Shaftesbury School

About Shaftesbury School

Shaftesbury School is a Church of England secondary in Dorset with 864 pupils against a school capacity of 1,283, meaning it is significantly under capacity. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is 27.3%, well above the national average and pointing to a catchment with higher-than-average levels of disadvantage. Despite the spare capacity, the school is oversubscribed for Year 7 entry. For the 2025/26 intake, it received 199 applications for 122 places, with 120 of those coming as first preferences. That gives an oversubscription ratio of 1.63, indicating strong local demand. The school is mixed, non-selective, and has a Church of England character. It is led by headteacher Donna London-Hill and includes a sixth form.

Academically, the school’s Progress 8 score of -0.5 places it in the bottom 50 nationally and ranks it 18th out of 20 schools in the Dorset local authority. That means pupils here make less progress than the average student in England, and significantly less than the Dorset LA average of -0.09. The Attainment 8 score is 42.1, and just 34.3% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in English and maths. The EBacc entry rate is 38.7%, with 21.9% achieving the EBacc at grade 5 or above. At A-level, the school’s value added score is -0.38, with an average points per entry of 27.97, equivalent to a C- grade. The best three A-levels average out at a C grade. In its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2023, the school was rated Good across all categories, including behaviour, personal development, and sixth-form provision, a rating it has held since its previous inspection in 2013.

The school offers a solid range of facilities including a swimming pool, sports hall, science labs, art studios, tennis courts, and a chapel, with a dedicated sixth form centre. Sports on offer include dance, gymnastics, netball, football, rugby, and hockey, while clubs range from science and coding to gardening and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. SEND provision is broad, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social and emotional needs, speech and language issues, hearing and visual impairments, physical disabilities, and autistic spectrum disorder. For families considering this school, the key takeaway is that it is a Good-rated, oversubscribed secondary with a strong Church of England ethos and a wide range of facilities, but its academic outcomes are below the local and national average. It may suit families who prioritise a supportive, inclusive environment and a broad extracurricular offer over top-tier exam results.

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