Ferndown First School
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Ferndown First School is a converter academy in Ferndown for boys and girls aged 4 to 9. It has 348 pupils, 6 more than it has places for. About 18 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, a bit fewer than at most schools. We give it 26 out of 100. That puts it below schools like it, ahead of 19% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2023.
Mountbatten Drive, Ferndown, BH22 9FB01202 873747fernfirst.dorset.sch.ukMr Sean Watts headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
A shorter visit on 10 November 2023 found nothing to change the school's grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall. A shorter follow-up visit found nothing to change that. The last full inspection was before September 2019, which is as far back as Ofsted's public records go, so we can't show its date or the grades for each area.
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
92 places were empty (20% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in. Pupil numbers have stayed about the same since 2021/22.
The last child to get a place lived 2.3 miles away in 2021. 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 2021. More children applied than there were places. The last place went to a child living 2.3 miles from the school. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 Primary | 60 | 55 | 137 | 60 | 2.3 miles | 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.
Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 24.4 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 32.0 (England 27.3).
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (28), emotional and mental health (24), Other difficulty or disability (12), Specific learning difficulty (9), Autistic spectrum disorder (3).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 348 | 360 | 343 | 359 | 356 | 361 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 18% | 19% | 23% | 25% | 25% | 26% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 4% | 6% | 5% | 4% | 2% | 1% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 13% | 14% | 15% | 14% | 13% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 4% | 2% | 3% | 2% | 3% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 93.8% 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 | 6.2% | 5.6% | 6.9% | 7.2% | 3.2% | 3.3% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 4.2% | 3.5% | 4.6% | 4.9% | 2.4% | 2.4% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 2.0% | 2.0% | 2.3% | 2.3% | 0.8% | 0.9% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 17.2% | 16.3% | 20.8% | 21.5% | 7.0% | 4.7% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 2.2 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 0.3 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
† These attendance figures are for Ferndown First School, the school this one replaced in January 2021. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ferndown Middle School | Academy | 130 m | 600 | Good 2023 | 56 | Compare |
| Parley First School | Academy | 0.7 miles | 313 | Good 2023 | 39 | Compare |
| Hampreston Church of England Voluntary Aided First School | Academy | 1.4 miles | 134 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| West Moors Middle School | Council | 1.6 miles | 240 | Report card 2026 | 49 | Compare |
| Oakhurst Community First School | Academy | 1.7 miles | 173 | Report card 2026 | 26 | Compare |
| St Mary's CofE First School & Nursery | Academy | 1.9 miles | 148 | No overall grade 2025 | 54 | Compare |
| Hayeswood First School | Academy | 2.3 miles | 148 | Good 2023 | 61 | Compare |
| Kinson Academy | Academy | 2.3 miles | 179 | Good 2022 | 41 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Ferndown 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 26 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 26% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 11 to 53. 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% | in line | +0.03 | Ofsted grade, 2.8 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | below | -0.20 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | below | -0.13 | 2024/25; 291 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 Ferndown First School a good school?
The figures are weak. Ferndown First School scores 26 out of 100. That is below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 19% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 11 to 53, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.
What is Ferndown First School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Ferndown First School good at its last full inspection on 10 November 2023.
How many pupils does Ferndown First School have?
348 pupils aged 4 to 9 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 342 places, so it is 102% full.
Is Ferndown First School oversubscribed, and how far away can you live?
Yes. For September 2021 the last place went to a child living 2.3 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 Ferndown First School?
Pupils were in school 93.8% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 17% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Ferndown First School?
The average class had 26.8 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. 23% of classes had more than 30 pupils.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Mountbatten Drive, Ferndown, BH22 9FB
- Telephone
- 01202 873747
- Website
- www.fernfirst.dorset.sch.uk
- Headteacher
- Mr Sean Watts
- Type of school
- Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 4-9
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Southern Education Trust (11 schools)
- Local authority
- Dorset
- Ward
- Ferndown North
- Constituency
- Christchurch
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 January 2021 (academy converter)
- URN
- 148161 · LAESTAB 8382020 · UKPRN 10086739
- Formerly
- Ferndown First School
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, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- Admissions outcomes: Dorset council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2021.
- 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.