UK Schools
The Blandford School
The Blandford School is a mixed local-authority maintained secondary school in Blandford Forum, Dorset Council, teaching 1,103 pupils aged 11 to 18. Ofsted rated it Good at its last graded inspection in April 2024. In 2024–2025, GCSE Attainment 8 was 47 (England 46.1). The 2025–2026 school year runs from 8 September 2025 to 22 July 2026.
Ofsted inspection
The latest published Ofsted judgement for The Blandford School.
Scale: Outstanding Good Requires improvement Inadequate
Term dates & holidays 2025–2026
Autumn, spring and summer terms, half-terms, INSET days and bank holidays for The Blandford School.
- 3–4 Inset Days
- 5 Years 7 & 12 staggered start
- 8 All students in school (Start of Autumn Term)
- 25 Open Evening (Year 5 17:00pm; Year 6 17:45pm)
- 26 Inset Day
- 27–31 Autumn Half Term Holiday
- 18 Last Day of Autumn Term
- 19 Inset Day
- 22–31 Christmas Holiday
- 1–2 Christmas Holiday
- 5 Start of Spring Term
- 16–20 Spring Half Term Holiday
- 23 Inset Day
- 27 Last Day of Spring Term
- 30–31 Easter Holiday
- 1–10 Easter Holiday
- 13 Start of Summer Term
- 4 Early May Bank Holiday
- 25–29 Summer Half Term Holiday
- 22 Last Day of Summer Term
Key dates (2025–2026)
- Inset Days September 3-4, 2025 Inset Day
- Years 7 & 12 staggered start September 5, 2025 Event
- All students in school (Start of Autumn Term) September 8, 2025 Term
- Open Evening (Year 5 17:00pm; Year 6 17:45pm) September 25, 2025 Event
- Inset Day September 26, 2025 Inset Day
- Autumn Half Term Holiday October 27-31, 2025 Holiday
- Last Day of Autumn Term December 18, 2025 Term
- Inset Day December 19, 2025 Inset Day
- Christmas Holiday December 22, 2025 - January 2, 2026 Holiday
- Start of Spring Term January 5, 2026 Term
- Spring Half Term Holiday February 16-20, 2026 Holiday
- Inset Day February 23, 2026 Inset Day
- Last Day of Spring Term March 27, 2026 Term
- Easter Holiday March 30 - April 10, 2026 Holiday
- Start of Summer Term April 13, 2026 Term
- Early May Bank Holiday May 4, 2026 Holiday
- Summer Half Term Holiday May 25-29, 2026 Holiday
- Last Day of Summer Term July 22, 2026 Term
Exam results & performance
The measures that carry the most signal. Open a section to compare The Blandford School with Dorset Council and England.
Key stage 4 (GCSE) 47 Attainment 8 score
Year 11 results across eight qualifications, including English and maths.
This school Dorset Council England
16 to 18 (A level & sixth form) 37.21 A level average point score
Results for students finishing post-16 study.
This school Dorset Council England
Attendance 21.9% Persistently absent pupils
Absence across the whole school year.
This school Dorset Council England
What pupils do after GCSEs 95% In education, apprenticeship or work
Still in education, an apprenticeship or work a year after key stage 4.
This school Dorset Council England
What students do after 16 to 18 study 95% In education, apprenticeship or work
Destinations the year after finishing post-16 study.
This school Dorset Council England
About this data source & caveats
Progress 8 is not published for 2024–2025. This year group missed their key stage 2 tests in 2020, so there is no baseline to measure progress from.
Attendance comparisons are pupil-weighted averages we calculate from every school’s published absence figure — the DfE absence file has no local authority or England rows of its own.
We show the headline measures only. Threshold and curriculum-policy figures — grade 4+ in English and maths, EBacc entry and points, the per-subject key stage 2 breakdown, academic and applied splits at 16 to 18 — reflect admissions and curriculum choices more than school quality, so they are left to GOV.UK. Progress measures matter most because they compare pupils with others who started at the same level; attainment on its own largely tracks a school’s intake.
Figures are the Department for Education’s official published results for The Blandford School. Results are suppressed where too few pupils were entered. England figures are the average for state-funded schools. “Top x%” is this school’s position among all schools in England with a published figure for that measure — the DfE does not publish league table rankings.
Source: Compare school and college performance, Department for Education. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Location & catchment area
Indicative only. This is a nearest-school (Voronoi) estimate — the area closer to The Blandford School than to any other secondary school. Real admissions depend on the school’s own policy (straight-line distance, siblings, faith, feeder schools and available places) and change each year. Always confirm with the school and local authority admissions team.