St Mary's Church of England First School, Charminster, Dorchester

Overview

St Mary's Church of England First School, Charminster is a state-funded school (academy converter) in Dorchester, South West, for pupils aged 4–9. This summary is generated only from official structured fields.

School details

Official establishment type: Academy converter
Establishment group: Academies
Phase of education: Primary
Age range: Ages 4–9
Gender of entry: Mixed
Boarding: No boarders
Sixth form: No
Religious character: Church of England
School capacity: 150
Pupils on roll: 148
URN: 151330

Admissions

Local authority: Dorset
Academy trust or group: INITIO LEARNING TRUST

Contact the school or your local authority for catchment and application deadlines.

School places

DfE school capacity survey · May 2025 (2024/25)

Capacity at survey date: 210
Pupils on roll: 150
Unfilled places at survey date: 60

A dated snapshot from the Department for Education school capacity survey, separate from the school details above. Unfilled places at the survey date do not mean places are currently available for admission. About this data

Official admissions data

Applications & demand

Preferences expressed by families through coordinated admissions, shown over time.

2026/27 admissions · Reception

First preferences: 33
Total preferences: 57
Offers made: 30

First preferences compared with offers

1.1 first preferences per offer

33 first preferences and 30 offers were recorded for 2026/27.

What does this mean?

This is the Department for Education's own published comparison of first preferences with total offers recorded. It indicates the level of requests made through coordinated admissions. Offers are not necessarily the school's maximum capacity, admissions arrangements vary between local authorities, the figure is not a measure of school quality, and it should not be used on its own to judge the likelihood of gaining a place.

First preferences over time

Latest five available admissions years. Missing years are not estimated.

Admissions history

Admissions year	First preferences	Total preferences	Offers made
2026/27	33	57	30
2025/26	28	39	29
2024/25	24	50	25
2023/24	28	56	29
2022/23	34	49	30

Source: Department for Education · Applications and offers data.

Location

Address: West Hill, Charminster, Dorchester, Dorset, DT2 9RD
Local authority: Dorset
Area: Schools in Dorset

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