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Best secondary schools in Dorset

18 of 31 secondary schools ranked by Progress 8 · all Dorset schools · primary schools

Ranked on Progress 8, 2023/24 — the most recent year each school has published. Official data, not our opinion — but the ranking is only as good as the measure, and a single number never describes a school. We hold real catchment boundaries for 24 of them.

# School Progress 8 Ofsted Places Catchment
1 The Purbeck School Wareham hidden gem 0.6 Good about even 0.97 first prefs per place, 2026/27 mapped
2 Lytchett Minster School Poole hidden gem 0.38 Good about even 0.98 first prefs per place, 2026/27 mapped
3 Ferndown Upper School Ferndown 0.34 Good — mapped
4 The Thomas Hardye School Dorchester 0.3 Not judged — mapped
5 The Woodroffe School Lyme Regis hidden gem 0.19 Good about even 0.99 first prefs per place, 2026/27 mapped
6 The Sir John Colfox Academy Bridport 0.01 Good about even 1.0 first prefs per place, 2026/27 mapped
7 The Gryphon School Sherborne -0.06 Good about even 1.13 first prefs per place, 2026/27 mapped
8 Beaminster School Beaminster hidden gem -0.08 Good about even 0.99 first prefs per place, 2026/27 mapped
9 Queen Elizabeth's School Wimborne -0.17 Requires improvement — mapped
10 Gillingham School Gillingham -0.18 Good declining about even 1.07 first prefs per place, 2026/27 mapped
11 The Swanage School Swanage hidden gem -0.28 Good about even 0.98 first prefs per place, 2026/27 mapped
12 All Saints' Church of England Academy Weymouth -0.33 Requires improvement about even 1.0 first prefs per place, 2026/27 approximate
13 The Blandford School Blandford Forum hidden gem -0.33 Good about even 0.99 first prefs per place, 2026/27 mapped
14 Wey Valley Academy Weymouth -0.36 Good about even 1.0 first prefs per place, 2026/27 mapped
15 Sturminster Newton High School Sturminster Newton hidden gem -0.39 Good about even 0.96 first prefs per place, 2026/27 mapped
16 Dorset Studio School Dorchester -0.5 Good about even 1.0 first prefs per place, 2026/27 approximate
17 Shaftesbury School Shaftesbury hidden gem -0.5 Good about even 0.88 first prefs per place, 2026/27 mapped
18 Budmouth Academy Weymouth Weymouth -0.62 Requires improvement about even 1.0 first prefs per place, 2026/27 approximate

Also in Dorset

13 further secondary schools with no published Progress 8 for the latest year — usually too small a cohort to report, newly opened, or a special school. Listed because leaving them out would make this a misleading picture of Dorset, not a fairer one.

Applying in Dorset

Knowing which school is best is only half of it — these are the deadlines that decide whether you can apply at all.

Rankings compare published results. They do not tell you which school your child will get into — that depends on where you live, sibling and faith priority, and how many people apply this year. Ask below, or check the Dorset admission criteria.

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