Dorchester Middle School
About the school
Dorchester Middle School is an open all-through school in Dorset.
Latest Ofsted inspection
Published Ofsted information, current as at 31 July 2026. Inspection outcomes are not performance rankings.
- Latest inspection
- 2 June 2026
- Published
- 5 July 2026
- Inspection type
- S5 Inspection
Published inspection outcomes
Safeguarding
Met
Inclusion
Expected standard
Curriculum and teaching
Expected standard
Achievement
Needs attention
Attendance and behaviour
Strong standard
Personal development and wellbeing
Expected standard
Leadership and governance
Expected standard
Previous inspection framework
These judgements are retained by Ofsted from an earlier inspection framework.
Overall effectiveness
Requires improvement
Quality of education
Requires improvement
Behaviour and attitudes
Requires improvement
Personal development
Good
Leadership and management
Requires improvement
Safeguarding
Yes
Early years
Not applicable
Sixth form
Not applicable
Results and school context
Secondary academic results
No data is available for 2024/25.
Key Stage 2 results
Combined attainment
Reading, writing and maths expected standard
- School
- 49%
- Dorset
- 57%
- England
- 62%
Reading, writing and maths higher standard
- School
- 5%
- Dorset
- 7%
- England
- 8%
Subject attainment
Reading expected standard
- School
- 65%
- Dorset
- 73%
- England
- 75%
Writing expected standard
- School
- 71%
- Dorset
- 70%
- England
- 72%
Maths expected standard
- School
- 58%
- Dorset
- 70%
- England
- 74%
Grammar, punctuation and spelling expected
- School
- 66%
- Dorset
- 70%
- England
- 73%
Grammar, punctuation and spelling higher
- School
- 22%
- Dorset
- 24%
- England
- 30%
Science expected standard
- School
- 85%
- Dorset
- 83%
- England
- 82%
Scaled scores
Reading average scaled score
- School
- 104
- Dorset
- 105
- England
- 106
Maths average scaled score
- School
- 101
- Dorset
- 104
- England
- 105
Grammar average scaled score
- School
- 104
- Dorset
- 104
- England
- 105
Pupil context and attendance
DfE context data for 2024/25. These characteristics provide context and are not quality ratings.
Pupils on roll
543
Girls
49.72%
Boys
50.28%
SEN support
16.94%
Education, health and care plan
4.79%
English as an additional language
17.70%
Eligible for free school meals in the past six years
24.13%
Overall absence
7.12
Persistent absence
20.07