Dorset - Education

Education

See also: List of schools in Dorset, List of schools in Bournemouth, and List of schools in Poole

Responsibility for state schools in Dorset is divided between three local education authorities: Dorset County Council, which covers the majority of the county, and Bournemouth and Poole unitary authorities. Most of the Dorset County Council area operates a two-tier comprehensive system whereby pupils attend a primary school before completing their education at secondary school. Only Dorchester, Ferndown, Wimborne and Purbeck maintain a three-tier system (first, middle and high school), although Purbeck is expected to switch to a two-tier system by 2013 because of an excess of unfilled places. Bournemouth operates a two-tier system; Poole operates a three-tier system but will switch to two tiers from September 2013. Poole and Bournemouth are two of a minority of local authorities in England to maintain selective education, each containing two single-sex grammar schools which select pupils on the basis of an eleven plus examination. Some of the county's schools are academies—self-governing state schools which have become independent of their local education authority and are maintained directly by the Department for Education. In 2010, 59.4% of pupils attending schools in the county council area gained at least five GCSEs at A*–C grades including English and maths, above the national average of 53.4%. Bournemouth and Poole also recorded above average results at 56.5% and 55.3% respectively. However, most non-selective schools in the two unitary authorities fell below the national average.

Dorset contains a range of privately-funded independent schools. Many are boarding schools which also take day pupils, such as the co-educational Canford School which is based around a 19th century Grade I listed manor house; St Mary's, a Catholic girls' school in Shaftesbury; and Sherborne School, a boys school founded in the 16th century.

Four of the county's five largest towns contain a further education college: Weymouth College, Kingston Maurward College in Dorchester and Bournemouth and Poole College which is one of the largest in the UK. Dorset has two higher education establishments situated in the heart of the county's south east conurbation. Bournemouth University has facilities across Bournemouth and Poole and over 17,000 students. Previously named Bournemouth Polytechnic, it was granted university status as a result of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. The Arts University College at Bournemouth is situated between the border of Poole and Bournemouth. It became a higher education institute in 2001 and was given degree-awarding powers in 2008.