At a glance
Key published figures for this school.
Ofsted inspection
Latest Ofsted report card
Report card grades
- 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
Ofsted grades each area on its own, from urgent improvement up to exceptional. Expected standard means the school is doing everything it should. These grades cannot be compared with the old overall grades.
Report published 5 Jul 2026.
Inspection history
- Last overall gradeRequires improvement
- Previous gradedRequires improvement
This page shows previous graded and latest ungraded outcomes when Ofsted publishes them in the national file. Full history stays on the Ofsted report.
School figures
Coloured bars compare this school with the average for other schools in DT1. Where we have them, council (Dorset) and England figures appear under FSM, SEN and attendance. FSM, SEN and EAL are context, not quality scores. For attendance, higher is usually better.
- Pupils on roll
- 527
- Free school meals
- 22%
- SEN
- 21.7%
- EAL
- 17.7%
- Attendance
- 93% Autumn and spring 2024/25
Also: Dorset 20.6% · England 25.8%
Also: Dorset 18.7% · England 16.5%
Also: Dorset 91.1% · England 91.9%
Each metric uses its own colour so you can tell the rows apart. The lighter bar is the DT1 average; the darker bar is this school.
Compared with England
Persistent absence is 2024/25. Key Stage 2 is 2024/25: expected standard combined, greater depth, then reading, writing and maths. England is the state-funded average. Lower persistent absence is better.
19.9%
2% below England (21.9%)
49%
13% below England (62%)
5%
3% below England (8%)
65%
10% below England (75%)
71%
1% below England (72%)
58%
16% below England (74%)
Trends
Attendance
Autumn and spring 2024/25 from DfE pupil absence data (where published for this URN). The headline above uses the same period.
- 94.9%2020/21
- 94%2021/22
- 93.2%2022/23
- 91.1%2023/24
- 93%2024/25
Key Stage 2
Share meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined.
- 32%2022/23
- 52%2023/24
- 49%2024/25
Admissions
Applications and offers
Applications and offers are not published for this school in the DfE school-level data for September 2026 entry.
SourceDfE applications and offers, September 2026 entryPublished 18th of June 2026.
How full the building is
- Roll versus published capacity
- Around published capacity
- Published capacity (GIAS)
- 600
- Pupils on roll
- 527
Pupils on roll compared with the capacity published in GIAS. This is about building size, not applications or offers, and it is not a guarantee of a place.
Applications and offers come from DfE. Last distance offered and catchment areas are not published nationally. Your council admissions booklet has those details.
Check your council admissions booklet via the Dorset page.
SEN support
- SEN %
- 21.7%
- On-site provision
- Resourced provision · PD
A higher SEN percentage can mean experience with support needs, or more demand on staff. Ask the SENCO what is available day to day.
Schools near Dorchester Middle School
Distances are in a straight line from this school. They are not catchment areas.
- The Thomas Hardye School
- St Osmund's Church of England Middle School
- Dorset Studio School
- Wey Valley Academy
Other nearby schools
Sources and freshness
- School year for most DfE figures: 2024/25.
- Pipeline last checked: Oct 2026.
- Council and England attendance / FSM tables: 2024/25.
- School figures from DfE / GIAS / Ofsted where published. District averages use other schools in this postcode district. Council and England figures use DfE local authority and national tables for the matching phase.
- We do not publish school photos. The banner shows initials from the school name.
- Methodology · Data updates