Westminster SchoolWESTMINSTER SCHOOL · PRIVATE SCHOOL GUIDE
Westminster stands between Parliament Square and Westminster Abbey in central London. Boarders under 16 need parents living in the UK, so families abroad join the sixth form, the last two years of school, at 16. Families in the UK can also apply at 13.
Entry at 13 in 2030, at 16 in 2028
GET TO KNOW THE SCHOOL
Between a quarter and a third of Westminster’s pupils board. They live in and around Little Dean’s Yard, beside Westminster Abbey.
IN THE SIXTH FORM
Sixth formers study four subjects in Year 12 and at least three in Year 13, with other courses alongside them.
IN A HOUSE
You can name the house you’d prefer, but Westminster balances the houses and doesn’t guarantee one. Housemasters and matrons look after pupils, and every pupil has a personal tutor.
AT WEEKENDS
Boarders in Years 9 to 11 go home every weekend, and a small share of sixth-form boarders stay at school on ordinary weekends. The school closes at half-term and for two exeat weekends each term, when boarders go to their parents or guardian.
Saturday usually has five lessons, from 9 a.m. to 1:05 p.m. Sport fills Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, and homework runs from 7:15 to 9 p.m. on weekdays.
Choosing subjects: Your child chooses one subject from each timetable block. Westminster publishes the blocks for 2027 entry, so you can check that four favorites fit together.
Beyond A levels: The Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) is available too.
Teaching: Year 9 is taught mainly in mixed-ability groups, with sets in French, Classics, and math.
Activities: In Years 9 and 10, pupils take two or more timetabled Lower School Activities, chosen from more than 30.
Learning support: Westminster’s Learning Development team offers one-to-one mentoring, small groups, and screening, and families agree a support plan with the school.
Exam arrangements: Arrangements your child had for the entrance exams don’t carry over automatically. Westminster asks for further evidence or testing to decide what support they need once they arrive.
Phones: Pupils lock their phones away from roll call until lessons finish, unless they have permission.
UNDERSTAND WHAT WESTMINSTER LOOKS FOR
At 16, selection is entirely academic, and choosing boarding or day doesn’t change it.
THE ENTRANCE EXAMS
At 16, Westminster looks for “high marks in the competitive entrance examinations.” At 13, it looks for “a strong score” in the ISEB Pre-Tests, and says there’s “no need for special preparation” for them.
Letrado’s adviceTake Westminster at its word on the Pre-Tests. At 16, learn each paper’s format, and keep reading widely.
THE REFERENCE
Westminster asks for a positive recommendation from your child’s current head teacher, at 13 and at 16.
Letrado’s adviceAt 16, tell the school early which subjects your child has chosen, so the reference can speak to them.
THE INTERVIEWS
At both ages, Westminster interviews the candidates it shortlists after the entrance tests.
Letrado’s adviceHave your child practice with someone who asks follow-up questions, and answer with real examples from their own work.
WHAT WESTMINSTER ASKS FOR
GCSEs, and the international IGCSEs, are subject exams normally taken near the end of Year 11 (age 15 to 16). An offer at 16 comes with these grade conditions:
If your child’s school doesn’t teach GCSEs, Westminster looks for satisfactory progress and considers their other exam results or transcript. It doesn’t convert them into GCSE grades.
In math and Further Mathematics, the department says candidates should ideally be on track for grade 9 in GCSE or IGCSE Mathematics. That doesn’t apply to candidates abroad whose schools don’t prepare students for these exams.
WESTMINSTER’S VISITS
Open days in June and September, with booking details from April
Tours every term, open days in January and April, and a final one in September of Year 6
WESTMINSTER’S PUBLISHED FIGURES
PLAN THE APPLICATION
At 16, Westminster takes boys and girls as boarders or day pupils. At 13, the first girls join Year 9 in September 2028, so entry in 2029 and 2030 is open to both.
Entry at 16 · September 2028 · registration
1 Jun–30 Sep 2027Entry at 16 · September 2027 · entrance exams
7 Nov 2026Entry at 13 · September 2029 and 2030 · registration closes
30 Sep of Year 6Entry at 13 · September 2029 and 2030 · King’s Scholarship forms (the Challenge)
28 Feb of Year 8Dates without a year are as Westminster lists them. For entry at 13 in September 2029, Year 6 is the 2026–27 school year; for September 2030, it’s 2027–28.
Choose boarding or day, then register. The 2026–27 fee is £360, including VAT, and isn’t refunded.
One for each subject your child chooses, or a portfolio for Art.
Part of Westminster’s assessment at 16.
A day of subject and general interviews, in person at Westminster.
UKiset (the UK Independent Schools’ Entry Test) or IELTS Academic, for candidates who’ll need a Child Student visa or whose first language isn’t English. For 2027 entry, it was due before 30 September 2026.
Why 16: Before sixth form, a UK guardian can’t take the place of parents living in the UK, and Westminster sponsors the Child Student visa only for sixth-form entry.
Your child’s age: For September 2027 entry, applicants from overseas had to be born between 1 September 2010 and 31 August 2011.
The CAS: Westminster is a licensed Child Student sponsor. Once you accept a place and send the documents it asks for, it assigns the CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies), the reference your child needs to apply for the visa. If your child’s school doesn’t teach GCSEs, the school must confirm satisfactory progress before Westminster assigns the CAS in June.
