Alleyn’s School – A Comprehensive Review
Few schools in South London carry a reputation quite like Alleyn’s. In this review, we take a close look at academic standards, admissions, school life and pastoral care to help you decide whether Alleyn’s is the right fit for your child.
Table of Contents
Key Features of Alleyn's School
- Boarding: Not offered (Day School)
- Local authority: Southwark
- Established: 1619
- Pupils: 1,164, sixth formers: 313
- Co-ed: Yes
- 2026/27 Fees: £31,014 per year (including VAT)
- Results: 95% 9-7 at GCSE, 81% A*/A at A Level
Edward Alleyn was an Elizabethan actor who, in 1619, did something rather unusual with his fortune: he built a school. The name has stayed ever since, and so has the spirit behind it. More than four centuries on, Alleyn’s School in Dulwich stands as one of London’s most distinctive independent day schools, shaped by a founding ethos of generosity and a belief that education should be available to all. In 2025, the school marked 50 years of co-education and was named Co-Educational Independent School of the Year at the Independent Schools of the Year Awards, a fitting reflection of how far it has travelled from those twelve original scholars.
Academically, Alleyn’s sits firmly among London’s top co-educational independents. The Class of 2025 recorded the school’s best ever A Level results, with 1 in 6 students achieving three or more A* grades and record Oxbridge placements. Yet what distinguishes Alleyn’s goes well beyond results. Its vision for education runs deeper than examination success, with a deliberately broad curriculum designed to build strong subject knowledge and a genuine love of learning. For parents seeking a school where academic ambition and breadth of character development genuinely coexist, Alleyn’s makes a strong and distinctive case.
Alleyn's School Results
2025 was a record-breaking year for Alleyn’s across both GCSE and A Level, and the figures reflect a school performing at the very top of its game.
A Level Results 2025
- 41% awarded A*
- 81% awarded A* or A
- 94% awarded A* to B
The Class of 2025 recorded the school’s best ever A Level results, with 1 in 6 students achieving three or more A* grades. Best ever results were recorded in Biology, Drama, Film Studies, German, Music, PE and Philosophy. Furthermore, four students were recognised as top performers nationally in Art, for the second year running.
GCSE Results 2025
- 58% awarded grade 9
- 84% awarded grades 9 to 8
- 95% awarded grades 9 to 7
30% of Year 11 pupils achieved nine or more grade 9s, with 71% receiving grade 9 in English Literature, 65% in Maths and 75% in History and French. Additionally, boys and girls performed closely matched results across all subjects, including STEM and performing arts.
University Destinations
92% of students met their first or insurance choice university offer. Destinations span the full range of leading UK and international universities, with strong Oxbridge representation alongside places at UCL, Imperial, LSE, Durham and Edinburgh, among many others. The breadth of subjects pursued reflects a cohort that leaves Alleyn’s with both outstanding grades and a genuine sense of direction.
Teaching and Learning in Alleyn's School
Academic life at Alleyn’s centres on instilling a lifelong love of learning. The curriculum is deliberately broad at every stage, building strong subject knowledge and lasting intellectual skills. The school holds firmly to the belief that outstanding results and genuine intellectual curiosity are not competing goals but natural companions.
A Curriculum Built for Depth and Breadth
Alleyn’s deliberately engineers breadth, agency and contrasting disciplines into every stage of its curriculum. Through this approach, pupils find their academic strengths across creative, analytical, expressive and methodical modes of thinking. They leave the school not just with strong grades but with a genuine and well-rounded intellectual identity.
AiQ: Thinking for the Future
Beyond the standard curriculum, Alleyn’s nurtures intellectual curiosity and academic ambition through its unique Alleyn’s Intelligence Quotient framework, known as AiQ. This approach holds firm to traditional subjects that provide intellectual rigour while also embracing sustainable thinking and ethical, technology-driven innovation. To add on, All Studios, the school’s dedicated innovation hub, integrates technology seamlessly across school life, enhancing and complementing the high-quality teaching for which Alleyn’s is known.
Values at the Heart of Learning
Respect, Opportunity, Courage, Curiosity and Kindness guide everything the school does. Teaching at Alleyn’s consistently draws praise for its energy and specialist depth, with staff who bring genuine enthusiasm to their subjects. The classroom environment feels driven by ideas rather than targets, and pupils respond accordingly.
Extracurricular Activities in Alleyn's School
Alleyn’s offers more than 220 co-curricular options each week, covering over 60 weekly sports clubs and 40 musical ensembles. Notably, sports fixtures alone involve over 150 teams competing in more than 1,200 competitive games across the year, making the co-curricular programme one of the most extensive of any independent school in London.
Sport
Sports at Alleyn’s is broad and seriously resourced. Teams compete across cricket, football, rugby, netball, hockey, swimming, athletics and tennis, among others. Facilities on the 28-acre site include a heated indoor swimming pool, astro-turf pitches, a sports hall and a mirrored dance studio. Moreover, competition runs at every level, from recreational participation through to national representation.
Performing Arts
The performing arts thrive at Alleyn’s, supported by dedicated spaces including the Michael Croft Theatre, two black box studios and a rehearsal room within the Music School. Forty musical ensembles give pupils a wide range of performance opportunities, and dance, drama and music regularly come together in ambitious joint productions.
Perhaps the most prominent testament to the school’s performing arts tradition is alumnus Louis Partridge, who landed a lead role in Enola Holmes on Netflix while still a pupil at Alleyn’s, before going on to an international acting career. It is the kind of outcome that speaks not just to individual talent but to a school that takes the arts seriously.
