Alleyn’s School 11 Plus (11+) Exam Guide

Alleyn’s School is a co-educational independent day school for in Dulwich, London. It contains a Junior School (for 4 to 11-year-olds), a Senior School (11 to 16-year-olds) and a Sixth Form (16 to 18-year-olds). The school’s history can be traced back to 1619 when the famous Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn created the charitable foundation ‘Alleyn’s College of God’s Gift’ to initially support twelve poor scholars – six girls and six boys. Today, Alleyn’s supports over 1400 students in total, around 1100 of whom are in the Senior School. Their motto ROCCK (Respect, Opportunity, Curiosity, Courage and Kindness) is included in every aspect of school life, and they prioritise a ‘values-driven education’ where fantastic exam results are just a by-product of this.

The school sits in nearly 30 acres of green space, boasts generous grounds with state-of-the-art facilities, including laboratories and an observatory, technology workshops, and food and nutrition kitchens, as well as sports facilities including a swimming pool, athletics track, cricket pitches, and courts for tennis, basketball, hockey and netball. There is also a vast range of extra-curricular activities on offer at Alleyn’s, including art, music, dance, theatre, sports, clubs and trips, in addition to the Duke of Edinburgh Award and the Combined Cadet Force. Upon joining the school, students also join one of eight Houses – Brading’s, Brown’s, Cribb’s, Dutton’s, Roper’s, Spurgeon’s, Tulley’s and Tyson’s – as a part of which they may participate in inter-house competitions.

In addition, Alleyn’s has been well reviewed; in their most recent ISI inspection, they scored ‘excellent’ in all categories. The headteacher, Jane Lunnon, has been the recipient of the Tatler Schools ‘Best Head of an Independent School’ award, and in 2022, Tatler described the school as ‘dynamic and enterprising’, which has a ‘reputation for producing ‘compassionate’ young members of society’ where ‘stereotypes aren’t a thing’.

Furthermore, Alleyn’s boasts great academic performance, which is reflected in their 2024 exam results, with 72% of GCSE grades being 9-8 and 95% of A-Level grades being A*-B.