Schools in Wimborne
Wimborne Minster and the surrounding villages are served by 15 primary schools spread across the Stour Valley. Dorset Council co-ordinates admissions for community schools using nearest-school catchment polygons, but several village primaries in the Wimborne cluster are voluntary-aided Church of England schools that set their own faith and distance criteria. Parents should read each school's individual admissions policy alongside the Dorset composite prospectus.
The area has one secondary school - Queen Elizabeth's School - which serves the whole of the Wimborne area under Dorset's co-ordinated scheme. Competition for places at QE is steady; last-offered distances have historically exceeded 5 miles in some rounds as the school draws from multiple villages. Dorset publishes its secondary offer on National Offer Day (1 March); use the catchment.school postcode tool to identify your nearest primary clusters and check last-offered data before the November closing date.
School demand in Wimborne
Across the 24 schools in Wimborne with published capacity data, the average fill rate is 90%. 6 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.
10 schools in Wimborne have a religious character, so faith criteria sit alongside catchment distance in their admissions policies.
17 of the schools in Wimborne 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.
14 of the schools in Wimborne have a current Ofsted rating, of which 13 are rated Good or Outstanding. Demand and catchment distance tend to be tightest at the highest-rated schools.
Primary schools in Wimborne: 3 oversubscribed (15)
Sturminster Marshall First School
Primary · Community school
Wimborne · BH21 4AY
Rushcombe First School
Primary · Community school
Wimborne · BH21 3PX
Colehill First School
Primary · Academy converter
Wimborne · BH21 2LZ
Hayeswood First School
Primary · Academy converter
Wimborne · BH21 2HN
Merley First School
Primary · Academy converter
Wimborne · BH21 1SD
St John's Church of England First School, Wimborne
Primary · Academy converter
Wimborne · BH21 1BX
Witchampton Church of England First School
Primary · Academy converter
Wimborne · BH21 5AP
Three Legged Cross First and Nursery School
Primary · Academy converter
Wimborne · BH21 6RF
Henbury View First School
Primary · Academy converter
Wimborne · BH21 3TR
Pamphill Church of England First School
Primary · Academy sponsor led
Wimborne · BH21 4EE
St James Church of England First School
Primary · Academy converter
Wimborne · BH21 4JN
Cranborne Church of England First School
Primary · Academy converter
Wimborne · BH21 5QB
Wimborne St Giles Church of England First School and Nursery
Primary · Academy converter
Wimborne · BH21 5LX
Wimborne First School and Nursery
Primary · Academy converter
Wimborne · BH21 4FW
Hampreston Church of England Voluntary Aided First School
Primary · Academy converter
Wimborne · BH21 7LX
Secondary Schools in Wimborne (1)
Other Schools in Wimborne (10)
Cranborne Middle School
Middle deemed secondary · Community school
Wimborne · BH21 5RP
Canford School
Not applicable · Other independent school
Wimborne · BH21 3AD
Dumpton School
Not applicable · Other independent school
Wimborne · BH21 7AF
Beaucroft Foundation School
Not applicable · Foundation special school
Wimborne · BH21 2SS
Allenbourn Middle School
Middle deemed secondary · Academy converter
Wimborne · BH21 1PL
St Michael's Church of England Middle School, Colehill
Middle deemed secondary · Academy converter
Wimborne · BH21 7AB
Lockyer's Middle School
Middle deemed secondary · Academy converter
Wimborne · BH21 3HQ
Aurora Boveridge College
Not applicable · Special post 16 institution
Wimborne · BH21 5RU
South West Regional Assessment Centre
Not applicable · Special post 16 institution
Wimborne · BH21 3AA
Aurora Beeches School
Not applicable · Other independent special school
Wimborne · BH21 5RT
Catchment area boundaries for schools in Wimborne 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.