Research edition · Comparison · St Paul’s · Westminster
How do St Paul’s and Westminster compare on A-level grades at A*?
Comparison · A-level grades at A* · 2016–2019, 2025. Edition of 28 Sep 2026.
The answer · Holds up, narrowly
Over the 5 years we can compare (2016–2019, 2025), St Paul’s is ahead by a typical 1.5 points; 5 of 6 year ranges agree.
The figures
- St Paul’s
- Westminster
Each school against the same scale and years.
Exam eras: 2016; 2017–19; 2020–21 (grades set by schools); 2022 (return to exams); 2023–25. The rule beneath the axis marks exam conditions, not schools.
A break in a line means a year has no comparable figure; nothing is estimated. The figures behind the chart are listed below.
| Year | St Paul’s (%) | Westminster (%) | Gap (points) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 45.1 | 49 | −3.9 |
| 2017 | 46.9 | 47 | −0.1 |
| 2018 | 51 | 48 | 3 |
| 2019 | 50.4 | 47 | 3.4 |
| 2025 | 59.3a | 57.8 | 1.5a |
- a St Paul’s 2025: a dated review on 28 September 2026 found the printed 59.3% A* and 92.5% A*–A headlines on the school’s results page, but the subject table on the same page adds up to 701 of 759 grades at A*–A, which is 92.36%. What explains the difference, a different group of entries or another version of the page, is unresolved. The 759 is only the sum of the table’s rows: the school doesn’t give it as the base of its 92.5% headline, and we don’t treat it as one.
Figures to two decimal places at most. A figure known only within the school’s rounding is shown as a range, never as its lower end.
Read this with the answer
- A-level-only series. IB, Pre-U, mixed qualifications and school-defined combined definitions are excluded. CAG/TAG years 2020–21 are excluded by default; unresolved competing values are retained in the evidence record but omitted here.
- Published results describe different groups of pupils, chosen in different ways. They can’t show the effect of attending a school, or what one pupil would achieve.
- Only the years both schools can be compared on are used: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2025. A missing or excluded year is not a zero result.
- The period check compares all shared years, the latest three, the latest five and each year left out in turn, not every possible period. The same school is ahead in every one of these choices of years.
- These figures carry the record’s existing source checks, which are kept apart from background links. This edition didn’t reopen every original publication.
- Historical results: the latest shared year is 2025. They can’t show 2026 results.
2 of the 10 recorded figures behind this comparison have an exact source check for that field and year; 8 are recorded or calculated figures with their support set out in Record details. This is not a fresh check of every source.
With research access
What the study means, and what to ask next
Research access adds what the comparison shows once it is read year by year, whether the answer holds when the period changes, and the questions to take to each school. It is added to your briefing with its sources, dates and qualifications.
Research access isn’t on sale yet. The prices are proposed, nothing can be bought or paid on this site, and no opening date is set.
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Where the figures come from
Each record gives the full definition, the documents it came from and what we checked.
St Paul’s School · 2016 · A-level results · 2016
This figure hasn’t been fully checked against the original yet.
Westminster School · 2016 · A-level results · 2016
This figure hasn’t been fully checked against the original yet.
St Paul’s School · 2017 · A-level results · 2017
This figure hasn’t been fully checked against the original yet.
Westminster School · 2017 · A-level results · 2017
This figure hasn’t been fully checked against the original yet.
St Paul’s School · 2018 · A-level results · 2018
This figure hasn’t been fully checked against the original yet.
Westminster School · 2018 · A-level results · 2018
Publications differ on A*–A and A*–B.
St Paul’s School · 2019 · A-level results · 2019
This figure hasn’t been fully checked against the original yet.
Westminster School · 2019 · A-level results · 2019
This figure hasn’t been fully checked against the original yet.
St Paul’s School · 2025 · A-level results · 2025
Checked against the original: A*. Not yet checked: A*–A and A*–B.
Westminster School · 2025 · A-level results · 2025
Checked against the original: 12 figures, including A* count, A* and A*–A. Not yet checked: 5 figures, including candidates, pupils with 4 A*s and pupils with 5 A*s.