Alleyn's School 11+: guide for 2028 entry
For children in Year 5 now, who would sit the entrance examinations in January of Year 6 to start Year 7 in September 2028. Dates and format are taken from Alleyn's School's own admissions page and syllabus.
At a glance
- Test date
- Not yet published for 2028 entry. This year's entrance examinations are on Friday 8 January 2027, or Thursday 7 January 2027 for overseas candidates
- Registration
- Not yet published for 2028 entry. This year it opened on Tuesday 1 September 2026 and closes at midday on Friday 13 November 2026. The school says late forms will not be accepted
- Papers
- English, Maths, and Verbal, Non-Verbal and Spatial Reasoning
- Timings
- English 45 minutes, Maths 30 minutes, Reasoning 45 minutes, according to the school's syllabus (updated July 2025)
- Interviews
- Selected children are invited to a small group activity and a one-to-one interview. Date not yet published for 2028 entry. This year's are on Saturday 23 January 2027
- Places
- The school says it offers around 150 places, with two thirds of these children joining from a wide spread of state and independent schools
Key dates
For 2028 entry (papers expected in January 2028, going by this year's pattern)
Alleyn's School has not published these dates yet. When we checked, its 11+ page gave key dates for September 2027 entry only.
Source: Alleyn's School: Senior School 11+
This year's dates (January 2027 papers, 2027 entry), as a guide to the pattern
- Tuesday 1 September 2026
- Registration period opened
- Wednesday 30 September 2026
- 11+ Open Afternoon
- Friday 2 October 2026
- Experience Alleyn's Taster Afternoon
- Saturday 3 October 2026
- 11+ and 16+ Open Morning
- Wednesday 14 October 2026
- 11+ Open Afternoon
- Wednesday 21 October 2026
- Music Department Open Day for potential 11+ music scholars
- Friday 13 November 2026 (midday)
- Registration period closes
- Thursday 7 January 2027
- Entrance examinations for overseas candidates
- Friday 8 January 2027
- Entrance examinations
- 11, 12 and 13 January 2027
- Music scholarship auditions
- Saturday 23 January 2027
- Interview and small group activity for selected candidates
- Friday 29 January 2027
- Workshops for selected academic scholarship candidates
Get an email when Alleyn's publishes new 11+ dates
We check the official admissions pages every morning. When registration, test dates or results are announced, we'll send you a short email saying what changed and where to find it. We use your address for nothing else.
We email you first to confirm. Alerts come from Eleven Plus Academy, not the school. Privacy policy.
The three papers
Continuing the passage
The writing task asks children to carry on from the passage they have just read. It helps to practise keeping the same characters, viewpoint and tense, and to plan briefly so the piece has a clear direction.
What the school says about practice
For the reasoning paper, the syllabus says any commercial or freely available practice questions will be useful preparation, but that the exact question types and the level of difficulty may be different from the Alleyn's test. The school also publishes its own sample English and Maths papers on its 11+ page.
After the papers
The school says children whose assessment results and school report show they will flourish at Alleyn's are invited to a group activity and a one-to-one interview. This year that is on Saturday 23 January 2027. Selected academic scholarship candidates are then invited back for workshops, this year on Friday 29 January 2027. When we checked, the page did not give the date offers are sent.
Check the syllabus again next year
The syllabus we read is marked as updated in July 2025 and does not name an entry year. The school could change the papers for 2028 entry, so read the current syllabus when registration opens.
Five Alleyn's-style sample questions
These are our own questions, written in the style of the test so you can see the level. They are not taken from any real paper. Tap a question to see the answer and the method. The real writing task asks for a written answer, and the school's sample Maths paper mixes circle-the-answer questions with questions where working is shown; we use multiple choice here only so you can check quickly.
1. A baker fills 7 trays with 18 rolls on each tray. She sells 95 rolls. How many rolls are left?
- A) 21
- B) 31
- C) 41
- D) 221
2. What is 0.6 × 45?
- A) 2.7
- B) 24
- C) 270
- D) 27
3. Which word is closest in meaning to meander?
- A) sprint
- B) wander
- C) tumble
- D) whisper
4. In a code, CAMP is written as DBNQ. Using the same code, how is TENT written?
- A) UFOU
- B) SDMS
- C) UFNU
- D) VGPV
5. Which word is the adverb in this sentence? The exhausted hikers trudged slowly up the frozen ridge.
- A) exhausted
- B) trudged
- C) slowly
- D) frozen
What a Year 5 parent can do now
- Visit the school: this year its 11+ open events ran from late September, with the last 11+ Open Afternoon on Wednesday 14 October 2026, before registration closes in mid November.
