Alleyns 5+ 2022

[summersky42]

Anyone doing the 5+ assessment this year? Is it similar to the usual 4+?

Yes I suppose so. I have no idea what other 4.5 year olds can do so was wondering what level would get in. Are they expected to read/write confidently?

A 4.5 year old in reception will be reading and writing. CGP Reception workbooks are good, I expect they'd need to be able to easily complete those activities and start of year 1 level for an independent school examination.
CGP also do termly workbooks which are a good indication if they're working at beginning/ mid/ end of reception level

In reception at Alleyns the children cover the year 1 maths curriculum so to not be behind a child would need to be on track for that. Reading levels vary quite a bit but by this point in the year, the children can all write in phonetically plausible short sentences.

The 5+ process at Alleyns is a one off due to the expansion of the infants section, so no one will have experience of how the school will approach it though. They may decide to assess entirely on academic potential rather than acquired skills so don’t let the information above unduly worry you.

I don’t expect anyone (other than Alleyns!) to know the answer to this but I’m guessing there are going to be many, many applicants? Someone told me there were 10 at last week’s assessment and there seem to be 3 sessions (one each week) so that would mean 30 children for 12 places. Somehow I thought there’d be more!

If you ask the registrar she’ll tell you as the school is pretty transparent. I’ve heard there has been a lot of interest but they didn’t heavily advertise that they were doing the 5+ and 6+ as a one off.

They confirmed to parents in the past there are typically well over 200 applicants for the 20 places for reception. I wouldn’t expect it to be the same kinds of numbers though for the 5+ as many parents won’t want to move a settled child.

They did contact people who’d previously applied and been turned down for the 4+ to encourage them to reapply though so who knows.

Thanks Londongirl83.
I’m probably not going to bother, tbh. We’ve done no prep and it’s too late now so unlikely she’s going to get in. She’s bright but not the brightest in her class. Granted she’s also one of the littlest ones but there’s so much luck involved. We shall see!

Sorry please don’t be put off. I know multiple kids who did no prep for 4+ and couldn’t read etc before starting and got offers. At 4+ they are definitely looking for potential (by questioning and discussion) and so it might be the same for 5+ and the school explicitly takes age into consideration.

If you’ve already registered don’t be put off by the numbers above. She might be just what they are looking for! Good luck