This year, seven Westminster Under School pupils achieved impressive results in the Westminster Challenge, with Alex, Johnny, Aryan and George awarded King’s Scholarships to Westminster School, where they will join St Peter’s College in September.

George described the experience of preparing for The Challenge as “a chess match”, having been inspired by his older brother William, who was awarded a King’s Scholarship two years ago.

“I was super inspired by my brother William who was awarded a King’s Scholarship two years ago, and I was quite determined to set this as my goal,” he said. “I definitely felt satisfaction in the exam hall being able to answer the questions with precision and much detail I had learned, and the exam came to be fun in a way.”

Alongside the excitement of examinations and results, the school remains mindful of the pressures that can accompany this time of year. Assemblies led by our School Counsellor, Tess, form part of the school’s wider pastoral approach, helping pupils to manage emotions and stress while reinforcing that examination results are never the be-all and end-all.

Johnny reflected on both the challenge of the process and the opportunities that come with becoming a King’s Scholar.

“The teachers in school have been very supportive in the process of preparing for this exam, making preparation from being a task run alongside homework to being integrated into our learning. Such a smooth transition from expert teachers made sitting the exam much less stressful. Having someone there who encourages and directs you in the right way of preparation is possibly one of the best mental reassurances when I did the Challenge,” he said. “This honour is special, not only in the academic rigour that it requires and hence induces, but in the historical aspect of it, being part of over 400 years of history and counting.”

Mr Woodside, the Master, said: “We received our results for the first pupils taking exams this term — seven boys who took the Westminster Challenge at Westminster last week. All did brilliantly well and all came in the top half of the entire cohort, with four of our boys being awarded a scholarship out of the eight available which is unique to our school.

Aryan said: “When I was told that Westminster School had offered me a scholarship, I was over the moon. The work that I had put in finally paid off. I cannot wait until I am able to live in College, being part of such an intellectually curious group of peers.”

Mr Woodside continued: “Although we do not measure our success by these academic scholarships, it is right to acknowledge the huge amounts of work put in by all of the pupils taking The Challenge. Well done, therefore, to Gavin, Alex, Johnny, Mihir, Aryan, George and Lorrin — we are all very proud of you.”