The Prince of Wales School
Maiden Castle Road, Dorchester, DT1 2HH
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 2 to 9
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr Gary Spracklen
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- SEN provision
- PD - Physical Disability
- Constituency
- West Dorset
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 150
- Pupils on roll
- 156
- URN
- 113747
- Local authority
- Dorset
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01305257120
About this school
The Prince of Wales School is a community primary school in Dorchester. It teaches children aged 2 to 9 and has 156 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Trends over time
How The Prince of Wales School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 4.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 159 |
| 2023/24 | 157 |
| 2024/25 | 156 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Prince of Wales School compares
Its absence rate was lower than 52% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | — | 5.4% | 12.2% | 156 | — |
| Damers First School | — | 4.3% | 18.9% | 475 | 0.8 miles |
| Manor Park Church of England First School | — | 5.5% | 17.3% | 396 | 1.1 miles |
| St Mary's Catholic First School, Dorchester | — | 5.4% | 9.3% | 177 | 1.1 miles |
| St Mary's Church of England First School, Charminster | — | 4.1% | 6.7% | 148 | 2.0 miles |
| Broadmayne First School | — | 5.7% | 9.5% | 139 | 3.6 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 12.18%
- English as an additional language
- 1.9%
- Overall absence
- 5.36%
- Persistent absence
- 11.72%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Damers First School0.8 miles
Primary · Dorchester
-
Manor Park Church of England First School1.1 miles
Primary · Dorchester
-
St Mary's Catholic First School, Dorchester1.1 miles
Primary · Dorchester
-
St Mary's Church of England First School, Charminster2.0 miles
Primary · Dorchester
-
Broadmayne First School3.6 miles
Primary · Dorchester
Other schools in Dorchester
- Broadmayne First School Primary
- Buckland Newton Church of England Primary School Primary
- Cerne Abbas CofE VC First School Primary
- Cheselbourne Village School Primary
- Damers First School Primary
- Frome Valley CofE First School Primary
- Maiden Newton, Greenford Church of England Primary School Primary
- Manor Park Church of England First School Primary
- Piddle Valley Church of England First School Primary
- Puddletown Church of England First School Primary
- St Mary's Catholic First School, Dorchester Primary
- St Mary's Church of England First School, Charminster Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Prince of Wales School teach?
- The Prince of Wales School teaches children aged 2 to 9. It is a primary school in Dorchester.
- Who is the headteacher of The Prince of Wales School?
- The headteacher of The Prince of Wales School is Mr Gary Spracklen, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Prince of Wales School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Prince of Wales School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is The Prince of Wales School?
- The Prince of Wales School has 156 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 2 to 9.
- Is The Prince of Wales School full?
- The Prince of Wales School has capacity for 150 pupils and 156 on roll (104%), so it is at or above its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is The Prince of Wales School a faith school?
- No. The Prince of Wales School has no designated religious character.
- Does The Prince of Wales School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records The Prince of Wales School as having nursery classes.
- What SEN provision does The Prince of Wales School have?
- The schools register lists The Prince of Wales School's special educational needs provision as: PD - Physical Disability. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- What is The Prince of Wales School's absence rate?
- The Prince of Wales School's overall absence rate is 5.4% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- Does The Prince of Wales School publish exam results?
- OfferDay shows exam results for a school only where the Department for Education has published them, and none are shown for The Prince of Wales School. That is usual for infant, nursery, special and independent schools, and for schools without recent published results.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 29 June 2026.