Downlands Community School
About the school
Downlands Community School is an open primary school in Dorset.
Latest Ofsted inspection
Published Ofsted information, current as at 31 July 2026. Inspection outcomes are not performance rankings.
- Latest inspection
- 13 January 2026
- Published
- 1 March 2026
- Inspection type
- S5 Inspection
Published inspection outcomes
Safeguarding
Met
Inclusion
Expected standard
Curriculum and teaching
Needs attention
Achievement
Needs attention
Attendance and behaviour
Expected standard
Personal development and wellbeing
Expected standard
Early years
Expected standard
Leadership and governance
Needs attention
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
Good
Personal development
Good
Leadership and management
Requires improvement
Safeguarding
Yes
Early years
Good
Sixth form
Not applicable
Results and school context
Key Stage 2 results
Combined attainment
Reading, writing and maths expected standard
- School
- 42%
- Dorset
- 57%
- England
- 62%
Reading, writing and maths higher standard
- School
- 4%
- Dorset
- 7%
- England
- 8%
Subject attainment
Reading expected standard
- School
- 54%
- Dorset
- 73%
- England
- 75%
Writing expected standard
- School
- 54%
- Dorset
- 70%
- England
- 72%
Maths expected standard
- School
- 65%
- Dorset
- 70%
- England
- 74%
Grammar, punctuation and spelling expected
- School
- 69%
- Dorset
- 70%
- England
- 73%
Grammar, punctuation and spelling higher
- School
- 23%
- Dorset
- 24%
- England
- 30%
Science expected standard
- School
- 73%
- Dorset
- 83%
- England
- 82%
Scaled scores
Reading average scaled score
- School
- 102
- Dorset
- 105
- England
- 106
Maths average scaled score
- School
- 103
- 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
215
Girls
50.70%
Boys
49.30%
SEN support
28.84%
Education, health and care plan
4.65%
English as an additional language
31.60%
Eligible for free school meals in the past six years
5.76%
Overall absence
4.55
Persistent absence
10.05