The Forum Centre
The Forum Centre is a pupil referral unit in Blandford Forum for boys and girls aged 5 to 16. It has 19 pupils and room for 57. About 63 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England.
The Forum Centre, Park Road, Blandford Forum, DT11 7BX01258 455202theforumcentre.comMrs Kim Rickford headteacherAll details
Ofsted
Ofsted hasn't published an inspection for this school yet.
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.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (15), Moderate learning difficulty (1), Physical disability (1), Specific learning difficulty (1), language and communications needs (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 19 | 18 | 28 | 35 | 37 | 39 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 63% | 72% | 68% | 71% | 65% | 56% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 44% | 39% | 43% | 32% | 54% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 56% | 61% | 57% | 68% | 46% |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 19 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Among pupils from low-income families it was 56%, compared with – for everyone else.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 58% | 56% | 50% |
| Education | 47% | 50% | 14% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 0% | 14% |
| Work | 11% | 6% | 21% |
| Not in education, work or training | 26% | 13% | 14% |
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 schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Blandford School | Voluntary | 430 m | 1,103 | Good 2024 | 43 | Compare |
| Milldown CofE Academy | Academy | 680 m | 200 | Good 2022 | 25 | Compare |
| Archbishop Wake Church of England Primary School | Academy | 800 m | 411 | Good 2023 | 33 | Compare |
| Blandford St Mary Church of England Primary School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 208 | Not inspected | 54 | Compare |
| Bryanston School | Independent (grammar) | 1.0 miles | 776 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Durweston Church of England Primary School | Academy | 2.0 miles | 144 | Report card 2026 | 71 | Compare |
| Pimperne Church of England VC Primary School | Academy | 2.2 miles | 183 | Not inspected | 52 | Compare |
| Downlands Community School | Council | 2.3 miles | 201 | Report card 2026 | 11 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is The Forum Centre a good school?
We don't have enough published data to score The Forum Centre yet.
How many pupils does The Forum Centre have?
19 pupils aged 5 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 57 places, so it is 33% full.
Does The Forum Centre 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
- The Forum Centre, Park Road, Blandford Forum, DT11 7BX
- Telephone
- 01258 455202
- Website
- www.theforumcentre.com
- Headteacher
- Mrs Kim Rickford
- 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
- Pupil referral unit (Pupil referral unit, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Pupil referral unit / alternative provision, ages 5-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- Dorset
- Ward
- Blandford
- Constituency
- North Dorset
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 February 1999
- URN
- 131827 · LAESTAB 8381100 · UKPRN 10017103
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.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, consistent financial reporting 2024/25.
- 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.