Queen Elizabeth's School

Queen Elizabeth's School is currently rated as requiring improvement overall, particularly in the quality of education and leadership. While the school maintains a good standard for behavior and personal development, concerns arise from low expectations regarding what pupils should learn, leading to gaps in their subject knowledge. Moreover, the school benefits from strong support for sixth-form students and positive engagement in extracurricular activities, but it struggles with adapting the curriculum to meet individual needs effectively, especially for students with special educational needs and disabilities.

Strengths

• Pupils demonstrate good behavior and conduct throughout the school.
• The school provides useful careers guidance and opportunities for work experience.
• Pupils participate actively in various extracurricular activities, such as sports and performing arts.
• The school has effective safeguarding measures in place.
• The sixth-form provision is well-designed to meet students' individual needs.

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum expectations are too low in many subjects, impacting pupil learning.
• Teaching does not consistently check pupils' understanding before introducing new content.
• Assessment practices do not effectively identify gaps in pupils' learning.
• The curriculum does not adequately develop pupils' reading confidence and enjoyment.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Queen Elizabeth's School attended 87.3% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 35.2% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 9.2% of pupils at Queen Elizabeth's School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 8 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Queen Elizabeth's School had 17.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 27.8% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 14.8% of pupils at Queen Elizabeth's School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.0% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Queen Elizabeth's School received £8,001 and spent £8,024 for each of its 1,452 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £298,000 (£205 per pupil).

Across all 19 schools of Initio Learning Trust, income was £7,286 and spending £7,320 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Wimborne · Dorset local authority: places and applications

Queen Elizabeth's School is part of Initio Learning Trust, which runs 19 schools. The nearest others:

• Pamphill Church of England First School Wimborne
• Allenbourn Middle School Wimborne
• St John's Church of England First School, Wimborne Wimborne
• St Michael's Church of England Middle School, Colehill Wimborne
• Lockyer's Middle School Wimborne
• Merley First School Wimborne
• Colehill First School Wimborne
• Hayeswood First School Wimborne
• Corfe Hills School Broadstone
• Witchampton Church of England First School Wimborne

What is Queen Elizabeth's School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Queen Elizabeth's School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in February 2024.

When was Queen Elizabeth's School last inspected by Ofsted?

Queen Elizabeth's School was last inspected in February 2024.

How many pupils does Queen Elizabeth's School have?

Queen Elizabeth's School has 1,375 pupils on roll.

What age range does Queen Elizabeth's School cover?

Queen Elizabeth's School for pupils aged 13 to 18.

Where is Queen Elizabeth's School?

Queen Elizabeth's School is at Blandford Road, Wimborne, Dorset, BH21 4DT.