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School Atlas lists 119 state primary schools, 28 state secondary schools, 1 all-through school, 6 special schools, 4 alternative provision schools and 1 post-16 school or college in Dorset. It also lists 25 independent schools and 133 nurseries and other early-years settings.
Of the state primary, secondary and all-through schools, 88 have a religious character: 81 Church of England, 6 Roman Catholic and 1 Christian.
Of the 148 state primary, secondary and all-through schools in Dorset, 73 hold an Ofsted overall-effectiveness grade from their last graded inspection: 2 Outstanding, 64 Good and 7 Requires improvement.
Ofsted stopped giving state schools a single overall grade in September 2024. Since November 2025 its report cards grade each area separately; 29 of these schools have had one.
We hold the catchment area for 137 schools in Dorset. Select a school on the map to see its area.
We also hold last-distance-offered records for 111 schools. That distance is not always a cut-off: at a school with places to spare it is simply the furthest applicant.