The Westminster 16+ Strategy Guide

The Westminster 16+ entrance process entails prospective students sitting four 45-minute exams on their four chosen A level subjects. High performing students are then invited to interview, with 15-minute interviews on each subject as well as a 15-minute general interview and a 45-minute  “interview day assessment”.

How can you maximize your performance across all these areas?

Firstly, the subject specific papers.

English Literature: At Westminster this paper includes a comprehension question with multiple choice or short answers, and a section on an essay question, usually relating to the extract. This is a standard format for 16+ English Literature papers which usually include comprehension on a literary passage or poem, and an essay or extended creative writing task.

The important things to keep in mind for 16+ English papers at competitive schools, is that they usually require excellent close reading skills. This means the usual P,E,E extended analysis of the passage, pointing out literary or rhetorical devices and their significance in an authoritative way.

The writing task assesses structuring, vocabulary and grammar and also creative and analytical thinking.

Mathematics: The Maths papers assess pure maths, non-calculator based thinking and problem solving. Complex algebra problems make up a lot of the paper, as well as the inclusion of some maths problems.

Sciences: The Biology, Chemistry and Physics papers include questions really designed to test critical thinking through the medium of the subject in question e.g. balancing complicated ionic equations and predicting properties of elements.

In all 16+ examinations for demanding and highly selective schools, the emphasis is always on analytical thinking and problem solving – whether this is tested through a general or reasoning paper or through subject specific papers.

Therefore, it is worth honing this skill early, if you intend to apply to a highly selective school like Westminster for 16+

Other necessary aspects to think about during your 16+ application process are personal statements and interview skills.

At Ivy Tutors, all of these are rigorously prepared for, to ensure you give yourself the best chances of obtaining a place at your school of choice!