Shaftesbury School
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · Dorset
Salisbury Road, Shaftesbury, SP7 8ER
60
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Good
Graded 07/03/2023
Application demand
100%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
88.6%
32.2% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
782
Capacity used
Has space61%
1,283 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
100%
1st preference success rate
120 of 120 families who put it first got an offer
122
Places offered
199
Total applications
1.6
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 120 | 120 | ● 100% |
| 2nd preference | 66 | 2 | ● 3% |
| 3rd preference | 13 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 199 | 122 | 61% |
1st preference success by year
Dorset lets families list 3 preferences. 38 applications came from outside the council area (23 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
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Stephanie Bowen
- Address
- Salisbury Road, Shaftesbury, SP7 8ER
- Phone
- 01747854498
- Local authority
- Dorset
- Ward / constituency
- Shaftesbury Town · North Dorset
- Area
- Larger rural: Further from a major town or city
- URN
- 140898
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 26% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 7% | — | — |
| SEN support | 17% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 2 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: SHERBORNE AREA SCHOOLS' TRUST
782 pupils · 1,283 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 23
07 March 2023
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 · 746 pupils
Attendance
88.6%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
11.4%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
32.2%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
5.9%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
3.0%
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 | 42.1 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.50 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 34% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 55% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 3.81 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 27.97 | — | — |
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 | 39.1 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 27.5% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 52.9% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 31.9% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.47 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 138 | — |
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 | 25.98 | 35 |
| Average grade | C- | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 2.2% | 17% |
| A-level students | 61 | — |
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 | 135 | 6% | 35% | 63% | |
| English Language | 135 | 11% | 46% | 61% | |
| English Literature | 134 | 10% | 40% | 53% | |
| Combined Science | 87 | 5% | 21% | 43% | |
| Geography | 67 | 9% | 37% | 55% | |
| Food Preparation & Nutrition | 61 | 0% | 15% | 34% | |
| History | 59 | 20% | 51% | 66% | |
| Art and Design | 57 | 14% | 42% | 72% | |
| Physical Education | 50 | 2% | 36% | 50% | |
| Biology | 48 | 6% | 40% | 67% | |
| Physics | 48 | 6% | 40% | 65% | |
| Chemistry | 48 | 6% | 31% | 60% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sociology | 22 | 0% | 5% | 27% | |
| History | 16 | 0% | 0% | 38% | |
| Psychology | 12 | 0% | 0% | 33% | |
| Biology | 11 | 0% | 27% | 36% | |
| Business Studies | 10 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Graphics | 9 | 0% | 11% | 11% | |
| English Literature | 9 | 0% | 0% | 11% | |
| Classical Civilisation | 9 | 0% | 0% | 22% | |
| Chemistry | 8 | 0% | 13% | 25% | |
| Mathematics | 7 | 0% | 0% | 14% | |
| Religious Studies | 7 | 0% | 0% | 14% | |
| Economics | 5 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
No Cambridge offers this year
UCAS apply centre 10518: Shaftesbury 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) | 39% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 2% | — | — |
| 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.