Westminster School

Overview

Westminster was established in 1179 by Papal decree and parts of the school's buildings date back to the 11th century, older than the current Abbey. The school was re-founded in 1560 and Westminster Under School was formed in 1943. Westminster is located primarily in the walled precincts of the former medieval monastery at Westminster Abbey and has around 750 pupils; around a quarter are boarders, most of whom go home at weekends, after Saturday morning school.  Westminster is based on a house system and there are 11 houses, six of which have boarders. All houses have some Sixth Form girls. Westminster played in the first school cricket match against Charterhouse School in 1794 and has an historic joint claim to a major role in the development of Association Football.

Unique Points

Westminster has the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rates of any secondary school or college in Britain. The school's notable alumni include Ben Jonson, John Dryden, Robert Hooke, Christopher Wren, John Locke, Jeremy Bentham, Edward Gibbon, A. A. Milne, Tony Benn and seven Prime Ministers. It is one of the original nine British public schools (the so-called 'Clarendon Schools') as defined by the Public Schools Act 1868. Situated in the middle of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Westminster Abbey, St. Margaret’s, and the Palace of Westminster, the school has several buildings notable for unique qualities, age, and history. Westminster School Boat Club is one of the oldest rowing clubs in the world, located on the River Thames. The Oxford University Boat Club uses Westminster's boat house at Putney as its HQ for the annual Oxford and Cambridge boat race on the Thames. The school's colour is pink; Westminster rowers raced Eton College for the right to wear pink. The 'Greaze' has been held "up School" (in the School Hall) on Shrove Tuesdays since 1753: the head cook ceremoniously tosses a horsehair-reinforced pancake over a high bar, and members of the school fight for the pancake for one minute, with the pupil who gets the largest weight being awarded a gold sovereign. The privilege of being the first commoners to acclaim each new sovereign at their coronation in Westminster Abbey is reserved for the Queen's (or King's) Scholars. Their shouts of "Vivat Regina/Rex" ("Long Live the Queen/King") are incorporated into the Coronation Anthem.

Entry Requirements

Boys may enter Westminster Under School at 7 or 8 years old. Entry is in September of the year in which a boy reaches the age of either 7 or 8, by means of a competitive examination held in the previous January. Admissions to Westminster at 11 years old are generally for boys applying from state primary schools but some independent school candidates get in.

For 13+ entry it is strongly advised that boys should be registered by the end of Year 5 (the academic year of their 10th birthday). When a boy is in the academic year of his 11th birthday he takes the Independent Schools Examinations Board (ISEB) Common Pre-Tests at his prep school. These are computer tests in English, Mathematics and Reasoning. Boys who have performed strongly here and received a satisfactory reference from their head teacher are invited to Westminster for an interview, which includes short tests in English and Mathematics and may lead to a conditional offer. If so the boy will pass into Westminster if he gets at least 70% in Common Entrance or reaches the qualifying standard in The Challenge (the scholarship exam).

Applications to enter the (co-educational) Sixth Form are by competitive examination and interview in November the year before entry. Candidates select the four subjects in which they are to be examined based on their likely A-level choices.