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

I heard similar things about girls at Westminster a couple of years ago, and a parent with DS at W said his main reason to go there was girls in dorms - half jokingly of course but I remember I thought it's not what girls' parents would be very happy about. It'll probably change fairly soon though.

I was at a single sex girls’ school and then went to Westminster for the sixth form. It’s fair to say that I hated it! The boys were lovely but the girls were hateful to each other! So much bullying. These girls were all used to being the top of everything and they came in determined to fight each other to retain that. This was obviously a long time ago though so I really hope it has changed.

I think it depends on the cohort wherever you go. Only you know your child's strengths and interests and each school is different. SPGS is struggling to be progressive as it is deep-rooted in tradition and heavily bows to parent-steering. Westminster is very reflective in all that it does and seems to have the consensus to make bold moves like going co-ed, but only after serious reflection. I think it is always important to look at the business model underlying the school as this does have an impact on the day-to-day experience for those pupils there and at various important stages in their education. Each school has its own challenges and governance. None of these schools teach to the test, and rightly so, but there are other schools that do - and their results in public exams therefore look better.