St Mary's Church of England Middle School, PuddletownDorset Studio School

Inspection, results, pupils and attendance side by side in Dorchester.

Summary of the comparison

This page compares St Mary's Church of England Middle School, Puddletown and Dorset Studio School in Dorchester.

  • St Mary's Church of England Middle School, Puddletown scores 42 out of 100 (grade D, below average) and Dorset Studio School scores 45 out of 100 (grade D, below average). Dorset Studio School is ahead on our composite score.

  • St Mary's Church of England Middle School, Puddletown was judged Good and Dorset Studio School was judged Good.

  • The share of pupils meeting the expected standard at Key Stage 2 has risen at St Mary's Church of England Middle School, Puddletown (47.0% in 2022-23, 61.0% in 2024-25).

Side-by-side comparison

St Mary's Church of England Middle School, Puddletown versus Dorset Studio School compared on inspection, results, pupils and attendance.
Measure DorchesterSt Mary's Church of England Middle School, PuddletownDorchesterDorset Studio SchoolEngland average
Overview
Our scoreD42/100D45/100Stronger figure
Local ranking25th of 29 in Dorset 23rd of 29 in Dorset Stronger figure
InspectionOfsted: GoodOfsted: Good
School typeAcademy converter Studio schools
PhaseMiddle deemed secondary Secondary
Age range9-13 11-16
GenderMixed Mixed
Pupils on roll445 325
Capacity480 375
LocationDorchester, DT2 8SA Dorchester, DT2 8PX
GCSE results
Attainment 8Not reported34.1 46.0
Grade 5+ in English & mathsNot reported14.5% 45.4%
Grade 4+ in English & mathsNot reported40.6% 64.8%
Entering EBaccNot reported0.0% 40.5%
EBacc average point scoreNot reported2.75 4.09
CohortNot reported69
Key Stage 2 (SATs)
Reading, writing & maths at expected standard61.0% Not reported62.0%
At higher standard11.0% Not reported8.0%
Reading average scaled score105.0 Not reported106.0
Maths average scaled score104.0 Not reported105.0
Pupils
Pupils in the census445 325
Free school meals (ever 6)17.1% 32.3%
English as an additional language2.2% 0.0%
SEN support21.4% 40.9%
SEN with an EHC plan5.8% 11.1%
Attendance
Overall absence6.5% Stronger figure12.7% 6.2%
Persistent absence18.8% Stronger figure42.4% 15.8%

marks the stronger figure on measures with a clear direction. Rows describing a school's intake, such as free school meals, English as an additional language and SEN, carry no marker: they describe who a school serves, not how well it serves them.

Historical trends

Each solid line is one school; the dashed line is the national average.

Overall absence

Free school meal eligibility (ever 6)

Pupils on roll

Ethnicity over time

One panel per school: the largest groups across this comparison, one colour per group, on a shared scale.

St Mary's Church of England Middle School, Puddletown

Dorset Studio School

Full profiles: St Mary's Church of England Middle School, Puddletown · Dorset Studio School