Buckland Newton Church of England Primary School

Primary · Dorchester · DT2 7BY

Expected standard

Report-card inspection (current system, from November 2025)

The headline grade shown is the Achievement area of the school's report card.

Safeguarding: MetCurriculum & teaching: Expected standardAchievement: Expected standardAttendance & behaviour: Expected standardPersonal development: Expected standardInclusion: Expected standardLeadership & governance: Expected standardEarly years: Expected standardPost-16: Not applicable

Inspected 10 February 2026 · report published 20 April 2026

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

110 pupils · 100% of 105 capacity

School type: Academy converter
Age range: 2–11
Gender: Mixed
Religious character: Church of England
Free school meals: 15.4% of pupils
English as additional language: 1.8% of pupils
SEN support: 25.7% of pupils
EHC plan: 4.6% of pupils
Nursery: Yes
Website: www.bucklandnewton.dorset.sch.uk/
URN: 144413

Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026

1.00 first-choice applications per place

10 places offered · 10 first-choice applications · roughly balanced

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.

Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)

17 pupils at the end of key stage 2 in 2024/2025

Reaching the expected standard in reading, writing & maths

71%

England 62%

Reaching the higher standard

England 8%

Average scaled score (reading)

108

England 106

Average scaled score (maths)

107

England 105

Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025. “Suppressed” means the DfE withholds figures for very small cohorts.

Attendance (2025/26 autumn term)

Sessions missed (overall absence)

6.2%

England 6.5%

Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)

15%

England 18.1%

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

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher

21.8

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.

Inspection history since 2015

10 February 2026: Expected standard (report card inspection)
9 November 2021: School remains Good (ungraded inspection)

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

Nearby schools

Cerne Abbas CofE VC First SchoolGood · Primary · 3.1 mi
Piddle Valley Church of England First SchoolGood · Primary · 3.8 mi
Hazelbury Bryan Primary SchoolGood · Primary · 4.2 mi
All Saints Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary SchoolGood · Primary · 4.8 mi
Cheselbourne Village SchoolGood · Primary · 5.3 mi
Sherborne Abbey Church of England Primary SchoolGood · Primary · 7.6 mi
St Mary's Church of England First School, CharminsterNot yet graded · Primary · 7.9 mi
St Mary's Church of England Middle School, PuddletownGood · Secondary · 8.0 mi

See all primary schools in Dorchester →