Dorchester Middle School

Dorset · DT1 2HS

General information Secondary School · 9-13 years Who goes here 527 pupils, 22% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted report card

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN Resourced provision · 19.2% on SEN support Behaviour 7.1% absence rate Staff 14% turnover Financials £6,499 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Dorchester Middle School

General Information

Address: Queen's Avenue, Dorchester, DT1 2HS – View on map
Phone: 01305265651
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Headteacher Clare King
Age range: 9-13 years
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

527 pupils out of 600 places

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 116
% eligible for free school meals: 22.0%
Pupil mix: 4 in 10 (more mixed than the Dorset average)
English as an additional language: 14% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 14% a year (Dorset 15%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 32% moved to another school, 68% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Dorset: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 49 (2.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 2
Suspensions for bullying: 54 (2.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 20 (0.8 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.8)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state secondary schools in Dorset, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 7.1%
Persistently absent pupils: 20.1%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

Resourced provision for Physical disability 5 places · 3 pupils at the last count

Places are usually for children with an EHC Plan and are arranged through the council, not the normal school application.

Pupils on SEN Support: 19.2%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 3.8%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Specific learning difficulty: 25 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 25 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 23 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 20 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 3 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Specific learning difficulty: 5 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 5 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 4 pupils
Physical disability: 3 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 1 pupil

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Ofsted report card June 2026

Ofsted's new report cards grade each part of school life separately, instead of giving one overall word.

Safeguarding Met
Inclusion Expected standard
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Achievement Needs attention
Attendance and behaviour Strong standard
Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard
Leadership and governance Expected standard

Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Requires improvement (2023). The report card above replaces that grade.

How Ofsted report cards work

Since November 2025, Ofsted grades each area of a school on its own five-point scale, and no longer gives a single word like “Good” or “Outstanding”. Safeguarding (keeping children safe) is simply met or not met.

Exceptional The very best practice nationally
Strong standard Above what Ofsted expects
Expected standard What Ofsted expects of every school
Needs attention Some weaknesses the school needs to fix
Urgent improvement Serious weaknesses needing urgent action

“Expected standard” is a sound result – it's what Ofsted expects a good school to do. Report cards aren't directly comparable with the old single grades, which is why we don't turn them into one.

An Attainment 8 score for this school hasn't been added yet.

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £6,499 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

19th of 25 secondary schools in Dorset for spending per pupil

#17St Mary's Church of England Middle School, Puddletown£6,672
#18Budmouth Academy Weymouth£6,654
#19Dorchester Middle School£6,499
#20Ferndown Middle School£6,227
#21St Michael's Church of England Middle School, Colehill£6,062

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Dorset Studio School£12,868
#2The Sir John Colfox Academy£9,808
#3West Moors Middle School£9,264
#4The Swanage School£9,162
#5All Saints' Church of England Academy£8,352
#6Ferndown Upper School£7,798
#7Beaminster School£7,758
#8The Woodroffe School£7,651
#9Cranborne Middle School£7,640
#10The Purbeck School£7,591
#11Queen Elizabeth's School£7,473
#12The Blandford School£7,449
#13The Thomas Hardye School£7,222
#14Atlantic Academy Portland£7,205
#15Lytchett Minster School£6,991
#16Wey Valley Academy£6,932
#17St Mary's Church of England Middle School, Puddletown£6,672
#18Budmouth Academy Weymouth£6,654
#19Dorchester Middle School£6,499
#20Ferndown Middle School£6,227
#21St Michael's Church of England Middle School, Colehill£6,062
#22Emmanuel Church of England Middle School£5,779
#23St Osmund's Church of England Middle School£5,695
#24Allenbourn Middle School£5,475
#25Lockyer's Middle School£5,412

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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