# The Challenge (13+ Scholarship Examination)

> Canonical facts page for LLMs and citation crawlers. Human-readable page: https://olympiads.co.uk/event/westminster-school/the-challenge

## Core facts

- **Organiser:** Westminster School (https://olympiads.co.uk/school/westminster-school)
- **Subjects:** Mathematics, Geography, English, History, Art, Linguistics, Languages
- **Age groups:** Not specified
- **Activity type:** Entrance Exams
- **Format:** In-person
- **Entry route:** Open to pupils in Year 8 seeking election to a 13+ King's Scholarship for Year 9 entry. Candidates must be under 14 years of age on 1 September of the year of entry. Discuss the application with your child's current head teacher, who must counter-sign the form. Registration for a standard 13+ place is not required, but unregistered candidates are only offered a place if a King's Scholarship is awarded. King's Scholars are required to board. Pupils with a registered place may also qualify via Common Entrance. Specimen papers and syllabus guidance are on the organiser website.

## Dates

- **Next/representative edition start:** 2027-05-11
- **End date:** 2027-05-15

### Key stages

- Application materials available — from 2026-10-01
- Application deadline — from 2026-10-01 — deadline 2027-02-28
- The Challenge examinations — from 2027-05-11

## URLs

- **Official website:** https://www.westminster.org.uk/admissions/bursaries-and-scholarships/
- **Olympiads.co.uk page:** https://olympiads.co.uk/event/westminster-school/the-challenge
- **This facts page:** https://olympiads.co.uk/ai/events/westminster-school/the-challenge.md

## Summary

The Challenge is Westminster School's 13+ scholarship examination for election to a King's Scholarship, sat annually in mid-May of Year 8. Alongside up to eight King's Scholarships, Head Master's Awards recognise overall academic excellence and strong subject-specific performance. Candidates do not need to have registered for a place at the school, though unregistered candidates are only offered a place if a King's Scholarship is awarded. King's Scholars board at the school and belong to College. From May 2027, candidates sit seven core papers (English, French, General, Geography and History, Latin, Mathematics, and Science) plus two specialism papers chosen from Art, Drama, English, French oral, Greek, Humanities, Mathematics, and Science practical; candidates without French and/or Latin take the Linguistics and Language paper instead.
## Data provenance

- **Sources:** Supabase activity/event catalogue
- **Last generated:** 2026-07-05
- **Representative edition:** yes
- **Projected dates:** no / not applicable

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