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Poole High School

Secondary Ages 11-18 1,891 pupils Poole
Ofsted: Good
All schools in Poole

Poole High School is an academy converter in Poole for pupils aged 11 to 18. It has 1,891 pupils on roll. The latest Ofsted rating for Poole High School is Good, from an inspection in September 2022 of its predecessor, Poole High School. In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 48.1, and 50% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Ofsted inspection: July 2024. GCSE results: 2026. A-level results: 2025.

Type Secondary / Academy converter
Age Range 11-18
Religion Unknown
Address Wimborne Road
Poole
Dorset
BH15 2BW
Phone 01202666988
Reference Number 150883

General Makeup

Number of pupils 1891
Boy/Girl ratio Boys: 53.25%
Girls: 46.75%
Percentage of students eligible for free school meals 22.4%
Percentage of students where English is not their first language 13.4%

Class Sizes

Average size of one teacher classes 24.1

Year Groups

Year Boys Girls Total
7 157 168 325
8 167 155 322
9 164 137 301
10 173 132 305
11 185 123 308
12 89 83 172
13 72 86 158

Ethnicities

Ethnicity Percentage
White, British 77.2%
White, Other 7.5%
African 2.1%
Mixed, Other 2.1%
Indian 2%
White & Asian 1.5%
Unclassified 1.1%
Asian, Other 1.1%
White & Black (African) 0.8%
White & Black (Caribbean) 0.7%
Chinese 0.5%
Caribbean 0.2%
Pakistani 0.2%
Irish 0.1%

This school has not been graded since it changed URN, usually on converting to an academy. The rating shown is from its predecessor, Poole High School, inspected in September 2022.

Overall Ofsted Rating Good
Last Report Date This school has not had an inspection yet.
Date Report
05 Jul 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)
48.1

GCSE Results

Metric School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Grade 5 or above in English and maths 50.2%
5 or more GCSEs at grade 9-4 (or A-C) 67.1%

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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Grades

School Local Nationwide
Average Grade C+ C+ C+
Average Grade (best 3) B- B- C+
Percentage Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Students getting AAB or better 12.5%
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Year 7 admissions, 2026 entry

Number of Applications Number of Offers
First Preference
Second Preference 300 35
Third Preference 171 5
From another Local Authority 11 1

Previous years

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Places and pupil numbers

In 2024–25 Poole High School had 1,842 pupils for 1,975 places. 133 places (6.7%) were unfilled.

Year 7 intake in the “Central Poole” planning area

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole counted 1,358 Year 7 pupils in this area in 2024–25 and forecasts 1,243 in 2031–32, down 8%.

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 Poole High School attended 91.3% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 25.5% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

2025
Authorised absence 5.7%
Unauthorised absence 3.1%
Severely absent pupils 4.8%

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, 6.2% of pupils at Poole High School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 6 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

2025
Suspensions per 100 pupils 19.7
Permanent exclusions 6

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 Poole High School had 16.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 17.6% 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 10.812.0
Teachers who left state teaching 10.0%–
Teachers who took any sick leave 66.4%–
Sick days per teacher 3.3–

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, 22.2% of pupils at Poole High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 1.9% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

SEN support EHC plan
Social, emotional and mental health 108 11
Moderate learning difficulty 86 4
Specific learning difficulty 77 1
Speech, language and communication needs 59 9
Autistic spectrum disorder 47 8
No specialist assessment of need 27 0
Hearing impairment 7 0
Vision impairment 5 2
Other difficulty or disability 3 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 Poole High School received £7,909 and spent £8,126 for each of its 1,875 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,251,000 (£667 per pupil).

Across all 8 schools of Twynham Learning, income was £7,598 and spending £7,640 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

