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The Priory Church of England School

Secondary Ages 11-16 598 pupils Dorking
Ofsted: Good
All schools in Dorking

The Priory Church of England School is an academy converter in Dorking for pupils aged 11 to 16. It has a Church of England religious character. It has 598 pupils on roll. The latest Ofsted rating for The Priory Church of England School is Good, from an inspection in March 2019 of its predecessor, The Priory CofE Voluntary Aided School. In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 39.9, and 32% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE. Many teachers don't stay: 36% of its teachers had left the school a year later (in 2024/25), against 14% nationally.

Ofsted inspection: May 2024. GCSE results: 2026.

Type Secondary / Academy converter
Age Range 11-16
Religion Church of England
Address West Bank
Dorking
Surrey
RH4 3DG
Phone 01306887337
Reference Number 149318

General Makeup

Number of pupils 598
Boy/Girl ratio Boys: 47.83%
Girls: 52.17%
Percentage of students eligible for free school meals 17.7%
Percentage of students where English is not their first language 5.2%

Class Sizes

Average size of one teacher classes 26.2

Year Groups

Year Boys Girls Total
7 36 59 95
8 63 73 136
9 64 60 124
10 65 58 123
11 58 62 120

Ethnicities

Ethnicity Percentage
White, British 84.8%
White, Other 4.3%
Indian 2%
White & Black (Caribbean) 1.5%
Mixed, Other 1.3%
White & Asian 1.2%
Unclassified 1%
Asian, Other 1%
White & Black (African) 0.5%
African 0.5%
Irish 0.2%
Caribbean 0.2%

This school has not been graded since it changed URN, usually on converting to an academy. The rating shown is from its predecessor, The Priory CofE Voluntary Aided School, inspected in March 2019.

Overall Ofsted Rating Good
Last Report Date This school has not had an inspection yet.
Date Report
08 May 2024 Academy conversion letter

Attainment 8 Score

Attaimenment 8 is a measure of a pupil's average grade across a set of 8 subjects. The 8 subjects which make up Attainment 8 are:

  • English
  • Maths
  • 3 subjects from qualifications that count towards the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), like sciences, language and history
  • 3 more GCSE qualifications (including EBacc subjects) or technical awards from a list approved by the Department for Education

Each grade a pupil gets is assigned a point score from 9 (the highest) to 1 (the lowest). These scores are added up, with English and maths counted twice.

School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
39.9

GCSE Results

Metric School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Grade 5 or above in English and maths 31.7%
5 or more GCSEs at grade 9-4 (or A-C) 50.8%

Attainment 8 Score

Attaimenment 8 is a measure of a pupil's average grade across a set of 8 subjects. The 8 subjects which make up Attainment 8 are:

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GCSE Results

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Year 7 admissions, 2026 entry

Number of Applications Number of Offers
First Preference
Second Preference 115 22
Third Preference 28 3
From another Local Authority 0 0

Previous years

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Places and pupil numbers

In 2024–25 The Priory Church of England School had 647 pupils for 1,051 places. 404 places (38.4%) were unfilled.

Pupils and places

Year 7 intake in the “Dorking Secondary” planning area

Surrey counted 392 Year 7 pupils in this area in 2024–25 and forecasts 350 in 2031–32, down 11%.

20242025
Places 1,0511,051
Pupils 634647
Unfilled 39.7%38.4%

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 The Priory Church of England School attended 89.1% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 32.7% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

2025
Authorised absence 6.5%
Unauthorised absence 4.4%
Severely absent pupils 5.4%

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, 10.1% of pupils at The Priory Church of England School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

2025
Suspensions per 100 pupils 22.4
Permanent exclusions 0

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 The Priory Church of England School had 18.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 36.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

20252026
Pupils per adult 12.213.1
Teachers who left state teaching 25.6%–
Teachers who took any sick leave 61.4%–
Sick days per teacher 4.7–

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, 9.5% of pupils at The Priory Church of England School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 8.4% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

SEN support EHC plan
Autistic spectrum disorder 19 20
Social, emotional and mental health 10 15
Specific learning difficulty 19 5
Moderate learning difficulty 4 5
Other difficulty or disability 3 2
Speech, language and communication needs 1 3
No specialist assessment of need 1 0

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 The Priory Church of England School received £7,904 and spent £7,828 for each of its 672 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £895,000 (£1,331 per pupil).

