WESTMINSTER 4 PLUS PREPARATION
Westminster Under School launched its 4 Plus assessment last year, making it one of the newest entry points at this level in London. As a school with Westminster’s academic reputation and central London location, the assessment was expected to be highly competitive and so it proved.
Westminster faced a number of challenges in its first year. While it had a new head it did not have in place a full suite of teachers. It seemed to us that the Westminster 4 plus had an excellent design with some best in class practice around design and sharing of information with parents. In terms of execution of the plan, we heard some examples of excellent practice from their 4 plus assessment; but we also heard some reports which are not in line with how early years assessments are typically conducted. We expect these teething problems to be ironed out as Westminster’s Early Years trained staff all start next year.
Our Westminster Expertise
Our experienced tutors include Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 teachers and former teachers from schools which we believe to have an assessment of a comparable academic and behavioural standard to the Westminster 4 Plus Assessment – namely, Highgate and Alleyn’s. Furthermore, we have experience helping schools prepare for their 4 plus assessment and we actually have a substantial business helping school create and develop 4 Plus assessments. Obviously our client list is confidential, but we believe that we have a good handle on what is going to be needed for the Westminster 4 Plus.
Our Success Rate at Westminster
No one has a long term success track record for Westminster 4 Plus assessment as it is brand new. We will publish our results in early March 2026 once all the waitlist offers are resolved. We are proud, however, of our success rate with academic, co-educational schools of a similar standards such as Alleyn’s and Highgate. Last year we had 16 children pass their Alleyn’s 4 Plus with us and 13 pass their Highgate 4 Plus with us. We also have an excellent track record with Westminster at 7+ and 11+ and teachers from Westminster Under as tutors.
What's on the Westminster 4 Plus Assessment?
The Westminster 4 Plus is a two-stage process, more akin to that of the Hampstead schools than the one-stage process used by the Dulwich-based schools. The first stage in November is play and group-based and the second stage in January is more academic but still play-based. Westminster has stated that they will consider the age of the child and will factor in whether a child has additional languages spoken at home. Westminster is also using proximity to school as a factor in admissions. In their first year we had some excellent candidates who were living very close to Westminster fail to obtain offers, and other candidates who were living far away obtain offers so we believe that the proximity guide is only very loosely applied.
Our Westminster 4 Plus Preparation
We start with an assessment of where your child is, based on our knowledge / prediction of the Westminster 4 Plus is designed to look for in successful applicants. We do this through a review of the nursery report; academic tests conducted in conjunction with Cambridge and Oxford Universities by our teachers; and full mock assessment with a 4+ specialist teacher which replicates the Westminster approach (or what we expect to be the adapted approach in 2026/27)
We will then give you detailed feedback on your child’s performance. We tell you what exercises you should expect and what they are looking for with each exercise. In short, we will give you the inside track on the day. We tell you how your child did and give you some exercises you can do with each exercise to assist her to give of her best on the day. We will be open and honest with you and tell you if we believe your child is on track for a positive assessment.
We then work with you over five different sessions to help prepare your child. Some of these sessions are with just the child and some with the parents in the room. We see ourselves as helping coach and support parents to help their child pass the 4+. We use a range of experts for this, including teachers, teaching assistants, registrars and play specialists – all the people involved in the assessment.
As the programme progresses we do further mock assessment. This can be either an individual assessment or a group based assessment as appropriate. We generally have to do more group activities with children for the Westminster 4 Plus than with other schools.
Programme Pricing and Booking
Our core Preparation and Assessment Programme is £2,000. This includes an initial behavioural assessment, two academic assessment sessions, five coaching sessions, and parental coaching webinars.
Being realistic, a competitive Westminster 4 Plus application is challenging and most parents spend around £3,000 – £5,000 with us to be confident that their child is in a good place for success. This would include behavioural sessions, phonics and numeracy classes, group activities and mock assessments. However, each child is different and has their own journey.
If you are unsure but want to reserve a slot with us, you can register for £100 and we will make sure you are in our cohort. After you have booked, our course manager will be in touch to book you in for your first assessment dates.