King's Scholar (Westminster School)

The Kings's Scholarships (or Queen's Scholarships) are forty-eight scholarships (eight per year until Sixth Form, then twelve per year) at Westminster School, (re)founded in 1560 by Queen Elizabeth I. The scholars take part in each coronation in Westminster Abbey, acclaiming the new monarch by shouting "Vivat".[1] They also have the right to observe Parliament.[2] They have the abbreviation KS (formerly QS) on school lists; their house is "College".

Queen's Scholars, Westminster School, 1981

Twelve- and thirteen-year-old boys annually compete for eight of the annual scholarships in a competitive entrance examination known as the Challenge. Fifteen- and sixteen-year-old girls compete for the other four scholarships, which are awarded to the top four students in subject-specific Sixth Form entrance exams. For 400 years the best of the scholars were elected to closed scholarships at Christ Church, Oxford, and Trinity College, Cambridge; since the 1970s, Westminster School boys and girls must win open Oxbridge scholarships by public examination.

Prior to 2017, only 40 scholarships were available, and all were awarded to boys sitting the Challenge. The four Sixth Form girls' scholarships were launched in 2017.

During the reign of a queen, the King's Scholars become Queen's Scholars, in contrast to the earlier King's Scholarships at Eton College who retain that title in honour of their royal founder even when the current monarch is a queen.