Primary schools4 · best KS2 results first
Photo: Bellminsterboy · CC BY-SA 4.0C+School Grade
Schools in Wimborne Minster · DfE, Ofsted
Wimborne Minster’s state schools get lower results than 64% of towns in England
7 state-funded schools are located in Wimborne Minster’s built-up area. Wimborne Minster grades C+ for schools, on Department for Education Key Stage 2 and GCSE results: #15 of 30 in Dorset. Ofsted is shown, not graded.
State schools
7
4 primary, 2 secondary
Reading, writing & maths
58%
meet the expected standard at 11 · 2023–25
England’s schools: 62%
Attainment 8
45.1
GCSE average across 8 subjects · 2025/26
England’s schools: 47.3
Grade 5+ English & maths
43%
a strong pass in both · 2025/26
England’s schools: 47%
Town figures are pupil-weighted across the schools the grade uses; England’s are the average school.
What stands out about Wimborne Minster’s schools
bothsecondary schools are run by one academy trust, Initio Learning Trust0of Wimborne Minster’s 2 state secondaries has a sixth form: pupils move on at 16
One trust runs much of it
6 of Wimborne Minster’s 7 state schools belong to 2 academy trusts. Initio Learning Trust runs 5 of them, including Allenbourn Middle and St Michael's: 1,062 of the 1,062 secondary pupils. Who runs them ↓
After 16 it’s college
None of the 2 state secondaries in Wimborne Minster keeps pupils past 16. Most others go to a further-education or sixth-form college, or a sixth form in another town. After 16 ↓
Written from the Department for Education and Ofsted data on this page.
School Grade
Wimborne Minster grades C+ for schools
Against every town in England with results; Wales publishes none.
Primary: reading, writing and maths at 11 (58% meet the standard)Better than 33% of towns in England
Secondary: Attainment 8 and grade 5+ English and maths (45.1 and 43%)Better than 43% of towns in England
The primary figure: 2 primaries in the town, 864 pupils in results over three years. Wimborne Minster has no secondaries of its own with GCSE results, so the secondary figure uses the 2 graded secondaries in and within 3 km of the town (640 pupils in results). Mainstream state schools only (grammar schools included); special schools, alternative provision, nurseries and 16–19 colleges are listed below but not graded. Each school’s results are compared with every school in England, then weighted by its pupils.
Map
Where Wimborne Minster’s 7 state schools are
Each school at its address, coloured by its own letter and sized by pupils. Open a school for its own page. The dashed shape is Wimborne Minster’s built-up area.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
PrimarySecondary (named)Special, nursery, 16–19Size: pupilsABCDNo letter
Most schools give places by distance once siblings are in, so the schools nearest a home matter more than any league table. The 2 secondaries are named.
Getting a place
How school places work in Wimborne Minster
Dorset Council handles applications for every state school in Wimborne Minster, academies included. You apply to the council where you live, even for a school in another area.
Secondary (starting at 11)Apply by 31 October of Year 6. Offers on 1 March.
Primary (starting in Reception)Apply by 15 January before the September your child starts. Offers on 16 April.
Moving mid-yearApply to the council for an in-year place; it tells you which schools have room.
When a school is full
Every school publishes its admissions rules. Children in care come first, then, at most schools, brothers and sisters of current pupils, then those who live nearest. 2 of Wimborne Minster’s 6 mainstream schools have a religious character; some of them give priority by church attendance, so check each school’s rules. Infant classes are limited to 30 by law. If you’re refused a place, you can appeal to an independent panel.
Useful: Apply for a primary place (GOV.UK) · Apply for a secondary place (GOV.UK) · How admissions criteria work
How full each school is
Pupils on roll as a share of the school’s official capacity. The black tick is 100%; 2 schools are at or over it.
Wimborne First incl. nursery130%
St Michael's101%
Colehill First99%
Hayeswood First99%
St John's99%
Allenbourn Middle79%
DfE register of schools (GIAS), January 2026 census. Capacity often excludes a nursery class, so a school with a nursery can show over 100%.