- Start short, regular practice in English, Maths and reasoning now, and add timed papers in Year 6.
- Check the school's 11+ page from September 2027 for the 2028 entry dates. This year registration opened on Tuesday 1 September 2026 and closes at midday on Friday 13 November 2026.
How to prepare
- Practise multiple-choice comprehension against the clock, reading the passage carefully first.
- Practise continuing a passage in pen, keeping the original voice and tense. The syllabus gives 35 minutes for the comprehension questions and the writing together; as our own estimate, allow about 20 minutes for the writing.
- Build speed and accuracy for a 30-minute maths paper without a calculator, using short timed sets.
- Mix verbal, non-verbal and spatial reasoning practice so no question type is a surprise.
- Look at the school's own sample English and Maths papers together.
Try a free Alleyn's-style mock
Set out like the papers the school or area describes, with your child's score at the end and, where the school sets a writing task, their writing marked from a photo. Where a timing is not published, ours is an estimate. Free 3-day trial, no card needed.
Start my Alleyn's-style mockOr get a free Alleyn's-style practice paper (PDF)
Our mocks follow the published format where there is one. The timings we estimate and the questions are our own, not real past papers.
The other 32 school and area guides
Blackheath High 11+ guide · Eltham College 11+ guide · Dulwich College 11+ guide · Kent Test guide · Bexley 11+ guide · Colfe's 11+ guide · St Olave's 11+ guide · Medway Test guide · Tiffin 11+ guide · Sutton SET guide · ISEB Pre-Test guide · London 11+ Consortium guide · Latymer Upper 11+ guide · Henrietta Barnett 11+ guide · Dame Alice Owen's 11+ guide · QE Barnet 11+ guide · Redbridge 11+ guide · Buckinghamshire Transfer Test guide · Essex CSSE 11+ guide · Slough Consortium 11+ guide · Kendrick School 11+ guide · Bournemouth and Poole 11+ guide · South Wilts Grammar 11+ guide · Bishop Wordsworth's 11+ guide · Torbay grammar schools 11+ guide · Plymouth grammar schools 11+ guide · Lincolnshire 11+ guide · West Midlands grammar schools 11+ guide · Wirral 11+ guide · Ripon Grammar School 11+ guide · Lancaster Royal Grammar 11+ guide · Northern Ireland SEAG Transfer Test guide
More free practice: Free 11+ Maths practice questions → · Free 11+ Verbal Reasoning practice → · Free 11+ Fractions questions → · Free 11+ Vocabulary questions →
Quick answers
When is the Alleyn's 11+ exam?
Not yet published for 2028 entry. This year's entrance examinations are on Friday 8 January 2027, or Thursday 7 January 2027 for overseas candidates.
What is in the Alleyn's 11+ exam?
English: 45 minutes. Multiple-choice comprehension questions on a passage, then a directed writing task: a narrative or descriptive piece that continues the passage. The syllabus suggests 10 minutes for reading and 35 minutes for the tasks, and asks for the writing to be in black or blue pen, not pencil. The multiple-choice answers are marked in pencil on an answer sheet. Maths: 30 minutes. Largely set on National Curriculum topics: number and algebra, shape, space and measures, and handling data. The syllabus says calculators are not needed. The school's sample paper has a circle-the-answer section and a show-your-working section. Verbal, Non-Verbal and Spatial Reasoning: 45 minutes. Multiple choice, marked on a pre-printed answer sheet. Verbal reasoning is reasoning with words, non-verbal reasoning is reasoning with abstract figures, and spatial reasoning is about picturing and turning shapes in your head.
When do I need to register for the Alleyn's 11+?
Not yet published for 2028 entry. This year it opened on Tuesday 1 September 2026 and closes at midday on Friday 13 November 2026. The school says late forms will not be accepted.
Is there an interview for Alleyn's?
Selected children are invited to a small group activity and a one-to-one interview. Date not yet published for 2028 entry. This year's are on Saturday 23 January 2027.
How can my child practise for the Alleyn's 11+?
Practise multiple-choice comprehension against the clock, reading the passage carefully first.
Sources
Checked 7 October 2026. Schools change their tests, so always confirm dates and details on the official pages below.
- Alleyn's School: Senior School 11+
- Alleyn's School: 11+ entrance examination syllabus (updated July 2025)
- Alleyn's School: 11+ Mathematics sample examination paper 1
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