St Osmund's Church of England Middle School

St Osmund's is a Church of England middle school in the Wessex Multi-Academy Trust, with 714 pupils and a higher-than-average proportion of pupils with EHC plans. Inspectors found the school fulfilling the expected standard across all areas, with safeguarding met. Pupils are happy and safe in a caring 'Ossie' community; attendance is strong, behaviour is typically good, and the broad curriculum and rich enrichment offer support personal development well. Transition into Year 5 and on to secondary school is carefully managed, and governance and staff workload are strengths. Leaders have a clear understanding of the school's strengths and areas for development, and published key stage 2 outcomes have improved over time, with most metrics broadly in line with national averages. The school supports disadvantaged pupils and works closely with families and external professionals, although some support actions for pupils with SEND are not sufficiently precise. The main areas for improvement are joined-up oversight of some improvement work, sharper SEND support actions, and ensuring planned professional development strengthens teaching strategies consistently. A few pupils also reported that some behaviour or bullying incidents were not handled as effectively as they could be, though most pupils are confident staff deal with concerns quickly.

Strengths

• A caring 'Ossie' culture where pupils feel valued, happy and safe.
• Strong attendance, with very few pupils persistently absent.
• Typically good behaviour and positive attitudes to learning.
• A broad, ambitious curriculum across both key stages.
• Careful transition arrangements into Year 5 and on to secondary school.
• A very broad enrichment offer, including clubs, trips, sports and the arts.
• Well-embedded personal development and pastoral support.
• Effective governance and trustee engagement that hold leaders to account.
• Leaders are considerate of staff workload and staff are positive about decisions.
• Strong community engagement and positive parental views.

Areas for Improvement

• Oversight of some aspects of school improvement work is not well joined up.
• Support actions for pupils with SEND are sometimes not precise enough to help them progress quickly.
• Some teaching strategies do not secure pupils' learning as well as they could.
• Planned professional development to sharpen teaching strategies is at an early stage.
• A few pupils feel some bullying or derogatory behaviour incidents are not managed as effectively as they could be.
• Combined reading, writing and mathematics outcomes have been below national averages over the latest three-year period.

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 St Osmund's Church of England Middle School attended 93.7% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 14.3% 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, 5.0% of pupils at St Osmund's Church of England Middle School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). No 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 St Osmund's Church of England Middle School had 20.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 8.0% 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, 13.9% of pupils at St Osmund's Church of England Middle School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 6.3% 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 St Osmund's Church of England Middle School received £6,588 and spent £6,044 for each of its 717 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,248,000 (£1,741 per pupil).

Across all 12 schools of Wessex Multi Academy Trust, income was £7,381 and spending £7,135 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 Dorchester · Dorset local authority: places and applications

St Osmund's Church of England Middle School is part of Wessex Multi Academy Trust, which runs 12 schools. The nearest others:

• Manor Park Church of England First School Dorchester
• Dorchester Middle School Dorchester
• The Thomas Hardye School Dorchester
• Damers First School Dorchester
• Frome Valley CofE First School Dorchester
• St Mary's Church of England Middle School, Puddletown Dorchester
• Puddletown Church of England First School Dorchester
• Piddle Valley Church of England First School Dorchester
• Milborne St Andrew First School Blandford Forum
• Bere Regis Primary and Preschool Wareham

What is St Osmund's Church of England Middle School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Osmund's Church of England Middle School is Expected standard, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was St Osmund's Church of England Middle School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Osmund's Church of England Middle School was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does St Osmund's Church of England Middle School have?

St Osmund's Church of England Middle School has 714 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Osmund's Church of England Middle School cover?

St Osmund's Church of England Middle School for pupils aged 9 to 13.

What are St Osmund's Church of England Middle School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 58% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Osmund's Church of England Middle School?

St Osmund's Church of England Middle School is at Barnes Way, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 2DZ.