Alleyn's interviews

[grgygirl]

I think there were around 750 applicants so congratulations Fleur on the interview! A friend has Saturday also. It's a group assessment (new) and then an individual chat apparently.

[fleurdelacourt]

just for future candidates - it was a group session (20 kids) which lasted 45 minutes. Started with some ice breaker type activities and then they were paired up and given a couple of random objects. They had to present a story involving those 2 objects back to the group.

Then they had a 15 minute interview with a member of staff. Pretty standard apart from a couple of off the wall questions, including "what would you do if you cam home and found a penguin in the middle of your lounge"?!!!!

[mylifestory]

Just bringing this one back up for Alleyns

Has anyone had a scholarship interview there and can pass on what the different General / Maths / English interviews include?

We have one on Thursday and Im more nervous than DC as its all different that the usual - 3 ints as above with different ppl and zoom for the group 1 and Exam.net for the creative writing. Phew!

Thanks in advance if anyone can shed some light on these.

[Brickinthewall]

Just bringing this one back up for Alleyns

Has anyone had a scholarship interview there and can pass on what the different General / Maths / English interviews include?

We have one on Thursday and Im more nervous than DC as its all different that the usual - 3 ints as above with different ppl and zoom for the group 1 and Exam.net for the creative writing. Phew!

Thanks in advance if anyone can shed some light on these.

Hi mylifestory!
Saw this message too late but my DC also had an academic scholarship interview for Alleyn's last week. No idea how it went but sounds like some of the questions were pretty tough! How did your DC get on?

[dinosaur72]

Yes - DD had academic scholarship interview last week too. It was all friendly, but a bit over the top in my view. Had heard it would be intense from other parents who'd been through it previously, and that they regretted taking the scholarship in the end as the demands were unreasonable. Still - I'm taking it as a good sign that we might be successful in getting a place.

I do think it will be difficult for the admissions department to decide on offers / WL this year - Alleyn's were famously burned a couple of years back when more people accepted than they had thought and they then decided to cancel their 13+ intake altogether, so they won't want that to happen again. They had to go quite far down their WL last year for places and so may also be keen to avoid that scenario too. Don't envy them.

[Brickinthewall]

Thanks for your reply dinosaur72 - good to hear about your experience of the scholarship interviews. I think 'intense' is certainly a good way to describe them! We had no idea what to expect and DD would not let us listen in so hard to know how it went. As you said just offering it might mean we get offered an ordinary place. Interesting re the demands on the scholarship.

I can imagine this year must be a huge challenge for admissions departments. What did Alleyn's do the year that more people accepted than expected? Did the have an extra class or increase class sizes?

[dinosaur72]

Hello Brickinthewall. It was a couple of years ago, and class size was increased which a lot of parents were not happy about. They have fabulous sporting grounds, but limited square footage in terms of classrooms, so it was the only thing to do. They explained that they usually lose children because families move out of London and that this number would come down, but from what I hear, that year group is still a bumper size.

I will be delighted if DD gets a place there, as I love co-ed, the drama provision and their more pastoral approach to sport (something for everyone, no specialists / elite path). Will be looking out for class size, and also to see who replaces the lovely Mr Turner as Lower School Head. He was another reason we liked the school

Re: demands on scholarship. It is a big help with fees, so I suppose they have to make sure the recipients continue to work hard and do various things around the school. I'm worried it just doesn't leave room for them to lose their way occasionally or choose subjects they like rather than those the school think they will achieve higher grades in.

[Brickinthewall]

Thanks so much for your detailed reply dinosaur72 - really interesting to know all of that. I didn’t know about Mr Turner! What a shame, yes we liked him too. Lots of changes for the school over the coming years..
Finding it very nerve racking waiting for the results right now!

[fleurdelacourt]

ladies - the year when they had way more acceptances at 11+ than expected was the current Y9. They didn't increase class size - they just added 2 extra form groups on and cancelled the 13+ entry effective from that year.

Mr Turner has been an inspirational head of lower school after growing into the role - guess his departure was inevitable? Jane Lunnon seems to be doing a sounds job so far as head - difficult time to take over?

All scholarship candidates will get the offer of a regular place at the very least. There are a few different grades of scholarship as well - and TBH have never heard of a scholarship candidate not getting something on that scale.

Final comment is that the scholarships can be quite high pressure for the scholars as they progress through the school. dd's friend regularly bursts into tears when her exam results aren't "good enough" as everyone knows she's a scholar. But maybe that's just her individual reaction.

best of luck to your kids

[Brickinthewall]

Thank you so much fleurdelacourt - just great to hear all of that and to get your insight. Much appreciated x