The schools
7 state schools in Wimborne Minster
Each school’s own letter compares its results with every state school in England of the same phase: Key Stage 2 for primaries, GCSEs for secondaries. Open a school for its results, how its letter is worked out, Ofsted and a map.
Letters of Wimborne Minster’s schoolsA 0B 1C 1D 05 without a letter
Secondary schools2 · best GCSE results first
Special schools, nurseries and colleges1 · no letter: their results don’t compare
Key result: Attainment 8 and grade 5+ English and maths (GCSEs, 2025/26 provisional) for secondaries; the share meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (KS2, DfE’s three-year average) for primaries. Pupils: the January 2026 school census. No letter: an infant or first school (no KS2 tests), a new school, a small cohort DfE suppresses, or a special school, nursery or college. Independent schools aren’t included.
Ofsted
Ofsted inspections
Each school’s latest inspection; report cards replace one-word judgements as schools are re-inspected.
Good 5Ungraded inspection only 2
Ofsted stopped giving one-word judgements in 2024. Until a school is re-inspected, its last overall judgement is its most recent single grade; a school judged years ago may have changed a lot since.
Since November 2025 Ofsted gives each area of a school one of five grades (exceptional, strong standard, expected standard, needs attention, urgent improvement) and says whether safeguarding is met, instead of one overall word. 0 of Wimborne Minster’s 7 state schools have a report card so far; the others show their last inspection under the old framework. Ofsted is never part of the School Grade.
Who runs them
2 academy trusts and the council
Academies are state schools run by a trust rather than the council: the trust employs the staff and can set its own curriculum and term dates. Admissions still go through the council.
| Run by | Schools | Pupils | Their letters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initio Learning TrustSt Michael's, Allenbourn Middle, Colehill First, Hayeswood First, St John's | 5 | 1,506 | B−C |
| Hamwic Education TrustWimborne First | 1 | 400 | — |
| Dorset CouncilBeaucroft Foundation | 1 | 241 | — |
After 16
Where Wimborne Minster’s teenagers go at 16
In England young people stay in education or training until 18: a sixth form, a college, or an apprenticeship.
All 2 state secondaries in Wimborne Minster teach 11 to 16. The nearest college is The Bournemouth and Poole College, a further-education college 5.5 miles away.
Secondaries with a sixth form
0 of 2
state schools in Wimborne Minster
Colleges within 12 miles
1
nearest: The Bournemouth and Poole College
Grammar schools in Dorset
0
no selective state secondaries
Special needs
Special schools and alternative provision in Wimborne Minster
Wimborne Minster has 1 special school (Beaucroft Foundation: 241 pupils). A special-school place isn’t applied for like a mainstream one: for a child with an education, health and care plan (EHCP), Dorset Council names the school in the plan, after asking the family’s preference. These schools have no letter, because their results don’t compare with mainstream schools’. Their cards ↑
Dorset Council’s SEND Local Offer lists support beyond these schools.
Towns its size
201st of 295 English towns of 12,000 to 22,000
Ranked by School Grade, best first: the towns either side of Wimborne Minster, and the top and bottom of the group.
| # | Town | Schools | KS2 | Attainment 8 | Grade 5+ E&M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amersham Buckinghamshire | A+ | 79% | 64.3 | 83% |
| … | |||||
| 197 | Great Wyrley and Cheslyn Hay Staffordshire | C+ | 63% | 41.4 | 38% |
| 198 | Stone Staffordshire | C+ | 61% | 45.6 | 37% |
| 199 | Adwick le Street South Yorkshire | C+ | 52% | 46.8 | 52% |
| 200 | Redruth Cornwall | C+ | 54% | 48 | 46% |
| 201 | Wimborne Minster Dorset | C+ | 58% | 45.1 | 43% |
| 202 | Uttoxeter Staffordshire | C+ | 62% | 41.2 | 39% |
| 203 | Gainsborough Lincolnshire | C+ | 47% | 49.3 | 51% |
| 204 | Stourport-on-Severn Worcestershire | C | 63% | 40.6 | 34% |
| 205 | Brackley Northamptonshire | C | 59% | 44.2 | 41% |
| … | |||||
| 295 | March Cambridgeshire | D− | 45% | 36.7 | 30% |
Neighbours
Wimborne Minster and the places around it
Coloured by School Grade.