2025
Revenue reserve £1,251,000
per pupil £667
In-year balance -£407,000
per pupil -£217

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
Oakdale Junior School
School Lane, Poole, Dorset, BH15 3JR
0.3 miles
Longfleet Church of England Primary School
Jolliffe Avenue, Poole, Dorset, BH15 2HF
0.46 miles
Old Town Infant School and Nursery
Green Road, Poole, Dorset, BH15 1QB
0.66 miles
Stanley Green Infant Academy
Stanley Green Road, Oakdale, Poole, Dorset, BH15 3AA
0.7 miles
St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Poole
Devon Road, Poole, Dorset, BH15 3QQ
0.71 miles
Ocean Academy Poole
Constitution Hill Road, Parkstone, Poole, Dorset, BH14 0PZ
0.93 miles
Canford Heath Junior School
Learoyd Road, Canford Heath, Poole, Dorset, BH17 8PJ
1.11 miles
Canford Heath Infant School
Learoyd Road, Canford Heath, Poole, Dorset, BH17 8PJ
1.13 miles
Twin Sails Infant and Nursery School
Blandford Road, Hamworthy, Poole, Dorset, BH15 4AX
1.18 miles
Hamworthy Park Junior School
Ashmore Crescent, Hamworthy, Poole, Dorset, BH15 4DG
1.21 miles
Baden-Powell and St Peter's Church of England Junior School
Mill Lane, Parkstone, Poole, Dorset, BH14 8UL
1.5 miles
Haymoor Junior School
Ashdown Close, Canford Heath, Poole, Dorset, BH17 8WG
1.73 miles
Hillbourne Primary School
Kitchener Crescent, Poole, Dorset, BH17 7HX
1.81 miles
Livingstone Road Infant School
Livingstone Road, Parkstone, Poole, Dorset, BH12 3DT
1.85 miles
Livingstone Road Junior School
Livingstone Road, Parkstone, Poole, Dorset, BH12 3DX
1.88 miles
Ad Astra Infant School
Sherborn Crescent, Canford Heath, Poole, Dorset, BH17 8AP
1.92 miles
Bayside Academy
Turlin Road, Turlin Moor, Bayside Academy, Poole, Dorset, BH16 5AH
1.93 miles
Bournemouth Collegiate Preparatory School
St Osmund's Road, Poole, BH14 9JY
2.05 miles
Courthill Infant School
Courthill Road, Parkstone, Poole, Dorset, BH14 9HL
2.11 miles
Lilliput Church of England Infant School
Lilliput Road, Parkstone, Poole, Dorset, BH14 8JX
2.19 miles
Name Distance
The Bournemouth and Poole College
North Road, Poole, Dorset, BH14 0LS
0.96 miles
The Cornerstone Academy
Blandford Close, Hamworthy, Poole, Dorset, BH15 4BQ
1.04 miles
Longspee Academy
Learoyd Road, Canford Heath, Poole, Dorset, BH17 8PJ
1.12 miles
St Edward's Roman Catholic/Church of England School, Poole
Dale Valley Road, Oakdale, Poole, Dorset, BH15 3HY
1.41 miles
Parkstone Grammar School
Sopers Lane, Poole, Dorset, BH17 7EP
1.48 miles
Montacute School
3 Canford Heath Road, Poole, Dorset, BH17 9NG
1.83 miles
Magna Academy
Ashdown Close, Adastral Road, Canford Heath, Poole, Dorset, BH17 8RE
1.83 miles
Poole Grammar School
Gravel Hill, Poole, Dorset, BH17 9JU
2.09 miles
St Aldhelm's Academy
Herbert Avenue, Poole, Dorset, BH12 4HS
2.53 miles
Winchelsea School
Guernsey Road, Parkstone, Poole, Dorset, BH12 4LL
2.78 miles
Victoria Education Centre
12 Lindsay Road, Branksome Park, Poole, Dorset, BH13 6AS
2.86 miles
The Lion Works School
543 Wallisdown Road, Poole, Dorset, Poole, Dorset, BH12 5AD
3.05 miles
Corfe Hills School
Higher Blandford Road, Broadstone, Dorset, BH18 9BG
3.27 miles
Langside School
Langside Avenue, Parkstone, Poole, Dorset, BH12 5BN
3.4 miles
Lytchett Minster School
Post Green Road, Purbeck, Lytchett Minster, Poole, Dorset, BH16 6JD
3.47 miles
Talbot Heath School
Rothesay Road, Bournemouth, BH4 9NJ
3.65 miles
Oak Academy
Duck Lane, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH11 9JJ
3.83 miles
LeAF Studio
Holloway Avenue, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH11 9JW
3.93 miles
The White House School
170 Magna Road, Poole, Dorset, BH21 3AP
4.03 miles
The Bourne Academy
Hadow Road, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH10 5HS
4.23 miles

All schools in Poole · Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole local authority: places and applications

Poole High School is part of Twynham Learning, which runs 8 schools. The nearest others:

What is Poole High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Poole High School is Good, from an inspection in September 2022 of its predecessor, Poole High School.

When was Poole High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Poole High School was last inspected in July 2024.

How many pupils does Poole High School have?

Poole High School has 1,891 pupils on roll.

What age range does Poole High School cover?

Poole High School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Poole High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 48.1, and 50% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Poole High School?

Poole High School is at Wimborne Road, Poole, Dorset, BH15 2BW.

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