SchoolFacts.uk

The Prince of Wales School

Primary · Dorchester · DT1 2HH

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Good

SchoolFacts estimate: Ofsted awarded no overall grade at this inspection

We show the lowest of the four areas Ofsted did judge, listed below. Why some schools have no overall grade →

Quality of education: GoodBehaviour & attitudes: OutstandingPersonal development: OutstandingLeadership & management: GoodSafeguarding effective: Yes

Inspected 3 June 2025

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

156 pupils · 104% of 150 capacity (over capacity)

School type
Community school
Age range
2–9
Gender
Mixed
Free school meals
10.3% of pupils
English as additional language
1.9% of pupils
SEN support
23.7% of pupils
EHC plan
7.7% of pupils
Nursery
Yes
Website
http://www.princeofwales.dorset.sch.uk/
URN
113747

Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026

1.28 first-choice applications per place

29 places offered · 37 first-choice applications · oversubscribed

First-choice applications per place, by entry year

19/20
20/21
21/22
22/23
23/24
24/25
25/26
26/27

Applications and offers on national offer day, DfE. A ratio above 1.00 means more families named this school first choice than there were places.

Admissions cutoff distance: Reception

Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2026 entry) lived within 0.867 miles

measurement method not stated by the council.

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Cutoff distances as published by the local authority. Siblings and other priority groups are offered places first; cutoffs move year to year.

Special educational needs

Needs this school records that it caters for, in the order it lists them.

Provision type: Resourced provision.

Resourced provision
6 of 8 places taken nearly full

Unit places come from the school census and describe the position when it was taken, not today. Confirm with the local authority before relying on them.

Attendance (2025/26 autumn term)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
4.9%
England 6.5%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
10.3%
England 18.1%

Autumn-term absence, DfE pupil absence data. Lower is better.

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
21.7
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

100% of teachers stayed at the school the following year

School Workforce Census, DfE. The ratio counts full-time-equivalent qualified teachers; retention follows teachers in post one November to the next. Open Government Licence v3.0.

Spending per pupil

This school£10,234
Typical primary school£6,959

Total expenditure ÷ pupils, council-maintained school finance return (DfE Schools Financial Benchmarking, latest year). Higher spending is not a measure of quality. It often reflects greater pupil need or a smaller school. Open Government Licence v3.0.

Inspection history since 2015

Ofsted management information. Ungraded and monitoring visits do not award a new grade. How the two inspection systems work.

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
5/10around the middle for England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
8/10less deprived than most of England

English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG), decile of the small area the school stands in: 1 is the most deprived tenth of England, 10 the least. IDACI counts only children in low-income families, which is the measure closest to the intake a school is likely to draw on.

Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher40.3%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications13.2%18.1%
In managerial or professional work38.6%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways11.8%18.1%
Residents in very good health46.1%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier78.4%62.3%
Social housing14.2%17.1%
Privately rented7.4%20.5%
Detached houses38.6%22.9%
Flats10.6%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms30.3%21.1%
Households with no car or van13%23.5%

Census 2021 (ONS) for statistical area E01020526 (a lower layer super output area), the neighbourhood of roughly 1,103 adults that the school stands in. These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Children travel in from further away, and for selective, faith and some other schools usually much further. Open Government Licence v3.0.

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£331,000191 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to July 2026
Typical range
£270,000–£411,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (60)£472,500
Semi-detached (51)£340,000
Terraced (45)£295,000
Flat (35)£180,000

Homes around this school are dearer than most school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

Every residential sale registered with HM Land Registry within 1 km of the school (straight line) since January 2024, market sales of houses and flats only. A sale is dated by completion and registered weeks later, so the most recent months are incomplete. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcodes located with OS Code-Point Open: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Roads around the school

Child pedestrian casualties
0an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
1an urban school averages 5.8
All reported collisions
5an urban school averages 30.6
Of those, serious or fatal
0an urban school averages 6.1

Every collision reported to the police within 500 m of the school in 2021–2025, from the Department for Transport's road casualty statistics (STATS19). "Child pedestrians" counts casualties aged under 16 on foot; "school-run times" means weekdays 07:30–09:00 and 15:00–16:30 outside August. A high count usually says the school sits on or near a busy road, not that the school is unsafe: counts rise with traffic and with how built-up an area is, which is why the comparison is with other urban schools. Distances are straight-line from the school's recorded position. Open Government Licence v3.0.

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