Dorchester Middle School
Queen's Avenue, Dorchester, DT1 2HS
- Phase
- Middle deemed secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 9 to 13
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- WESSEX MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Headteacher Jonathan Webb
- Sponsor
- Wessex Multi Academy Trust
- SEN provision
- PD - Physical Disability
- Constituency
- West Dorset
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 600
- Pupils on roll
- 527
- URN
- 138186
- Local authority
- Dorset
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01305265651
About this school
Dorchester Middle School is a middle academy in Dorchester. It teaches children aged 9 to 13 and has 527 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 151 | 131 | 124 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 32% | 52% | 49% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 3% | 2% | 5% |
| Expected standard in reading | 65% | 71% | 65% |
| Expected standard in maths | 44% | 60% | 58% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 58% | 66% | 66% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 103.0 | 104.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 99.0 | 101.0 | 101.0 |
| Reading progress | -1.60 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -3.60 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -5.20 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Dorchester Middle 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 | 32% | 53.5% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 52% | 53.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 49% | 54.4% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 590 |
| 2023/24 | 554 |
| 2024/25 | 543 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Dorchester Middle School compares
Dorchester Middle School ranked 63rd of 89 primary schools in Dorset for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 20% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 49% | 7.1% | 24.1% | 527 | — |
| St Osmund's Church of England Middle School | 58% | 6.3% | 18.7% | 714 | 0.8 miles |
| St Mary's Church of England Middle School, Puddletown | 61% | 6.5% | 17.1% | 441 | 5.1 miles |
| The Thomas Hardye School | — | 11.2% | 19.2% | 2,014 | 0.2 miles |
| The Prince of Wales School | — | 5.4% | 12.2% | 156 | 0.4 miles |
| Sunninghill Preparatory School | — | — | 0% | 167 | 0.8 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)
- 24.13%
- English as an additional language
- 17.7%
- Overall absence
- 7.12%
- Persistent absence
- 20.07%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Osmund's Church of England Middle School0.8 miles
Middle deemed secondary · Dorchester
-
St Mary's Church of England Middle School, Puddletown5.1 miles
Middle deemed secondary · Dorchester
-
The Thomas Hardye School0.2 miles
Secondary · Dorchester
-
The Prince of Wales School0.4 miles
Primary · Dorchester
-
Sunninghill Preparatory School0.8 miles
Independent schools · Dorchester
Other schools in Dorchester
Dorchester Middle School ranks 7th of the 7 ranked primary schools in Dorchester.
- St Mary's Church of England Middle School, Puddletown Middle deemed secondary
- St Osmund's Church of England Middle School Middle deemed 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
Common questions
- What year groups does Dorchester Middle School teach?
- Dorchester Middle School teaches children aged 9 to 13. It is a middle school in Dorchester.
- Who is the headteacher of Dorchester Middle School?
- The headteacher of Dorchester Middle School is Headteacher Jonathan Webb, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Dorchester Middle School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Dorchester Middle 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 Dorchester Middle School?
- Dorchester Middle School has 527 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 9 to 13.
- Is Dorchester Middle School full?
- Dorchester Middle School has capacity for 600 pupils and 527 on roll (88%), 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 Dorchester Middle School a faith school?
- No. Dorchester Middle School has no designated religious character.
- Who runs Dorchester Middle School?
- Dorchester Middle 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 Dorchester Middle School have?
- The schools register lists Dorchester Middle School's special educational needs provision as: PD - Physical Disability. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Dorchester Middle School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 32% in 2022/23 and 49% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Dorchester Middle School rank locally?
- Dorchester Middle School ranked 63rd of 89 primary schools in Dorset for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 20% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Dorchester Middle School's absence rate?
- Dorchester Middle School's overall absence rate is 7.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Dorchester Middle School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Dorchester Middle 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.