Academic Life

Academic life at Alleyn’s inspires and enriches, and is rooted in our aim to instil in every boy and girl a lifelong love of learning.

Learning and personal development are the natural outcomes of an holistic approach to education,  which enables our pupils to enjoy life to the full in a unique and progressive community before they move on to the university or other course of their choice.

Through a varied and challenging curriculum, boys and girls are invited to discover and develop their interests, knowledge and skills within a safe and supportive environment.

During Years 7 and 8, Lower School pupils benefit from a broad and balanced programme that provides them with ample opportunity to experience and explore before they move on to Middle School, where they are gradually given more opportunities to make choices, within the framework of a rigorous core curriculum.

Our flexible Sixth Form programme offers a wide array of subjects and different pathways, centred around A level qualifications, alongside some exciting international language courses and the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) with its focus on research and self-guided learning.

While Alleyn’s has a strong record of academic achievement, we also believe that the best education transcends the classroom. Our extensive co-curricular options, huge range of academic societies and high-quality visiting speaker programmes serve to enrich our boys’ and girls’ daily experience and broaden their perspectives.

In addition, our Alleyn’s Learners’ Programme, known as ALP, enables our pupils to discover more about themselves as individual learners so that they are equipped to get the most out of every day. This impressive metacognition course, introduced by Dr Savage over 6 years ago, provides a dedicated space within the curriculum to reflect upon, develop and refine personal learning skills and behaviours.

Varied and stimulating, the ALP evolves as pupils move through the school, providing games and activities in the Lower School, opportunities for focused teamwork and research in Year 9, and offering a range of exciting options in the Year 11 ‘Balance’ programme.

In Year 12, ALP takes the form of an Enrichment course aimed at enhancing pupils’ academic learning by developing critical thinking skills, broadening interests and providing an opportunity to work with local primary schools to lead activities.

For details about our curriculum please see the Curriculum Policy, available on the Policies page. For a list of subjects available in the Sixth Form, please visit the A level section of the Upper School page. 

Online learning

During periods of lockdown in the Covid-19 pandemic, all pupils continued to access the curriculum via our Always Alleyn's platform. Always Alleyn's replicated the routines and rhythms of the standard school day as much as possible, including the various assemblies, form times and pastoral meetings. When necessary, this programme allows for pupils to be in their normal lessons, according to the existing timetable, live and online.