Clubs and Societies
Beyond sport and the arts, pupils choose from over 180 activities each week, ranging from film, gardening and jewellery to the Minority Students’ Union and LGBTQ+ and Allies group. Additionally, highlights include:
- Combined Cadet Force
- Duke of Edinburgh Award at all levels
- Alleyn’s International Model United Nations
- Debating and public speaking
- Eco Committee and community volunteering
- Feminist Society and student-led interest groups
Admissions Process: Entering Alleyn's School
Alleyn’s admits pupils at several stages, from age 4 all the way through to the Sixth Form. The main senior school entry point is 11+, where the school offers around 150 places each year. Around two thirds of these go to pupils joining from a wide spread of state and independent schools, with the remaining places going to children from Alleyn’s own junior schools.
Year 7 Entry (11+)
The process runs across two stages:
- Stage 1 involves written papers in English (40 minutes) and Maths (30 minutes), taken in January. All registered candidates sit these assessments
- Stage 2 takes place at the end of January, where successful candidates return for a group activity and individual interview
Registration opens on 1 September 2026 for 2027 entry and closes at midday on Friday 13 November 2026. The registration fee is £200 for UK applicants. Notably, the school waives the registration fee for applicants in receipt of Pupil Premium, Universal Credit or Income Support.
Sixth Form Entry (16+)
Alleyn’s also admits pupils directly into the Sixth Form. Applications are assessed on predicted GCSE grades, written assessments and interview. Scholarships in performing arts and music are available at this stage alongside academic awards.
Scholarships and Bursaries
Scholarships at 11+ can be worth up to £5,000 per year, are not means-tested and may be awarded alongside bursaries. All 11+ candidates are automatically considered for an academic scholarship, with awards based on results from the initial assessments and scholarship interviews. Additionally, scholarships are available in music, drama, art, design and technology and sport, each requiring a separate application.
Up to five academic bursary places are awarded each year on the basis of family need and academic ability, with priority given to the most able children requiring very significant financial help.
Tips for Applicants
- Register as soon as the window opens in September. The November deadline is firm and late applications are not accepted
- Prepare thoroughly for the English and Maths papers, and make use of sample papers available on the school’s website
- If your child has a particular talent in music, sport, art or drama, a scholarship application is well worth pursuing alongside the standard academic route
- Open events are a valuable first step. Visiting the school beforehand gives your child a real sense of the culture and helps them perform more naturally at interview
Alleyn’s is selective, but it looks for the whole child rather than the highest exam score alone. The school assesses academic ability and potential alongside what each individual will be able to contribute to co-curricular life. For families who cannot meet the full fees, the bursary programme makes a place at Alleyn’s a genuine possibility.
Alleyn's School SEN Support
What sets Alleyn’s apart from many selective independent schools is its genuinely distinctive approach to learning differences. Rather than a traditional SEN department, the school operates what it calls the Access, Inclusion and Mentoring department, known as AIM, a name that reflects an ethos of empowerment rather than simply accommodation.
AIM Department
The AIM department focuses entirely on neurodiversity, other disabilities and hidden differences, working alongside all other departments and the established mentoring that runs throughout the school via Heads of House and the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Executive. Furthermore, the team consists of highly qualified Specialist Teacher Assessors who hold current practising certificates and can run interventions as well as carry out short investigative assessments.
If a learning difference is suspected, any member of staff, parent or carer can refer a pupil for further investigation. Individuals can also self-refer to the team. Once a learning difference is identified, an AIM plan is devised and shared with all teaching staff, incorporating adaptive teaching suggestions and strategies.
Community and Peer Support
The Network is a lunchtime club for students who identify as neurodivergent or have a hidden difference, giving pupils a space to connect with peers who share similar experiences. This kind of peer community is rare in schools of this type and reflects a genuine commitment to inclusion at every level.
Things to Bear in Mind
- Alleyn’s is academically selective and the pace of learning is fast. Open and early communication with the admissions team is strongly advised if your child has an existing diagnosis
- Reasonable adjustments are made for candidates with specific learning differences, disabilities or long-term medical conditions during entrance examinations, in line with Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) guidelines
- The AIM model treats every teacher as responsible for every learner, which is a meaningful commitment in practice
Overall, Alleyn’s takes a notably progressive and inclusive approach to learning support for a school of its academic standing. The AIM framework goes well beyond standard provision and reflects a school that takes the word inclusion seriously.
Frequently Asked Questions about Alleyn's School
Yes. Alleyn’s has been fully co-educational since 1975 and in 2025 marked 50 years of co-education, a milestone the school celebrated as central to its identity. Boys and girls are educated together throughout the school, and the intake reflects genuine diversity of background, supported by a strong bursary programme and a founding ethos of access and opportunity.
Yes. The Alleyn’s Sixth Form has around 313 pupils and offers A Levels alongside the school’s broader enrichment and leadership programme. Pupils can join directly from outside the school at 16+, with scholarships available in academics, performing arts and music. In 2025, the school recorded its best ever A Level results, with 81% of papers graded A* or A.
Fees for 2025/26 are £31,014 per year, inclusive of VAT. The school offers a strong bursary programme for families who could not otherwise afford the fees, with means-tested awards available alongside scholarships worth up to £5,000 per year in academics, music, drama, art, sport and design and technology. The registration fee is £200 for UK applicants, and this is waived for families in receipt of Pupil Premium, Universal Credit or Income Support.
92% of Alleyn’s leavers meet their first or insurance choice university offer. Destinations include Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, Imperial, the LSE, Durham and Edinburgh, among many others. International universities also feature regularly. The range of subjects pursued is notably broad, spanning Medicine, Engineering, Law, the Arts and Sciences, reflecting a sixth form that encourages pupils to follow their genuine interests rather than a narrow set of prestigious courses.
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