Beaminster St Mary's Academy

About Beaminster St Mary's Academy

Beaminster St Mary's Academy is a Church of England primary school in Dorset, one of 119 state primary schools in the local authority. It ranks 55th among them, placing it in the bottom half of the county's primaries. For context, the top-performing peers in Dorset include Spetisbury CofE Primary School, St Ives Primary & Nursery School, and Sticklands Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School. The school is led by headteacher Darren Marklew and serves 125 pupils, well below its capacity of 210. It has a notably high proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at 35.2 per cent, more than double the national average. In its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2023, the school was rated Good across all categories — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. This marks a clear improvement from its previous inspection in 2019, when it was rated Requires Improvement.

Academically, Beaminster St Mary's outcomes are mixed. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 assessments, 41 per cent of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. That is well below the Dorset local authority average of 56 per cent, and places the school in the bottom 50 nationally for this metric. Looking at individual subjects, writing was the strongest area, with 71 per cent of pupils meeting the expected standard and 12 per cent working at a higher level. Reading was weaker, with 47 per cent at expected and 18 per cent at higher, while maths saw 59 per cent at expected and just 6 per cent at higher. The average scaled scores were 100 for reading and 102 for maths. Progress measures for all three subjects are not available in the data, so it is not possible to say how much value the school adds relative to pupils' starting points.

The school offers a solid range of facilities including a sports hall, gymnasium, ICT suite, art studios, music rooms, a chapel, and a forest school. Sports on offer include athletics, cricket, netball, rounders and swimming, and there are clubs such as eco club, chess, choir, film club and science club. For pupils with additional needs, the school provides support for specific learning difficulties including dyslexia, speech, language and communication needs, social, emotional and mental health needs, and autistic spectrum disorder. Admissions for 2025/26 show the school was oversubscribed, with 30 applications for 22 places and all 22 first-preference applicants receiving offers. This suggests a strong local reputation despite the below-average SATs results. Beaminster St Mary's is likely to suit families who value a small, church-affiliated primary with a broad enrichment offer and a strong pastoral focus, particularly those whose children may benefit from the school's SEND provisions.

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