The Purbeck School
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · Dorset
Worgret Road, Wareham, BH20 4PF
71
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Improved significantly
No graded inspection
Application demand
100%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
92.5%
21.7% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,022
Capacity used
Has space87%
1,180 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
100%
1st preference success rate
145 of 145 families who put it first got an offer
150
Places offered
246
Total applications
1.6
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 145 | 145 | ● 100% |
| 2nd preference | 89 | 4 | ● 4% |
| 3rd preference | 12 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 246 | 149 | 61% |
1st preference success by year
Dorset lets families list 3 preferences. 1 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
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Adam Darley
- Address
- Worgret Road, Wareham, BH20 4PF
- Phone
- 01929550077
- Local authority
- Dorset
- Ward / constituency
- Wareham · Mid Dorset and North Poole
- Area
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 148737
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 23% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 4% | — | — |
| SEN support | 13% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 2 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: WESSEX MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
1,022 pupils · 1,180 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 25
30 April 2025
Ungraded inspection
Improved significantly
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 884 pupils
Attendance
92.5%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
7.5%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
21.7%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
2.6%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
2.1%
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 | 49.9 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.60 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 50% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 72% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.26 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 34.39 | — | — |
Average grade: C+ (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 41.9 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 36.6% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 57.3% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 19.5% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.54 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 164 | — |
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 | 30.95 | 35 |
| Average grade | C | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 11.6% | 17% |
| A-level students | 67 | — |
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+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language | 162 | 9% | 45% | 62% | |
| Mathematics | 161 | 14% | 45% | 63% | |
| English Literature | 159 | 9% | 43% | 61% | |
| Combined Science | 107 | 1% | 19% | 33% | |
| Geography | 106 | 6% | 38% | 51% | |
| Art and Design | 67 | 9% | 46% | 61% | |
| History | 64 | 14% | 34% | 50% | |
| Biology | 55 | 25% | 80% | 93% | |
| Physics | 55 | 13% | 56% | 80% | |
| Chemistry | 55 | 25% | 69% | 95% | |
| Business | 43 | 12% | 44% | 65% | |
| Media / Film / TV | 33 | 24% | 55% | 61% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 23 | 4% | 22% | 39% | |
| Chemistry | 18 | 0% | 22% | 39% | |
| English Literature | 18 | 0% | 6% | 33% | |
| Physics | 15 | 7% | 13% | 27% | |
| Sociology | 14 | 7% | 14% | 57% | |
| Geography | 13 | 0% | 8% | 31% | |
| History | 11 | 0% | 9% | 82% | |
| Biology | 10 | 0% | 10% | 30% | |
| English Language | 10 | 0% | 0% | 30% | |
| Design and Technology (Product Design) | 10 | 0% | 10% | 20% | |
| Psychology | 9 | 0% | 0% | 11% | |
| Media / Film / TV Studies | 8 | 0% | 0% | 63% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
Ranked #160 of 1,018 UK schools with Cambridge offers2
UCAS apply centre 10527: The Purbeck School
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Applications | ≤5 |
| Offers | ≤5 |
| 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) | 41% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 4% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 44% | — | — |
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.