Sherborne Abbey Church of England Primary School

Dorset · DT9 6AQ

General information Primary School · 4-11 years Who goes here 336 pupils, 25.4% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted report card

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 11.3% on SEN support Behaviour 5.8% absence rate Staff 11.8% turnover Financials Spending and funding Environment Buildings and facilities

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Sherborne Abbey Church of England Primary School

General Information

Address: Lenthay Road, Sherborne, DT9 6AQ – View on map
Phone: 01935812318
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mrs Lisa Thompson
Age range: 4-11 years
Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 43 families put it first for 46 places – 9 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. 4 of the 46 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 10 · 2024 10 · 2025 10 · 2026 9
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Church of England
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

336 pupils out of 420 places

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 85
% eligible for free school meals: 25.4%
Pupil mix: 3 in 10 (more mixed than the Dorset average)
English as an additional language: 8% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 11.8% a year (Dorset 14.7%, typical in England 13.9%)
Where they went: about 58% moved to another school, 42% 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: 2 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 2 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 0 (0.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.0)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state primary 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: 5.8%
Persistently absent pupils: 16.9%
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

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 11.3%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 4.5%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Autistic spectrum disorder: 11 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 8 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 7 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 7 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 3 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Speech, language and communications needs: 7 pupils
Profound and multiple learning difficulty: 2 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 2 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 1 pupil
Physical disability: 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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Wraparound CareWraparound Care (parent rating)How parents rate the school's breakfast and after-school clubs - availability, cost and quality. Only asked for infant, junior and primary schools, where it matters most for working parents.

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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 Strong standard
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Achievement Expected standard
Attendance and behaviour Expected standard
Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard
Early years Expected standard
Leadership and governance Expected standard

Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Good (2021). 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.

Year 6 SATs results

Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 48% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 8% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 9 percentage points below the Dorset average (57%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well below (3-year average 49% against an expected 61%)
3-year average (expected standard): 49%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 60% · Writing 66% · Maths 54% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 50%
Average test scores: reading 103, maths 101
Based on: 50 Year 6 pupils, 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's SATs results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

SATs results over time

This schoolDorset averageEngland↘ Falling Down 5 percentage points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 9 percentage points below the Dorset average (57%).

Year 6 SATs: joint 55th of 79 junior and primary schools in the area

=49Wareham St Mary Church of England Primary School50%
=55Milldown CofE Academy48%
=55Sherborne Abbey Church of England Primary School48%
=57Sherborne Primary School47%
=57Swanage Primary School47%

Click to see the full ranking

Year 6 SATs ranking

Junior and primary schools in this area, ranked by the % of Year 6 pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (official DfE results, 2024/25). Schools with the same result share a place (shown as =). In small schools one or two children can move a school several places, so treat close positions as roughly equal.

Rank School Score

#1Trent Young's CofE Primary School95%
#2St Ives Primary & Nursery School90%
#3Durweston Church of England Primary School80%
#4Spetisbury CofE Primary School77%
#5Beaminster St Mary's Academy75%
#6Thorner's Church of England School, Litton Cheney73%
#7Holy Trinity Church of England VC Primary School & Community Nursery72%
=8Bovington Academy71%
=8Buckland Newton Church of England Primary School71%
=8Parrett and Axe Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School71%
=8Wyke Primary School71%
#12Conifers Primary School69%
=13Lytchett Matravers Primary School68%
=13Motcombe CofE Primary School68%
=15Blandford St Mary Church of England Primary School67%
=15Charmouth Primary School67%
=15Shillingstone Church of England Primary School67%
=15St George's Church of England Primary School, Langton Matravers67%
=15St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Marnhull67%
=15St Nicholas and St Laurence Church of England Primary School67%
=15Symondsbury Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School67%
=22St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Swanage65%
=22Stalbridge Church of England Primary School65%
=22Wyke Regis Church of England Junior School65%
=25Archbishop Wake Church of England Primary School64%
=25Atlantic Academy Portland64%
=25Burton Bradstock Church of England Voluntary Controlled School64%
=28Maiden Newton, Greenford Church of England Primary School63%
=28Pimperne Church of England VC Primary School63%
#30The Abbey CofE VA Primary School, Shaftesbury62%
=31Beechcroft St Paul's CofE Primary School61%
=31Hazelbury Bryan Primary School61%
=33Broadwindsor Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School60%
=33Radipole Primary School60%
=33Salway Ash Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School60%
#36St Mary the Virgin Church of England Primary School59%
#37Corfe Castle Church of England Primary School57%
=38St Andrew's Church of England Primary School56%
=38Stoborough Church of England Primary School56%
#40William Barnes Primary School55%
#41Sandford St Martin's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School54%
=42Bincombe Valley Primary School53%
=42St George's Church of England School, Bourton53%
=42St Michael's CofE Primary School, Lyme Regis53%
=42Sticklands Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School53%
=42Thornford CofE Primary School53%
=47Bridport, St Mary's Church of England Primary School52%
=47Chickerell Primary Academy52%
=49Bridport Primary School50%
=49Gillingham Primary School50%
=49Loders CofE Primary Academy50%
=49Powerstock Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School50%
=49St Gregory's Church of England Primary School, Marnhull50%
=49Wareham St Mary Church of England Primary School50%
=55Milldown CofE Academy48%
=55Sherborne Abbey Church of England Primary School48%
=57Sherborne Primary School47%
=57Swanage Primary School47%
=57Upton Junior School47%
=60St George's Foundation Primary School46%
=60St Mary & St Joseph's Catholic Primary School46%
=60Wool Church of England Primary School46%
=63Bere Regis Primary and Preschool45%
=63Dunbury Church of England Academy45%
=63St Augustine's Catholic Primary School, Weymouth45%
=66Shaftesbury Church of England Primary School44%
=66St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Bradford Abbas44%
=68St John's Church of England Primary School43%
=68St Nicholas Church of England Primary School, Child Okeford43%
=68Swanage St Mark's Church of England Primary School43%
=71Downlands Community School42%
=71Southill Primary School42%
#73Stower Provost Community School40%
#74Milton-on-Stour Church of England Primary School39%
=75Lulworth and Winfrith CofE Primary School38%
=75Marshwood CofE Primary Academy38%
=75Portesham Church of England Primary School38%
#78St Andrew's Church of England Primary School31%
#79St Catherine's Roman Catholic School30%

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil, and how this school compares to others nearby, will appear here once we've linked in official DfE spending data.

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

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