Cerne Abbas CofE VC First School
similar schools
Cerne Abbas CofE VC First School is a Church of England school (voluntary controlled) in Dorchester for boys and girls aged 3 to 9. It has 77 pupils, 2 more than it has places for. About 6 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 77 out of 100. That puts it above schools like it, ahead of 79% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2023.
Duck Street, Cerne Abbas, Dorchester, DT2 7LA01300 341319cerneabbas.dorset.sch.ukMrs Catherine Cresswell headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 12 July 2023, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall.
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published. As a Church of England school it may put families of that faith first. Check the school's own admissions rules.
The school is full, with 3 more pupils than it has places for. More families apply than can get in, so things like how close you live and whether an older brother or sister is already here decide who gets a place. Pupil numbers have grown by 17% since 2021/22, so places are getting harder to come by.
The last child to get a place lived 9.3 miles away in 2022. Children in care, brothers and sisters of current pupils, faith and other priority groups are placed first. After that, the closer you live, the better your chances. Type in your postcode to see how far away you are.
We measure in a straight line from the middle of your postcode to the school. The council measures its own way, and the cut-off changes every year. Use this as a rough guide, and read the council's admissions booklet before you apply.
How places were given out for September 2022. More children applied than there were places. The last place went to a child living 9.3 miles from the school, under the sibling rule. Living closer than that didn't guarantee a place, but living much further away meant missing out that year.
| Entry | Places | Put it first | Applied at all | Got a place | How far the last child lived | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 Primary | 15 | 17 | 26 | 15 | 9.3 miles (sibling) | LA |
Who goes here
Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (4), Other difficulty or disability (1), Specific learning difficulty (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 77 | 81 | 77 | 73 | 75 | 68 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 5% | 7% | 10% | 8% | 9% | 12% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 0% | 1% | 1% | 3% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 12% | 14% | 26% | 23% | 25% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 3% | 4% | 1% | 0% | 0% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 96.8% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 3.2% | 4.5% | 5.9% | 7.0% | 1.7% | 2.8% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 2.3% | 3.9% | 4.9% | 6.5% | 1.3% | 2.4% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 0.8% | 0.6% | 1.0% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.4% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 3.5% | 6.0% | 12.5% | 15.9% | 2.3% | 0.0% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
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
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 primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Piddle Valley Church of England First School | Academy | 2.9 miles | 40 | Good 2023 | 4 | Compare |
| Buckland Newton Church of England Primary School | Academy | 3.1 miles | 110 | Report card 2026 | 55 | Compare |
| Maiden Newton, Greenford Church of England Primary School | Church of England | 4.8 miles | 137 | Good 2024 | 32 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Cerne Abbas CofE VC First School with the 47 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 47 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 77 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 77% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 50 to 91. That range is wide enough that the school could sit in the next band, so take the band as a rough guide rather than a verdict. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.
| What we looked at | How much it counts | Against schools like it | Effect on the score | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results over three years | 0% | no data | – | |
| Ofsted inspection | 20% (normally 20%, cut because the inspection is old) | in line | +0.02 | Ofsted grade, 3.2 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | in line | +0.04 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | well above | +0.30 | 2024/25; 58 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 0% | no data | – | |
| What parents say | 0% | no data | – |
Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.
Questions parents ask
Is Cerne Abbas CofE VC First School a good school?
Yes, going by the figures. Cerne Abbas CofE VC First School scores 77 out of 100. That is above schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 79% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 50 to 91, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.
What is Cerne Abbas CofE VC First School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Cerne Abbas CofE VC First School good at its last full inspection on 12 July 2023.
How many pupils does Cerne Abbas CofE VC First School have?
77 pupils aged 3 to 9 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 75 places, so it is 103% full.
Is Cerne Abbas CofE VC First School oversubscribed, and how far away can you live?
Yes. For September 2022 the last place went to a child living 9.3 miles away. Children in care, brothers and sisters of current pupils and other priority groups come before distance, so the cut-off moves every year.
What is attendance like at Cerne Abbas CofE VC First School?
Pupils were in school 96.8% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 3% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Cerne Abbas CofE VC First School?
The average class had 10.8 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.
Does Cerne Abbas CofE VC First School have a breakfast club?
Yes. It is on the government's free breakfast club programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Duck Street, Cerne Abbas, Dorchester, DT2 7LA
- Telephone
- 01300 341319
- Website
- www.cerneabbas.dorset.sch.uk
- Headteacher
- Mrs Catherine Cresswell
- Free breakfast club
- Yes: on the government's programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school (listed since September 2026).
- Type of school
- Church of England school (voluntary controlled) (Voluntary controlled school, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 3-9, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England, Diocese of Salisbury
- Local authority
- Dorset
- Ward
- Chalk Valleys
- Constituency
- West Dorset
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Further from a major town or city
- URN
- 113759 · LAESTAB 8383009 · UKPRN 10080167
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, consistent financial reporting 2024/25.
- Admissions outcomes: Dorset council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2022.
- Breakfast club: DfE list of schools on the free breakfast club programme.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.