School Chooser

Beaucroft Foundation School

Special · ages 4-19MixedFoundation special school241 pupilsSixth formNurseryWimborneDorset
School Chooser ScoreNot scoredWe don't score this type of school.
OfstedGoodLast Ofsted inspection, November 2023
Reached the expected level at 110%England 63%
Attendance90.9%England 94.8%
Pupils from low-income families33%A bit more than most schools
PlacesFull241 pupils, 230 places
Pupils per teacher6.0School workforce census

Beaucroft Foundation School is a foundation special school in Wimborne for boys and girls aged 4 to 19. It has 241 pupils, 11 more than it has places for. About 33 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, a bit more than at most schools. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2023.

Wimborne Road, Colehill, Wimborne, BH21 2SS01202 886083beaucroft.dorset.sch.ukCo Headteacher Diane Makariou/Joseph Barnett Beaucroft School headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

Ofsted's last full inspection was on 21 November 2023, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.

Good overall.

TeachingOfsted calls this “quality of education”
Good
BehaviourOfsted calls this “behaviour and attitudes”
Good
WellbeingOfsted calls this “personal development”
Good
LeadershipOfsted calls this “leadership and management”
Good
Early years
Good
Sixth formOfsted calls this “post-16”
Good
Safeguarding
Effective
Yes

Results

GCSE results, summer 2025

13 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.

Average GCSE scoreOfficial name: Attainment 8
Strong pass in English and mathsOfficial name: Grade 5+ in English and maths
Standard pass in English and mathsOfficial name: Grade 4+ in English and maths
Progress from age 11-1.74In each subject, pupils here finished well over a grade behind children across England who started secondary school at the same level. (From 2015/16, the latest year there is. The government didn't work it out for the 2025 year group.)Official name: Progress 8
All GCSE measures, year by year
Measure202520242023202220192018DorsetEngland
Pupils at the end of Year 11131815151215

Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025

15 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England. With a year group this small, a couple of children can move the percentages a long way.

Reached the expected level at 110%
England 63%
Official name: Expected standard in reading, writing and maths
Working above the expected level0%
England 8%
Official name: Higher standard in reading, writing and maths
Reading scoreOfficial name: Reading average scaled score
Maths scoreOfficial name: Maths average scaled score
Trend
Reached the expected level at 11
2017 to 2025
2017: 0%0%20172018: 0%0%20182019: 0%0%20192023: 0%0%20232024: 0%0%20242025: 0%0%2025
Since 2017: +0%
All Year 6 measures, year by year
Measure202520242023201920182017DorsetEngland
Pupils tested151620161214
Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths0%0%0%0%0%0%57%63%
Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths0%0%0%0%0%0%7%8%
Expected level: readingReading expected standard0%0%0%0%0%0%
Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard0%0%0%0%0%0%
Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed)0%0%0%0%0%0%
Reading progressReading progress score-12.4-9.8-8.7-7.8
Maths progressMaths progress score-12.6-10.1-9.1-8.8
Expected level: low-income pupilsExpected standard, disadvantaged0%0%
Expected level: other pupilsExpected standard, non-disadvantaged0%0%

There are no progress figures for 2025. That year group missed their Year 2 tests during Covid, so there was no starting point to measure from. Progress figures come back with the December 2026 results. Tests were cancelled altogether in 2020 and 2021.

Does every child do well here?

A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. Every gap at this school is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.

At the end of primary school, 2025

Reached the expected level at 11Low-income pupils vs other pupils
0%0%
No gapEngland 21 pts
Reached the higher level at 11Low-income pupils vs all pupils
0%0%
No gapEngland 5 pts
First groupSecond groupEngland, each group

Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.

Getting a place

Admissions policy not published.

Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Dorset council's admissions booklet, send it to us.

Who goes here

Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.

Pupils on roll241Census January 2026
Places230105% full
Pupils from low-income families31%33% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English3%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support0%0 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan100%241 pupils with a plan
Pupils with extra funding (pupil premium)31%£73,700 extra funding in 2026/27; England 24%
Boys and girls157 / 84
White British pupils88%

Specialist SEND provision. A special school for pupils with autism, moderate learning difficulties, severe learning difficulties.

To get a place in the unit or resourced provision, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school. Other schools in Dorset with autism provision.

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Autistic spectrum disorder (111), Other difficulty or disability (42), Specific learning difficulty (31), language and communications needs (23), Moderate learning difficulty (13), Severe learning difficulty (11).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll241231216191168165
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals31%33%32%30%25%22%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language3%2%1%2%1%1%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support0%0%1%1%1%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans100%100%99%99%99%

Attendance and behaviour

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 90.9% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.

