Westminster School

Westminster School (in full, The Royal College of St. Peter at Westminster, but almost always referred to as Westminster School, or even just Westminster, for short) is an ancient English public school, located by Westminster Abbey in Westminster, in central London, and with a history stretching back to the 12th century. Its A-level results over many of the past 20 years, including both 2004 and 2005, have been the highest in the country. The Head Master up to July 2005 was Tristram Jones-Parry, who has been replaced by Dr. Stephen Spurr.

Entry

There are 4 main points of entry for prospective pupils:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• For the Under School, at ages 7 and 11, judged by combination of internal exam and interview.
• For the Lower School, at age 13, judged by either Common Entrance, a standardised, national set of exams for entrance to independent schools, for standard entry, and the Challenge, an internal set of exams, for scholarship entry, as well as interview.
• For the Upper School, at age 16, judged by subject-specific exams and interviews and conditional upon GCSE results. This is the only point of entry for girls, and a handful of boys.

As well as the Queen's Scholarships, which pay from endowment one half of boarding fees, and of which there are (almost always) 8 in each year, pupils applying for entry under the Challenge have available a small number, usually 2, of (non-boarding) Honorary Scholarships. Stephen Hawking was entered for the Challenge scholarship in 1952, but fell ill on the day of the examination.

Related Topics:
Stephen Hawking - 1952

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Those entering the Lower School also have the opportunity to obtain scholarships based on musical talent, and bursaries for those whose parents are not able to fund their tuition. Ignoring scholarships and bursaries, annual fees before incidentals range from £10,500 (approx. $20,000 US) for pupils at the Under School to £23,000 (approx. $42,000 US) for boarding pupils.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~