Sturminster Newton High School
Bath Road, Sturminster Newton, DT10 1DT
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- SHERBORNE AREA SCHOOLS' TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Michael Motteram
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- North Dorset
- Setting
- Larger rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 900
- Pupils on roll
- 605
- URN
- 149657
- Local authority
- Dorset
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01258472642
About this school
Sturminster Newton High School is a secondary academy in Sturminster Newton. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 605 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 no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Post-16 provision
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 107 | 100 |
| Attainment 8 score | 42.2 | 46.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.39 -0.66 to -0.12 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 45.8% | 49% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 64.5% | 67% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 76.6% | 80% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.0 | 4.3 |
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 Sturminster Newton High 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 | — | 36.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 42.2 | 36.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 46.1 | 35.5 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2023/24 | 620 |
| 2024/25 | 617 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Sturminster Newton High School compares
Sturminster Newton High School ranked 7th of 19 secondary schools in Dorset for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 62% 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 | 46.1 | 10.9% | 29.6% | 605 | — |
| Shaftesbury School | 39.1 | 11.4% | 27.9% | 782 | 6.9 miles |
| Gillingham School | 42.7 | 9.5% | 20.3% | 1,684 | 7.3 miles |
| The Blandford School | 47 | 8.7% | 20.8% | 1,103 | 7.7 miles |
| The Gryphon School | 46.7 | 7.9% | 20.5% | 1,569 | 9.3 miles |
| King Arthur's School | 40.6 | 8.9% | 26.1% | 450 | 9.9 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)
- 29.64%
- English as an additional language
- 6.8%
- Overall absence
- 10.9%
- Persistent absence
- 29.2%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Shaftesbury School6.9 miles
Secondary · Shaftesbury
-
Gillingham School7.3 miles
Secondary · Gillingham
-
The Blandford School7.7 miles
Secondary · Blandford Forum
-
The Gryphon School9.3 miles
Secondary · Sherborne
-
King Arthur's School9.9 miles
Secondary · Wincanton
Other schools in Sturminster Newton
- Hazelbury Bryan Primary School Primary
- St Gregory's Church of England Primary School, Marnhull Primary
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Marnhull Primary
- William Barnes Primary School Primary
- Yewstock School Special schools
Common questions
- What year groups does Sturminster Newton High School teach?
- Sturminster Newton High School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Sturminster Newton.
- Who is the headteacher of Sturminster Newton High School?
- The headteacher of Sturminster Newton High School is Mr Michael Motteram, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Sturminster Newton High School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Sturminster Newton High 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 Sturminster Newton High School?
- Sturminster Newton High School has 605 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Sturminster Newton High School full?
- Sturminster Newton High School has capacity for 900 pupils and 605 on roll (67%), 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 Sturminster Newton High School a faith school?
- No. Sturminster Newton High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Sturminster Newton High School a selective school?
- No. Sturminster Newton High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Sturminster Newton High School?
- Sturminster Newton High School is part of SHERBORNE AREA SCHOOLS' TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Sturminster Newton High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 42.2 in 2023/24 and 46.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Sturminster Newton High School rank locally?
- Sturminster Newton High School ranked 7th of 19 secondary schools in Dorset for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 62% 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 Sturminster Newton High School's absence rate?
- Sturminster Newton High School's overall absence rate is 10.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Sturminster Newton High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Sturminster Newton High 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 15 July 2026.