Attendance90.9%
England 94.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Pupils missing a lot of school27.8%
England 12.8%
Official name: Persistent absence
Suspensions per 100 pupils0.42024/25, 2 permanent exclusions
Missed without permission1.3%of school time, 2024/25
Attendance year by year
Measure2024/252023/242022/232021/222020/212018/19England
Sessions missedOverall absence9.1%9.2%10.1%11.4%8.7%7.0%5.2%
Missed with permissionAuthorised absence7.7%8.8%9.3%11.2%8.5%6.4%
Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence1.3%0.4%0.8%0.2%0.2%0.6%
Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence27.8%29.3%30.4%45.9%30.1%21.6%12.8%
SuspensionsSuspension rate0.42.30.00.01.2
Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions20000

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

Where the 15 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.

Still in education, work or training100%and stayed there for at least six months
Earlier years
Destination2022/23 leavers2021/22 leavers2020/21 leavers2019/20 leavers
Still in education, work or training100%100%100%88%
Education100%100%100%88%
Apprenticeship0%0%0%0%
Work0%0%0%0%
Not in education, work or training0%0%0%6%

Staff and money

From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.

Teachers40.5full-time equivalent, 47 people
Pupils per teacher6.0Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers81%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants68.4full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£56,297
Teachers who left in the year2%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies1
Sick days per teacher5.92024/25

Money

From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other special schools in England that report their accounts the same way.

Spend per pupil£27,922England £32,258. Total £6.4m
Income per pupil£28,062England £32,367. Total £6.5m
Spent on teachers per pupil£12,718England £11,930
Money in reserve10%A healthy amount put by: £663k, £2,870 per pupil. England 7%
Money in against money out+£32kit took in more than it spent this year
Where the money goes£27,922spent per pupil

Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.

The area around the school

Crimes within 500 m1112 months to June 2026, mostly violence and sexual offences
Local crime rate31 per 1,000 people66% lower than the England average
Typical house price£345,000Dorset
Nearest bus stop110 mCobbs Road, 10 stops within 500 m

Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.

Nearby schools

The closest schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored
SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
St Michael's Church of England Middle School, ColehillAcademy340 m563Good 202476Compare
Dumpton SchoolIndependent720 m338Not inspectedCompare
St John's Church of England First School, WimborneAcademy990 m148Good 202316Compare
Allenbourn Middle SchoolAcademy0.7 miles499No overall grade 202573Compare
Colehill First SchoolAcademy0.8 miles148Good 202369Compare
Hayeswood First SchoolAcademy0.9 miles148Good 202361Compare
Wimborne First School and NurseryAcademy0.9 miles400Good 202479Compare
Canford SchoolIndependent (grammar)1.4 miles650Not inspectedCompare

Questions parents ask

Is Beaucroft Foundation School a good school?

Beaucroft Foundation School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it good at its last inspection in November 2023.

What is Beaucroft Foundation School's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted rated Beaucroft Foundation School good at its last full inspection on 21 November 2023.

How good are Beaucroft Foundation School's SATs results?

In summer 2025, 0% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 0% went further and reached the higher level. The year group was small, so the percentages jump around a lot from year to year.

How many pupils does Beaucroft Foundation School have?

241 pupils aged 4 to 19 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 230 places, so it is 105% full.

What is attendance like at Beaucroft Foundation School?

Pupils were in school 90.9% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 28% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.

Does Beaucroft Foundation School have specialist SEND provision?

Yes. It is a special school for autism, moderate learning difficulties, severe learning difficulties. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.

Does Beaucroft Foundation School have a sixth form?

Yes.

These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.

Contact and details

Address
Wimborne Road, Colehill, Wimborne, BH21 2SS
Telephone
01202 886083
Website
www.beaucroft.dorset.sch.uk
Headteacher
Co Headteacher Diane Makariou/Joseph Barnett Beaucroft School
Type of school
Foundation special school (Foundation special school, special schools)
Phase
Special school, ages 4-19, with nursery, with sixth form
Gender
Mixed
Local authority
Dorset
Ward
Colehill & Wimborne Minster East
Constituency
Mid Dorset and North Poole
Setting
Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
URN
113956 · LAESTAB 8385950 · UKPRN 10014997

Recent changes

  • New KS4 results for 2024/25

Where these figures come from