Schools in Dorchester
Dorchester, as the county town of Dorset, has 16 primary schools covering the town and surrounding villages including Puddletown, Poundbury and Charminster. Dorset Council co-ordinates admissions using nearest-school catchment polygons for community schools, while voluntary-aided Church of England and Catholic primaries apply faith oversubscription criteria. The Poundbury expansion area has added new housing close to existing school catchment boundaries, so parents in that part of town should verify their catchment assignment carefully.
Two secondary schools serve Dorchester - The Thomas Hardye School and The Dorchester School (formerly Thomas Hardye Lower School) - under Dorset's co-ordinated scheme. Thomas Hardye is one of the largest schools in the south-west and draws from a wide rural catchment. Competition for places can be strong for families outside the defined catchment area. Dorset's secondary round closes in October; National Offer Day is 1 March. Check current last-offered distances on catchment.school before submitting preferences.
School demand in Dorchester
Across the 23 schools in Dorchester with published capacity data, the average fill rate is 91%. 4 of them are currently at or above their published admission number, and at those schools catchment distance is likely to decide places at the next intake.
14 schools in Dorchester have a religious character, so faith criteria sit alongside catchment distance in their admissions policies.
12 of the schools in Dorchester are academies that set their own admissions criteria independently of Dorset, so check each school's policy directly rather than assuming the council default applies.
11 of the schools in Dorchester have a current Ofsted rating, of which 8 are rated Good or Outstanding. Demand and catchment distance tend to be tightest at the highest-rated schools.
Primary schools in Dorchester: 4 oversubscribed (16)
Broadmayne First School
Primary · Community school
Dorchester · DT2 8PH
Cheselbourne Village School
Primary · Community school
DORCHESTER · DT2 7NT
The Prince of Wales School
Primary · Community school
Dorchester · DT1 2HH
Cerne Abbas CofE VC First School
Primary · Voluntary controlled school
Dorchester · DT2 7LA
Maiden Newton, Greenford Church of England Primary School
Primary · Voluntary controlled school
Dorchester · DT2 0AX
Sticklands Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School
Primary · Voluntary aided school
Dorchester · DT2 0JP
Thorner's Church of England School, Litton Cheney
Primary · Voluntary aided school
Dorchester · DT2 9AU
Winterbourne Valley Church of England Aided First School
Primary · Voluntary aided school
Dorchester · DT2 9LW
St Mary's Catholic First School, Dorchester
Primary · Academy converter
Dorchester · DT1 2DD
Frome Valley CofE First School
Primary · Academy converter
Dorchester · DT2 8WR
Piddle Valley Church of England First School
Primary · Academy converter
Dorchester · DT2 7QL
Puddletown Church of England First School
Primary · Academy converter
Dorchester · DT2 8FZ
Buckland Newton Church of England Primary School
Primary · Academy converter
Dorchester · DT2 7BY
Damers First School
Primary · Academy converter
Dorchester · DT1 3DF
Manor Park Church of England First School
Primary · Academy sponsor led
Dorchester · DT1 2BH
St Mary's Church of England First School, Charminster
Primary · Academy converter
Dorchester · DT2 9RD
Secondary Schools in Dorchester (2)
Other Schools in Dorchester (6)
Sunninghill Preparatory School
Not applicable · Other independent school
Dorchester · DT1 1EB
Dorchester Learning Centre
Not applicable · Pupil referral unit
Dorchester · DT2 9PS
Dorchester Middle School
Middle deemed secondary · Academy converter
Dorchester · DT1 2HS
St Mary's Church of England Middle School, Puddletown
Middle deemed secondary · Academy converter
Dorchester · DT2 8SA
Employ My Ability (EMA) Ltd
Not applicable · Special post 16 institution
Dorchester · DT2 8RH
St Osmund's Church of England Middle School
Middle deemed secondary · Academy converter
Dorchester · DT1 2DZ
Catchment area boundaries for schools in Dorchester are set by Dorset and updated each year. The "last distance offered", how far the furthest successful applicant lived, changes annually based on the number of applications received.