The Blandford School
Secondary · Voluntary controlled school · Mixed · Dorset
Milldown Road, Blandford Forum, DT11 7SQ
67
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Good
Graded 23/04/2024
Application demand
100%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
91.3%
21.9% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,103
Capacity used
Has space71%
1,557 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
100%
1st preference success rate
179 of 179 families who put it first got an offer
184
Places offered
205
Total applications
1.1
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 179 | 179 | ● 100% |
| 2nd preference | 19 | 4 | ● 21% |
| 3rd preference | 7 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 205 | 183 | 89% |
1st preference success by year
Dorset lets families list 3 preferences. 2 applications came from outside the council area (1 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Voluntary controlled school
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Alan Jones
- Address
- Milldown Road, Blandford Forum, DT11 7SQ
- Phone
- 01258451121
- Local authority
- Dorset
- Ward / constituency
- Blandford · North Dorset
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 113888
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 21% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 5% | — | — |
| SEN support | 14% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 2 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
1,103 pupils · 1,557 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 24
23 April 2024
Full graded inspection
Good overall effectivenessSixth form Good Personal development Good Quality of education Good Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Good Leadership and management Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,034 pupils
Attendance
91.3%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
8.7%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
21.9%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
5.0%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
4.3%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 46.6 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.33 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 48% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 68% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.17 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 38.00 | — | — |
Average grade: B- (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 47 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 46.2% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 65.9% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 26.9% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.16 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 182 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
A-level results over time
Average points per entry by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 37.21 | 35 |
| Average grade | B- | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 17.4% | 17% |
| A-level students | 60 | — |
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 176 | 23% | 61% | 76% | |
| English Language | 176 | 13% | 50% | 70% | |
| English Literature | 176 | 9% | 46% | 70% | |
| Combined Science | 139 | 9% | 46% | 71% | |
| History | 99 | 15% | 42% | 60% | |
| Geography | 69 | 13% | 49% | 74% | |
| Business | 53 | 19% | 60% | 83% | |
| Art and Design | 50 | 8% | 32% | 68% | |
| Spanish | 47 | 19% | 68% | 87% | |
| Biology | 37 | 59% | 95% | 100% | |
| Physics | 37 | 57% | 89% | 95% | |
| Chemistry | 37 | 54% | 95% | 97% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 26 | 12% | 38% | 69% | |
| Mathematics | 16 | 6% | 25% | 50% | |
| Biology | 13 | 15% | 31% | 69% | |
| Sociology | 13 | 0% | 15% | 69% | |
| Physics | 11 | 0% | 9% | 18% | |
| Chemistry | 10 | 30% | 80% | 90% | |
| English Language and Literature | 10 | 0% | 10% | 50% | |
| Economics | 9 | 22% | 56% | 89% | |
| Business Studies | 9 | 33% | 44% | 78% | |
| Design and Technology (Product Design) | 8 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| History | 6 | 0% | 33% | 83% | |
| Physical Education / Sports Studies | 6 | 0% | 17% | 33% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
No Cambridge offers this year
UCAS apply centre 10502: The Blandford School
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Applications | ≤5 |
| Offers | 0 |
| Success rate | — |
| Accepted offers | 0 |
1 Source: University of Cambridge, applications, offers and acceptances by UCAS apply centre. To protect privacy small counts are hidden: "<3" means 0–2 (up to 2023); "≤5" means 1–5 (from 2024). Success rate is only shown when exact numbers are published (England average is about 20%).
2 Schools ranked by number of offers; this doesn't account for school size. Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures, so they aren't shown.
Where students go next
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher education (university) | 38% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 7% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 39% | — | — |
Oxford/Cambridge application numbers aren't published per school in official data, so university progression is shown instead.
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Dorset council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.