Government rules: The Child Student visa is for ages 4 to 17. From outside the UK, you can apply up to six months before the course starts, and you need enough money for a year’s course and boarding fees (up to nine months) and both parents’ written consent, unless one has sole responsibility.
A guardian in the UK: Every boarder needs a guardian over 25 who lives permanently in the UK, speaks fluent English, and can reach the school within two hours. The guardian cares for your child at short notice if they’re ill or must leave school, and hosts them at exeats and holidays; an unsupervised hotel or B&B isn’t enough. An agency guardian must come from a member of AEGIS, a guardianship association.
English: Westminster expects fluent spoken and written English, and dictionaries aren’t allowed in the entrance exams.
Boarding or day: You decide by February of the entry year, and Westminster offers a boarding taster in June of Year 7 (age 11 to 12).
The ISEB Pre-Tests: You register your child with ISEB, the Independent Schools Examinations Board, for free, and share the applicant ID with each school and the test center. Westminster’s own registration is separate.
Moving from abroad: Your child can take the Pre-Tests at their current school abroad, but the papers and interviews take place at Westminster.
After the offer: Westminster’s offer is unconditional, though it still expects steady progress, good conduct, and a fully supportive reference from your child’s school in March of Year 8, and waiting-list places can come up until the end of June of Year 8.
Missed registration? The Challenge, Westminster’s King’s Scholarship exam, is open to children under 14 on 1 September of the entry year, registered or not, though an unregistered candidate who doesn’t win a scholarship has no right to an ordinary place. Occasional places may also come up at the Head Master’s discretion, usually after a family relocates.
King’s Scholarships at 16: Awarded through the ordinary entrance exams and interviews, to applicants under 17 on 1 September of the entry year.
King’s Scholarships at 13: Up to eight a year, through the Challenge. The head of your child’s school countersigns the application.
Music at 16: Up to four Music Scholarships a year. Grade 8 is the usual guide, and auditions take place in November for candidates on the interview shortlist.
Music at 13: Up to eight Music Awards, and Westminster may also award three exhibitions. Grade 7 is the usual guide, and auditions are in late January or early February of Year 8.
PREPARE FOR EACH STAGE
45 minutes a paperEach subject has its own paper, and Further Mathematics candidates also sit the Mathematics paper, using two of their four choices.
Departments describe their entrance papers on their own pages, so start with your child’s four subjects.
Letrado’s adviceWe help your child choose subjects, plan wider reading, and practice interviews. Anything they write, including the Art statement, stays in their own words: AI can help them brainstorm, check spelling and grammar, or understand a topic, but every sentence is theirs, and our mentors never write for them. If Westminster sets its own rule on AI or outside help, your child follows it, and so do our mentors.
The exams run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Candidates abroad can ask to sit them at a local British Council center, at the family’s cost, on the exam day or, with permission, on 6 or 8 November. Music candidates sit theirs at Westminster.
English sets one critical essay on unseen prose, and History a source exercise on an unfamiliar historical text. Economics pairs logic and data questions with an argumentative essay on a supplied extract. Theatre Studies asks candidates to evaluate live theatre they’ve seen.
Modern-language papers ask for a short composition of about 150 to 200 words, alongside comprehension or grammar. Latin and Greek set translation and a written literary discussion, and the sciences and Further Mathematics set written problems.
Art candidates add a short supporting statement. Music candidates send a video of two contrasting pieces on their first instrument during registration, then take a written aural, theory, and literacy assessment, with a listening interview if shortlisted.
Shortlisted candidates have four 15-minute subject interviews, a 15-minute general interview, and a 45-minute Interview Day Assessment, between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Every shortlisted candidate attends in person, with no remote option or other date.
The Pre-Tests are online tests of English, math, verbal reasoning, and non-verbal reasoning. Shortlisted candidates then sit separate 40-minute English and math papers.
MAKE ROOM FOR THE FINANCIAL QUESTION
School fees are charged per term, three terms a year, and include VAT, which private-school fees have carried at 20% since 1 January 2025.
BURSARIES · FAMILIES IN THE UK
of the day fee. Help with boarding fees comes only with a King’s Scholarship.
KING’S SCHOLARSHIPS
is what King’s Scholars pay, while boarding in College, the King’s Scholars’ house.
MUSIC AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS
of the day fee each, plus free lessons on up to two instruments, up to 75 minutes a week.
2026–27 BOARDING FEE PER TERM · VAT INCLUDED
£23,094It covers tuition, materials, most clubs, accommodation, and all meals.
For entry in 2027 or later, use the fees Westminster publishes for that year, usually in early July.
Westminster’s 2026–27 fees (opens in a new tab)Letrado’s adviceFrom abroad, add a guardian, flights, and the visa charge to the full boarding fee before you compare schools, and treat a scholarship as a welcome extra. Read the deposit’s refund terms in your offer letter before you pay.
CLIENT JOURNEYS
Here are three related stories. These students applied to American boarding schools, and they worked through questions Westminster families face too: planning a move from abroad, describing themselves plainly in interviews, and explaining their school’s courses.
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AI illustrationWHEN YOU’D LIKE A HAND
Bring your questions to a free 45-minute introduction with your proposed mentor. Afterward, we’ll email a personalized plan with recommended next steps.
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