Sunninghill Preparatory School
Sunninghill Preparatory School is an independent school in Dorchester for boys and girls aged 0 to 13. It has 167 pupils and room for 200.
South Court, South Walks Road, Dorchester, DT1 1EB01305 262306sunninghillprep.co.ukMr David Newberry headmasterAll details
Inspection
This private school is inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate, not Ofsted. Its reports are at isi.net.
Results
The government does not publish comparable results for most independent schools (IGCSEs are left out of its measures), so none are shown here.
Getting a place
Open to all. There is no entrance test.
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.
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 167 | 171 | 131 | 130 | 149 | 143 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | – | – | – | – | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | – | – | – | – | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 14% | 13% | 20% | 15% | 19% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 0% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 0% |
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 schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Mary's Catholic First School, Dorchester | Academy | 480 m | 177 | Good 2023 | 42 | Compare |
| St Osmund's Church of England Middle School | Academy | 790 m | 714 | Good 2022 | 55 | Compare |
| Manor Park Church of England First School | Academy | 890 m | 396 | Report card 2026 | 69 | Compare |
| Dorchester Middle School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 527 | Report card 2026 | 20 | Compare |
| The Thomas Hardye School | Academy | 1.0 miles | 2,014 | No overall grade 2025 | 60 | Compare |
| The Prince of Wales School | Council | 1.1 miles | 156 | No overall grade 2025 | 55 | Compare |
| Damers First School | Academy | 1.3 miles | 475 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Dorset Studio School | Studio schools | 1.3 miles | 332 | Good 2024 | 17 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Sunninghill Preparatory School a good school?
We don't have enough published data to score Sunninghill Preparatory School yet.
How many pupils does Sunninghill Preparatory School have?
167 pupils aged 0 to 13 were on the roll in January 2024. It has 200 places, so it is 84% full.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- South Court, South Walks Road, Dorchester, DT1 1EB
- Telephone
- 01305 262306
- Website
- www.sunninghillprep.co.uk
- Headmaster
- Mr David Newberry
- Type of school
- Independent school (Other independent school, independent schools)
- Phase
- Independent school, ages 0-13, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Local authority
- Dorset
- Ward
- Dorchester East
- Constituency
- West Dorset
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Opened
- 16 October 1957
- URN
- 113927 · LAESTAB 8386029 · UKPRN 10018673
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.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- 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.