School admissions in Blandford Forum
How heavily each school was applied to for September 2026 entry, from the applications and offers every admissions authority reports to the DfE. 2 of these schools also have a published admissions cutoff distance. Sorted by first preferences per place. We don't invent rankings: the order is arithmetic on a published figure, not a view about which school is better.
Blandford Forum in figures
For Reception places in September 2026, families named the 10 schools in Blandford Forum first 202 times for 211 places: 0.96 first choices per place, against 1.00 across the Dorset authority's 118 schools. One of the 10 had more first choices than places. For 2026 entry, 2 schools here gave their last places on distance, from 1.64 miles (Blandford St Mary Church of England Primary School) to 3.99 miles (Spetisbury CofE Primary School).
Totals for the schools listed on this page. Applications and offers on national offer day, DfE; last-offer distances as the council published them.
Reception places, September 2026
10 schools. 1 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blandford St Mary Church of England Primary School | 1.10 | 30 | 1.638 miles |
| Durweston Church of England Primary School | 1.00 | 15 | not published |
| Milborne St Andrew First School | 1.00 | 6 | not published |
| Milldown CofE Academy | 1.00 | 19 | not published |
| Downlands Community School | 0.95 | 22 | not published |
| St Nicholas Church of England Primary School, Child Okeford | 0.95 | 21 | not published |
| Archbishop Wake Church of England Primary School | 0.95 | 40 | not published |
| Spetisbury CofE Primary School | 0.90 | 30 | 3.994 miles |
| Pimperne Church of England VC Primary School | 0.84 | 19 | not published |
| Shillingstone Church of England Primary School | 0.78 | 9 | not published |
First preferences per place is the number of families naming the school first, divided by its published admission number. Above 1.00 means more first choices than places. It is not a ranking and not a measure of quality: a popular school can be easy to get into and a quiet one hard, because places are allocated by each school's own criteria, siblings and faith and banding first, with distance often the last tie-breaker. Applications and offers on national offer day, DfE.