St Mary's Church of England First School, Charminster
St Mary's Church of England First School, Charminster is a converter academy in Dorchester for boys and girls aged 4 to 9. It has 148 pupils and room for 150. About 10 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England.
West Hill, Charminster, Dorchester, DT2 9RD01305 263880stmarysfirstschool.orgMr Mick Homer headteacherAll details
Ofsted
Ofsted hasn't published an inspection for this school yet. That is normal for a school that opened in 2025: new schools usually get their first inspection within three years.
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.
60 places were empty (29% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in.
The last child to get a place lived 1.9 miles away in 2026, 1.4 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 2026. More children applied than there were places. The last place went to a child living 1.9 miles from the school, under the catchment area 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Primary | 30 | 33 | 58 | 30 | 1.9 miles (catchment area) | LA |
| 2022 Primary | 30 | 34 | 49 | 30 | 1.4 miles (catchment area) | LA |
The distances are the council's own, usually measured in a straight line from home to the school gate. If the distance is getting shorter each year, the school is getting harder to get into. See which councils we have this data for.
What a home within 1.9 miles of the school costs
Every home sold within that distance of the school (the typical cut-off over the last three years), of any type, from HM Land Registry records. If homes here cost more than the district average, that is the price people pay to live close enough to get in.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 28.7 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 31.0 (England 27.3).
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (15), language and communications needs (6), Autistic spectrum disorder (3), Specific learning difficulty (2), Hearing impairment (1), Moderate learning difficulty (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 148 | 149 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 10% | 7% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 3% | 1% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 17% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 5% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 95.9% 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 | 4.1% | 4.4% | 5.2% | 5.3% | 3.8% | 2.8% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 3.2% | 3.4% | 4.5% | 4.3% | 3.5% | 2.2% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 0.9% | 1.0% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 0.3% | 0.6% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 4.8% | 6.7% | 9.6% | 12.6% | 8.3% | 2.0% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 2.7 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
† These attendance figures are for St Mary's CofE VC First School, Charminster, the school this one replaced in January 2025. 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Damers First School | Academy | 1.2 miles | 475 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Dorchester Middle School | Academy | 1.7 miles | 527 | Report card 2026 | 20 | Compare |
| The Prince of Wales School | Council | 2.0 miles | 156 | No overall grade 2025 | 55 | Compare |
| St Mary's Catholic First School, Dorchester | Academy | 2.1 miles | 177 | Good 2023 | 42 | Compare |
| St Osmund's Church of England Middle School | Academy | 2.2 miles | 714 | Good 2022 | 55 | Compare |
| Manor Park Church of England First School | Academy | 2.3 miles | 396 | Report card 2026 | 69 | Compare |
| Winterbourne Valley Church of England Aided First School | Church of England | 3.9 miles | 60 | Report card 2026 | 19 | Compare |
| Piddle Valley Church of England First School | Academy | 4.6 miles | 40 | Good 2023 | 4 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is St Mary's Church of England First School, Charminster a good school?
We don't have enough published data to score St Mary's Church of England First School, Charminster yet.
How many pupils does St Mary's Church of England First School, Charminster have?
148 pupils aged 4 to 9 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 150 places, so it is 99% full.
Is St Mary's Church of England First School, Charminster oversubscribed, and how far away can you live?
Yes. For September 2026 the last place went to a child living 1.9 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 St Mary's Church of England First School, Charminster?
Pupils were in school 95.9% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 5% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at St Mary's Church of England First School, Charminster?
The average class had 29.6 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. 20% 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
- West Hill, Charminster, Dorchester, DT2 9RD
- Telephone
- 01305 263880
- Website
- www.stmarysfirstschool.org
- Headteacher
- Mr Mick Homer
- Type of school
- Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 4-9
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England, Diocese of Salisbury
- Multi-academy trust
- Initio Learning Trust (19 schools)
- Local authority
- Dorset
- Ward
- Charminster St Mary's
- Constituency
- West Dorset
- Setting
- Larger rural: Further from a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 January 2025 (academy converter)
- URN
- 151330 · LAESTAB 8383157 · UKPRN 10096315
- Formerly
- St Mary's CofE VC First School, Charminster
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 2022, 2026.
- House prices: HM Land Registry price paid data, December 2023 to December 2025, placed by postcode.
- 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.