William Barnes Primary School

Key stage 2 results 2024/25

On the headline measure this school is in the lower half of state-funded primaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is second least disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the lower half.

There are no progress measures for primary schools any more. They were calculated from a key stage 1 baseline, and statutory key stage 1 tests ended in 2023, so nothing has been published since. That makes attainment the only official measure — and attainment tracks intake closely, which is why the comparison against similar schools above is the more useful of the two lines.

Getting a place 2026/27 entry

Slightly oversubscribed. Of the 23 families who named this school as their first choice, 100% were offered a place.

Places offered

23

for entry into Reception

Named it first choice

23

First choices per place

1.00

England average 1.00

First choices offered a place

100%

England 95.1%

First preferences per place are up 18% on three years ago.

These are offers made on national offer day for 2026/27 entry, from the local authority's co-ordinated admissions round. They exclude later movement — waiting lists, appeals and in-year admissions — so a school shown as oversubscribed may still have places by September.

Oversubscription measures popularity, not quality, and the two are not the same thing: a school can be heavily oversubscribed because of its intake, its faith designation or simply because the nearest alternative is further away. We do not publish catchment maps, because catchments are not published: each admissions authority applies its own criteria afresh every year, and the distance that got a child in last year is not a boundary. Read the school's own admissions arrangements for the rules that will actually apply.

Pupils

Pupils on roll

162

Places

210

How full

77% full — 162 of 210 places taken, so places are likely to be available

Girls / boys

81 / 81

Overall absence

5%

primary schools average 5.2%

Persistently absent

15%

primary schools average 12.8% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years

24%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language

25%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan

5%

England 3.5%

On SEN support

16%

England 15%

School funding 2025-26 financial year

Not found for this URN in the 2025-26 release.

Evidence found

Not found for this URN in the 2025-26 release; this is not represented as £0.

Source coverage

DfE mainstream-school allocations for running costs for pupils aged 5-16, importer snapshot 23 August 2026.

What this means

The official mainstream allocation release does not provide a publishable row for this establishment.

What this does not mean

The school received no public funding or has no budget; other establishment types and funding streams use different publications.

Allocation is not expenditure. DfE says this release combines the schools block with several other revenue grants and excludes capital spending. Funding is shown for context and is never used in School Facts ordering, peer groups or quality claims. Source, licence and coverage.

Roads and getting there

Every collision reported to the police within 500m of the school over the five years to 2024, from the Department for Transport's road casualty statistics. A high count usually says the school sits on or near a busy road, not that the school is unsafe — counts rise with traffic and with how built up an area is, and a rural school on a fast road may have fewer collisions but a worse one. Distances are straight-line from the school's recorded position.

The area around the school

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price

£315,000

postcode sector DT10 1 · 274 sales

Typical range

£252,871 to £410,000

middle half of sales

Detached

£400,000

Semi-detached

£290,000

Terraced

£252,500

Flat

£126,000

Homes around this school are close to the England average.

Every residential sale registered in this postcode sector since January 2024, from HM Land Registry. A sector covers roughly 2,500 addresses. England's median over the same period was £293,000.

Who lives there

Adults with a degree

26%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications

22%

England 18.3%

In professional or managerial work

12%

England 13.4%

Households deprived in 2+ ways

14%

England 17.8%

Residents in very good health

44%

England 48.4%

Housing

Owned by the occupier

48%

England 62.7%

Social housing

27%

England 17%

Privately rented

25%

England 19.2%

Detached homes

42%

England 38.2%

Four or more bedrooms

26%

England 22.5%

No car

23%

England 21.9%

Census 2021, for Dorset 005F and the wider neighbourhood around it. These figures describe the area, not the pupils — children may travel in from much further away, and for selective, faith and independent schools they usually do.

School details

Type

Community school

Phase

Primary

Ages

Ages 4–11

Gender

Mixed

Religious character

None

Sixth form

No

Nursery

No

Boarding

Day school

Headteacher

Headteacher: Fiona Locke

Register status

Open

Local authority

Dorset

Ward

Sturminster Newton

Constituency

North Dorset

URN

113676

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Official DfE record

Open the register entry

The source record for this establishment and URN.

The URN identifies this registered establishment. If a school converts or is replaced, DfE may issue a new URN; this page does not stitch different establishments together by a similar name.

Admissions history

The official school-level admissions releases contain up to 13 national-offer-day observations, from 2014/15 to 2026/27. The chart shows first choices per place; the table keeps the underlying counts.

These are annual observations, not forecasts. They exclude waiting lists, appeals and in-year admissions. Each series follows this exact URN only, so academy conversions and missing releases remain visible as gaps rather than being joined by name.

Nearest primary schools

Schools like this

The 12 state schools in England whose intake most closely matches this one — same phase and sector, and as near as the data allows on size, disadvantage, SEN, English as an additional language and the deprivation of the surrounding area. These are the schools it can fairly be judged against.

Percentage meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths. This school is behind the schools that teach a comparable intake.

Matching uses only characteristics a school does not choose. It is not a ranking, and a close match on intake does not make two schools interchangeable — sixth form, faith character, admissions rules and simple geography all matter and are not in the calculation.