prove as adept at the education of boys as it has for girls is an open question.

Whether Westminster will prove as adept at the education of girls as it has for boys: equally so.

How families parse that will differ - which I both respect and understand.