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Catholic schools in Dorset

All 7 Catholic schools in Dorset.

7 schools in Dorset

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  1. St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Marnhull

    Sturminster Newton, DT10 1JX · Academy · Primary · Ages 2 to 11

    • Ofsted:Good
    • Catholic
    • Has a nursery

    Results well above the Dorset catholic schools average.

    6 first choices, 6 offers made

    Met the standard at 1167%

    Dorset catholic schools 51%England 62%

    Days missed
    5.7%Dorset catholic schools 5.9%
    Pupils
    82
    Pupils per teacher
    17.8
    View school St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Marnhull
  2. St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Swanage

    Swanage, BH19 1QE · Academy · Primary · Ages 4 to 11

    • Ofsted:Good
    • Catholic

    Results well above the Dorset catholic schools average.

    27 first choices, 27 offers made

    Met the standard at 1165%

    Dorset catholic schools 51%England 62%

    Days missed
    6.1%Dorset catholic schools 5.9%
    Pupils
    175
    Pupils per teacher
    21.1
    View school St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Swanage
  3. St Augustine's Catholic Primary School, Weymouth

    Weymouth, DT4 0RH · Academy · Primary · Ages 4 to 11

    • Ofsted:Good
    • Catholic

    Results below the Dorset catholic schools average.

    27 first choices, 27 offers made

    Met the standard at 1145%

    Dorset catholic schools 51%England 62%

    Days missed
    5.5%Dorset catholic schools 5.9%
    Pupils
    201
    Pupils per teacher
    18.4
    View school St Augustine's Catholic Primary School, Weymouth
  4. St Mary & St Joseph's Catholic Primary School

    Wareham, BH20 6DS · Academy · Primary · Ages 4 to 11

    • Ofsted:Requires improvement
    • Catholic

    Results below the Dorset catholic schools average, low absence.

    5 first choices, 5 offers made

    Met the standard at 1146%

    Dorset catholic schools 51%England 62%

    Days missed
    4.9%Dorset catholic schools 5.9%
    Pupils
    81
    Pupils per teacher
    20.3
    View school St Mary & St Joseph's Catholic Primary School
  5. St Catherine's Roman Catholic School

    Bridport, DT6 3TR · Academy · Primary · Ages 5 to 11

    • Ofsted:Needs attention in 5 areas
    • Catholic

    Results well below the Dorset catholic schools average, high absence.

    13 first choices, 13 offers made

    Met the standard at 1130%

    Dorset catholic schools 51%England 62%

    Days missed
    7.9%Dorset catholic schools 5.9%
    Pupils
    100
    Pupils per teacher
    17.2
    View school St Catherine's Roman Catholic School
  6. Leweston School

    Sherborne, DT9 6EN · Independent · All-through · Ages 2 to 19

    • ISI:Inspected
    • Catholic
    • Has a nursery
    • Has a sixth form

    Independent school. Results aren't published in the same way.

    Results

    Not published for this kind of school.

    Days missed
    –Dorset catholic schools 5.9%
    Pupils
    577
    Pupils per teacher
    –
    View school Leweston School
The big picture

How Dorset's Catholic schools spread out

Each dot is one school. Hover over a dot to see which school it is.

Met the expected standard at 11

Share of Year 6 pupils reaching the expected level in reading, writing and maths.

Dorset 51%England 62%St Catherine's Roman Catholic School: 30%St Augustine's Catholic Primary School, Weymouth: 45%St Mary & St Joseph's Catholic Primary School: 46%St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Swanage: 65%St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Marnhull: 67%0%25%50%75%100%
Catholic schools in Dorset

Days missed

Share of school sessions pupils missed, for any reason. Lower is better.

Dorset average 5.9%St Mary & St Joseph's Catholic Primary School: 4.9%St Mary's Catholic First School, Dorchester: 5.4%St Augustine's Catholic Primary School, Weymouth: 5.5%St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Marnhull: 5.7%St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Swanage: 6.1%St Catherine's Roman Catholic School: 7.9%0%4%8%12%16%
Catholic schools in Dorset

Ofsted grades in Dorset

The last full grade for each school Ofsted has graded. 2 newer or converted schools don't have a grade yet.

  • Outstanding: 0 of 5
  • Good: 4 of 5
  • Requires improvement: 1 of 5
  • Inadequate: 0 of 5
Before you apply

Four things worth knowing in Dorset

  1. Half or more are faith schools.

    100 of the 7 Catholic schools in Dorset have a religious character. When they're full, they can put families of their faith first, so check each school's rules.

    Show schools with no religious character
  2. Check how old the Ofsted grade is.

    Some grades are many years old. Each school's page shows the date of its last inspection and what's changed since.

    Show Good or Outstanding
  3. List a school you're likely to get.

    Popular schools fill up from the families who live closest. Add your postcode to see which schools are nearest, and put one of them on your form.

    Add my postcode
About these schools

Catholic schools in Dorset, explained

There are 7 Catholic schools in Dorset, teaching 1,393 children. 0 are run by the council and 6 are academies or free schools. Among them is 1 independent school.

80% of the schools Ofsted has graded are Good or Outstanding, against 94.8% across England. 0 of them are Outstanding, though some grades are several years old, so check the date on each school's page.

50.6% of pupils in Dorset catholic schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at 11, against 62% across England. The gap between schools is wide, from 30% to 67%, which is why it's worth looking school by school.

15.1% of pupils get free school meals. Schools here spend £6,483 a year on each pupil, against £8,120 across England. 13.9% of pupils are persistently absent, missing one day in ten or more, against 18.1% across England.

Looking further afield? See Catholic schools near me, or everything in Dorset.

Questions

Questions parents ask

How many Catholic schools are in Dorset?
There are 7 Catholic schools in Dorset, including state-funded, academies, and independent schools.
What are the best Catholic schools in Dorset?
The highest-ranked Catholic schools in Dorset on Eduscope are St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Marnhull, St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Swanage and St Augustine's Catholic Primary School, Weymouth. We rank each state school against schools of the same phase across England on its Ofsted inspection, results and attendance.
How are Catholic schools in Dorset ranked on Eduscope?
Each state school gets a rank score out of 100. We place each measure as a percentile among state schools of the same phase across England, then weight them. Primary schools: latest Ofsted inspection 30%, pupils meeting the expected standard at Key Stage 2 30%, pupils reaching the higher standard 10%, persistent absence (lower is better) 20%, average reading and maths scores 10%. Secondary schools: latest Ofsted inspection 25%, Attainment 8 25%, grade 5 or above in English and maths 15%, persistent absence (lower is better) 15%, pupils staying in education or work after GCSEs 10%, A level average points (sixth forms only) 10%. Results are averaged over up to three years, and an Ofsted grade older than five years counts for less. A school needs data for at least 60% of the weights. Special schools, pupil referral units, nurseries, independent schools and 16 to 19 schools aren't ranked, and are listed by Ofsted grade and name. Our methodology page explains more.
What is the average class size in Dorset Catholic schools?
The average pupil-teacher ratio across Catholic schools in Dorset is 20:1. While this is not a direct measure of class size, it indicates the level of teaching resource available per pupil.

Sources: Department for Education school performance tables, school census and workforce data, Get Information About Schools and Ofsted. Distances are straight-line estimates.

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