Schools in Dorset, England include state schools under the local education authorities, most of which operate a two-tier comprehensive system whereby pupils attend a primary school before completing their education at secondary school. Some of the county's schools are academies—self-governing state schools which have become independent of their local education authority and are maintained directly by the Department for Education.
Dorset also contains a range of privately funded independent schools. Many are boarding schools which also take day pupils, such as the co-educational Canford School which is built around a 19th-century Grade I listed manor house; and Sherborne School, a boys' school founded in the 16th century.
Four of the county's five largest towns contain a further education college: Weymouth College, Kingston Maurward College in Dorchester and Bournemouth and Poole College which is one of the largest in the UK. Dorset has two higher education establishments situated in the heart of the county's south east conurbation. Bournemouth University has facilities across Bournemouth and Poole and over 17,000 students.
State-funded schools
Primary and first schools
Middle schools
Secondary and upper schools
Special and alternative schools
Further education
- Kingston Maurward College, Dorchester
- Weymouth College, Weymouth
Independent schools
Primary and preparatory schools
Senior and all-through schools
- Bryanston School, Bryanston
- Clayesmore School, Iwerne Minster
- Leweston School, Sherborne
- Milton Abbey School, Milton Abbas
- Ringwood Waldorf School, Ashley
- Sherborne School, Sherborne
- Sherborne School for Girls, Sherborne
Special and alternative schools
- Arbour House School, Weymouth
- The Beeches School, Cranborne
- The Forum School, Shillingstone
- Graduately-Developing-Futures, Lytchett Matravers
- The Luccombe Hub, Milton Abbas
- Sheiling School, Ashley Heath
References
External links
- Performance tables for Dorset schools