Across all 5 schools of Enlighten Learning Trust, income was £7,626 and spending £7,438 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

2025
Revenue reserve £895,000
per pupil £1,331
In-year balance £51,000
per pupil £76

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.

Name Distance
Powell Corderoy Primary School
Longfield Road, Dorking, Surrey, RH4 3DF
0.15 miles
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School
Norfolk Road, Dorking, Surrey, RH4 3JA
0.25 miles
Dorking Nursery School
West Street, Dorking, RH4 1BY
0.37 miles
St Paul's CofE Primary School
St Paul's Road West, Dorking, Surrey, RH4 2HS
0.59 miles
St Martin's CofE Primary School
Ranmore Road, Dorking, Surrey, RH4 1HW
0.71 miles
Surrey Hills All Saints Primary School
School Lane, Westcott, Dorking, RH4 3QF
0.82 miles
St John's Church of England Primary School
Goodwyns Road, Dorking, Surrey, RH4 2LR
0.97 miles
North Downs Primary School
Wheelers Lane, Brockham, Betchworth, Surrey, RH3 7LA
2.51 miles
Polesden Lacey Infant Academy
Oakdene Close, Great Bookham, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT23 4PT
3.32 miles
The Weald CofE Primary School
Newdigate Road, Beare Green, Dorking, Surrey, RH5 4QW
3.81 miles
Great Bookham School
Griffin Way, Great Bookham, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT23 4JJ
3.82 miles
Manor House School
Manor House Lane, Leatherhead, KT23 4EN
3.88 miles
St Lawrence Primary School
Lower Road, Effingham, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT24 5JP
4.06 miles
Eastwick Infant School
Eastwick Drive, Great Bookham, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT23 3PP
4.14 miles
Eastwick Junior School
Eastwick Drive, Great Bookham, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT23 3PP
4.14 miles
Oakfield Junior School
Bell Lane, Fetcham, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 9ND
4.42 miles
Fetcham Village Infant School
School Lane, Fetcham, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 9JU
4.49 miles
Newdigate CofE Endowed Aided Infant School
Village Street, Newdigate, Dorking, Surrey, RH5 5DJ
4.79 miles
Peaslake Free School
Colmans Hill, Peaslake, Guildford, Surrey, GU5 9ST
4.84 miles
Name Distance
The Ashcombe School
Ashcombe Road, Dorking, Surrey, RH4 1LY
0.96 miles
Unified Academy
Chart Lane South, Dorking, RH5 4DB
1.03 miles
St Teresa's School
Effingham Hill, Dorking, RH5 6ST
2.81 miles
RGS Surrey Hills
London Road, Dorking, RH5 6EA
2.98 miles
Leith Hill School
Pasture Wood Road, Holmbury St Mary, Surrey, RH5 6LQ
3.82 miles
Howard of Effingham School
Lower Road, Effingham, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT24 5JR
3.96 miles
Aurora Poppyfield School
Lower Road, Effingham, KT24 5JP
4.02 miles
Papillon House
Pebble Close, Tadworth, Surrey, KT20 7PA
4.16 miles
Woodlands School
Fortyfoot Road, Leatherhead, KT22 8RY
4.76 miles
Moon Hall School, Reigate
Flanchford Road, Leigh, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 8RE
4.81 miles
Elysian, West Horsley
Hillside Farm, Shere Road, West Horsley, Elysian West Horsley, Shere Rd, Leatherhead, Surrey Kt24 6er, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT24 6ER
4.82 miles
St John's School
Epsom Road, Leatherhead, KT22 8SP
4.92 miles

All schools in Dorking · Surrey local authority: places and applications

The Priory Church of England School is part of Enlighten Learning Trust, which runs 6 schools. The nearest others:

What is The Priory Church of England School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for The Priory Church of England School is Good, from an inspection in March 2019 of its predecessor, The Priory CofE Voluntary Aided School.

When was The Priory Church of England School last inspected by Ofsted?

The Priory Church of England School was last inspected in May 2024.

How many pupils does The Priory Church of England School have?

The Priory Church of England School has 598 pupils on roll.

What age range does The Priory Church of England School cover?

The Priory Church of England School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are The Priory Church of England School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 39.9, and 32% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is The Priory Church of England School?

The Priory Church of England School is at West Bank, Dorking, Surrey, RH4 3DG.

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