MerleyBearwoodCorfe MullenFerndownWest ParleyWest MoorsSturminster MarshallWimborne Minster
| Town | Schools | KS2 | Att. 8 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wimborne Minster 7 schools | C+ | 58% | 45.1 |
| Merley 1 school · uses schools within 3 km · 1.5 mi | B | 60% | 51 |
| Bearwood 1 school · uses schools within 3 km · 3.1 mi | B− | 58% | 48.3 |
| Corfe Mullen 3 schools · uses schools within 3 km · 3.2 mi | B+ | 59% | 52.4 |
| Ferndown 3 schools · uses schools within 3 km · 3.3 mi | C− | 55% | 43.1 |
| West Parley 1 school · uses schools within 3 km · 3.9 mi | A− | 64% | 56.1 |
| West Moors 3 schools · uses schools within 3 km · 4 mi | C− | 51% | 45.9 |
| Sturminster Marshall 1 school · 4.7 mi | — | — | — |
West Parley has the best-graded schools nearby (A−). Small places often use the schools within 3 km, so neighbours can share schools.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Expected standard at Key Stage 2. The share of 11-year-olds who reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths together, in tests and teacher assessment at the end of primary school. We use DfE’s three-year average (2023–2025) to steady small schools.
- Higher standard. The share working at greater depth in all three.
- Attainment 8. A pupil’s GCSE grades across eight subjects, with English and maths counted twice, added up. 50 is roughly a grade 5 in every subject.
- Grade 5+ in English and maths. A strong pass in both. Grade 4 is a standard pass.
- Provisional. 2025/26 GCSE figures are DfE’s first release; revised figures follow in February, usually within a point.
- Progress 8. Not shown: there is none for 2025/26, because these pupils sat no KS2 tests in 2020 (Covid).
- Free school meals. Pupils eligible for free school meals now, from the January census: the usual measure of how many pupils come from low-income homes.
- Independent schools. Not included: they publish no results comparable with state schools’.
Questions about schools in Wimborne Minster
Are schools in Wimborne Minster good?
Wimborne Minster’s state schools earn a C+ against schools across England: primary results beat 33% of towns in England; secondary results beat 43% of towns in England, on Department for Education Key Stage 2 and GCSE results. School places are handled by Dorset council.
Do Wimborne Minster secondary schools have sixth forms?
No. All 2 state secondaries teach 11–16; students move at 16 to a college, a sixth form elsewhere or an apprenticeship.
How do I apply for a school place in Wimborne Minster?
Through Dorset Council, for every state school including academies. Secondary applications close on 31 October (offers 1 March); primary on 15 January (offers 16 April).
How many schools in Wimborne Minster are full?
2 of 6 mainstream schools have at least as many pupils as places, on DfE’s January 2026 census. A full school still admits by its rules, usually distance after siblings.
How many state schools are in Wimborne Minster?
7 open state-funded schools are located in Wimborne Minster’s built-up area: 4 primary, 2 secondary and 1 other (special schools, alternative provision, nurseries and 16–19). Independent schools aren’t included.
Sources: DfE Get Information about Schools (16 October 2026), Key Stage 2 performance tables (2023–2025, three-year average) and Key Stage 4 (2025/26, provisional); Ofsted state-funded school inspections as at 30 September 2026 · DfE Get Information about Schools (16 October 2026), further-education and sixth-form colleges · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.