Schools in Wareham
Wareham has 10 schools — 9 primaries and 1 secondary — all administered by Dorset Council. Nine of the ten are academies, meaning each sets its own admissions policy independently rather than following a single LA oversubscription framework. As a result, criteria such as sibling priority, faith criteria, and distance tiebreakers can differ significantly between schools even a short walk apart.
Seven schools have a religious character, predominantly Church of England, so faith-based criteria apply alongside proximity for a significant portion of Wareham's primary places. Dorset Council publishes its co-ordinated admissions scheme each September, covering both LA-maintained schools and, for co-ordination purposes, academies in the area.
School demand in Wareham
Across the 10 schools in Wareham with published capacity data, the average fill rate is 81%. None are currently over capacity, but catchment distance still applies in any year a school is oversubscribed.
7 schools in Wareham have a religious character, so faith criteria sit alongside catchment distance in their admissions policies.
9 of the schools in Wareham 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.
6 of the schools in Wareham have a current Ofsted rating, of which 5 are rated Good or Outstanding. Demand and catchment distance tend to be tightest at the highest-rated schools.
Primary Schools in Wareham (9)
Sandford St Martin's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School
Primary · Voluntary aided school
Wareham · BH20 7BN
St Mary & St Joseph's Catholic Primary School
Primary · Academy converter
Wareham · BH20 6DS
Corfe Castle Church of England Primary School
Primary · Academy converter
Wareham · BH20 5EE
Wareham St Mary Church of England Primary School
Primary · Academy converter
Wareham · BH20 4PG
Bere Regis Primary and Preschool
Primary · Academy sponsor led
Wareham · BH20 7DB
Bovington Academy
Primary · Academy sponsor led
Wareham · BH20 6LE
Wool Church of England Primary School
Primary · Academy sponsor led
Wareham · BH20 6BT
Stoborough Church of England Primary School
Primary · Academy converter
Wareham · BH20 5AD
Lulworth and Winfrith CofE Primary School
Primary · Academy converter
Wareham · BH20 5SA
Secondary Schools in Wareham (1)
Catchment area boundaries for schools in Wareham 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.