Westminster School

Westminster’s academic pre-eminence is a result of our pupils embracing intellectual enquiry and debate and applying these skills with a relish well beyond the prescribed syllabus. It is thanks to this avowedly liberal academic ethos that pupils achieve exceptional public exam results and gain entrance to the top universities worldwide.

Each year around 45% of pupils are accepted by the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, 50% choose courses to suit them at the country’s other leading universities and 5% (a growing number) take up places at leading universities in North America. Westminster parents also choose the School for their sons and daughters (the Sixth Form has been fully co-educational for almost half a century) for the astonishing range of opportunities beyond the classroom, for example in music, drama, sport and debating. Pupils are also keen to look outward and to play their part in the life of the local community through a programme of civic engagement rooted in close relationships with neighboring maintained schools, both primary and secondary, charities and other organizations, both in the UK and overseas.

Around a quarter of Westminster pupils are boarders and the School’s boarding ethos, with its extended day and week, benefits both boarders and day pupils alike, marrying the energy of a day school with the breathing space afforded by boarding, and all in a unique central-London setting that is second to none.

The nurturing of each pupil’s interests and talents to the highest degree means that there is no such thing as a typical Westminster pupil, all of whom are encouraged to make their school experience their own, supported by a staff who care about them as individuals and by an excellent system of pastoral care. In addition to their academic development, pupils throw themselves into a whole host of other pursuits. Two whole afternoons each week are devoted to sport (with pupils able to choose from an eclectic range of options at a level to suit them), while earnest debate about all matters under the sun (whether organized or just a passing conversation in Yard) is a staple of Westminster life. What they have in common is that they emerge from Westminster articulate and confident, with a strong sense of social responsibility, ready for university and to make a difference in the wider world.

The School’s unique setting, which it has occupied for centuries between the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey (our de facto School Chapel), embraces everyone who lives, works and studies here in a very special atmosphere. Politics has been an abiding interest throughout Westminster’s long history and the importance of spiritual and moral reflection is deeply embedded within its educational tradition. The proximity of London’s museums, galleries, concert halls and theatres, and our links with universities around the world, mean that a Westminster education reaches and resonates well beyond the School’s ancient boundaries.

Westminster is a highly academic school where individual and institutional excellence are expected and promoted in an atmosphere of open-minded enquiry without dogma, prejudice or unthinking conformity. Everyone is welcome, and all may have a voice.

Central to Westminster’s approach is the dialogue between teachers and their pupils, both inside and outside the classroom. This dialogue inspires passion for the subject, conveys knowledge and develops the skills of rational, independent thought which sustain a lifelong love of learning – something shared by teachers and pupils alike.

Westminster’s academic success is a result of pupils’ enjoyment of intellectual enquiry, informed debate and the search for deeper understanding well beyond any published syllabus. Westminster pupils continue, above all, to be individuals. But what they all share is a strongly-developed critical intellectual capacity and broad international cultural understanding, underpinned by a commitment to ethical engagement. These qualities will equip them for admission to the best universities worldwide, and for success and fulfilment in whatever careers they undertake as the next generation of responsible adults and leaders in their field.

While academic and cultural attainments are highly prized, the School is fully committed also to the nurture of each pupil’s spiritual, moral, emotional and physical development and well-being, with a particular emphasis on developing individual talent wherever it lies.

The atmosphere at Westminster is happy, busy and purposeful. The pupils are intellectually, socially, ethically and politically engaged. They enjoy plenty of opportunities to articulate and defend their views, to take the initiative, and to deploy their gifts and opportunities for the benefit of others, and for society.

Just as the Foundress wished, the School seeks to prepare responsible young people to lead informed and fulfilled private and public lives beyond their years at Westminster.