South West
Secondary schools in Dorset
174 schools, 50,950 pupils. Average Attainment 8 across the authority's state secondaries is 36.6.
Ofsted across Dorset
Good84
Requires improvement14
Outstanding4
No overall grade72
102 of these schools carry a one-word grade from before September 2024, when Ofsted stopped awarding them. The remaining 72 either have no published outcome or were inspected under the current framework, which does not give an overall grade. What changed.
Secondary schools in Dorset
Sorted by Attainment 8. A gap of a point or two is noise, not a ranking — read the school pages for the intake-adjusted comparison.
| School | Area | Ofsted | Attainment 8 |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Woodroffe SchoolFoundation school | Lyme Regis | Good 2023 | 51.4 |
| The Thomas Hardye SchoolAcademy converter | Dorchester | No grade | 49.8 |
| Beaminster SchoolVoluntary controlled school | Beaminster | Good 2023 | 47 |
| The Blandford SchoolVoluntary controlled school | Blandford Forum | Good 2024 | 47 |
| Lytchett Minster SchoolFoundation school | Poole | Good 2023 | 46.8 |
| The Gryphon SchoolAcademy converter | Sherborne | Good 2023 | 46.7 |
| Sturminster Newton High SchoolAcademy converter | Sturminster Newton | No grade | 46.1 |
| Ferndown Upper SchoolCommunity school | Ferndown | No grade | 45.7 |
| Queen Elizabeth's SchoolAcademy converter | Wimborne | Requires improvement 2023 | 43.3 |
| The Sir John Colfox AcademyAcademy converter | Bridport | Good 2023 | 43 |
| Gillingham SchoolVoluntary controlled school | Gillingham | Good 2023 | 42.7 |
| Budmouth Academy WeymouthAcademy sponsor led | Weymouth | Requires improvement 2024 | 42 |
| The Purbeck SchoolAcademy converter | Wareham | No grade | 41.9 |
| Wey Valley AcademyAcademy converter | Weymouth | Good 2023 | 41 |
| Shaftesbury SchoolAcademy converter | Shaftesbury | Good 2023 | 39.1 |
| The Swanage SchoolFree schools | Swanage | Good 2023 | 36.9 |
| All Saints' Church of England AcademyAcademy sponsor led | Weymouth | Requires improvement 2023 | 35.6 |
| Dorset Studio SchoolStudio schools | Dorchester | Good 2024 | 34.1 |
| Atlantic Academy PortlandAcademy sponsor led | Portland | Good 2022 | 34 |
| Cranborne Middle SchoolCommunity school | Wimborne | No grade | — |
| West Moors Middle SchoolCommunity school | Ferndown | Good 2022 | — |
| Dorchester Middle SchoolAcademy converter | Dorchester | Requires improvement 2023 | — |
| St Mary's Church of England Middle School, PuddletownAcademy converter | Dorchester | No grade | — |
| Allenbourn Middle SchoolAcademy converter | Wimborne | No grade | — |
| St Michael's Church of England Middle School, ColehillAcademy converter | Wimborne | Good 2024 | — |
| Emmanuel Church of England Middle SchoolAcademy sponsor led | Verwood | Good 2022 | — |
| Lockyer's Middle SchoolAcademy converter | Wimborne | Good 2022 | — |
| St Osmund's Church of England Middle SchoolAcademy converter | Dorchester | Good 2022 | — |
| Ferndown Middle SchoolAcademy converter | Ferndown | Good 2023 | — |