The Thomas Hardye School
Queen's Avenue, Dorchester, DT1 2ET
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 13 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- WESSEX MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr N St J F Rutherford
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Wessex Multi Academy Trust
- SEN provision
- SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, VI - Visual Impairment, HI - Hearing Impairment, SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health, MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment, PD - Physical Disability, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- West Dorset
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 2,138
- Pupils on roll
- 2,014
- URN
- 137163
- Local authority
- Dorset
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01305266064
About this school
The Thomas Hardye School is a secondary academy in Dorchester. It teaches children aged 13 to 18 and has 2,014 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person 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
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 451 | 455 | 439 |
| Attainment 8 score | 48.9 | 48.9 | 49.8 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.26 +0.13 to +0.40 | +0.30 +0.16 to +0.43 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 49% | 48.1% | 49.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 75% | 70.3% | 71.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 57% | 53.8% | 58.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.5 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How The Thomas Hardye 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 | Dorset average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 48.9 | 36.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 48.9 | 36.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 49.8 | 35.5 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 2,093 |
| 2023/24 | 2,080 |
| 2024/25 | 2,051 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Thomas Hardye School compares
The Thomas Hardye School ranked 2nd of 19 secondary schools in Dorset for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 75% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 49.8 | 11.2% | 19.2% | 2,014 | — |
| Dorset Studio School | 34.1 | 12.7% | 32.3% | 332 | 2.3 miles |
| Wey Valley Academy | 41 | 14% | 34.1% | 994 | 4.6 miles |
| Budmouth Academy Weymouth | 42 | 10.1% | 27.3% | 1,466 | 6.9 miles |
| All Saints' Church of England Academy | 35.6 | 12.8% | 35.2% | 598 | 7.8 miles |
| Dorchester Middle School | — | 7.1% | 24.1% | 527 | 0.2 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 19.18%
- English as an additional language
- 6.1%
- Overall absence
- 11.21%
- Persistent absence
- 33.01%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Dorset Studio School2.3 miles
Secondary · Dorchester
-
Wey Valley Academy4.6 miles
Secondary · Weymouth
-
Budmouth Academy Weymouth6.9 miles
Secondary · Weymouth
-
All Saints' Church of England Academy7.8 miles
Secondary · Weymouth
-
Dorchester Middle School0.2 miles
Middle deemed secondary · Dorchester
Other schools in Dorchester
- Dorset Studio School Secondary
- 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
Common questions
- What year groups does The Thomas Hardye School teach?
- The Thomas Hardye School teaches children aged 13 to 18. It is a secondary school in Dorchester.
- Who is the headteacher of The Thomas Hardye School?
- The headteacher of The Thomas Hardye School is Mr N St J F Rutherford, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Thomas Hardye School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Thomas Hardye 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 Thomas Hardye School?
- The Thomas Hardye School has 2,014 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 13 to 18.
- Is The Thomas Hardye School full?
- The Thomas Hardye School has capacity for 2,138 pupils and 2,014 on roll (94%), so it has space against 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 Thomas Hardye School a faith school?
- No. The Thomas Hardye School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Thomas Hardye School a selective school?
- No. The Thomas Hardye School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs The Thomas Hardye School?
- The Thomas Hardye School is part of WESSEX MULTI ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does The Thomas Hardye School have?
- The schools register lists The Thomas Hardye School's special educational needs provision as: SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty; VI - Visual Impairment; HI - Hearing Impairment; SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health; MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment; PD - Physical Disability; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have The Thomas Hardye School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 48.9 in 2022/23 and 49.8 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Thomas Hardye School rank locally?
- The Thomas Hardye School ranked 2nd of 19 secondary schools in Dorset for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 75% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Thomas Hardye School's absence rate?
- The Thomas Hardye School's overall absence rate is 11.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Thomas Hardye School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Thomas Hardye School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
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 1 July 2026.