Corfe Hills School, Broadstone

Ofsted's report card from its 15 September 2026 inspection grades Corfe Hills School on 7 areas: 5 expected standard and 2 needs attention. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Achievement - Expected standard. "Achievement in key stage 4 is similar to the national averages overall."

Attendance and behaviour - Expected standard. "Leaders have brought about improvements in pupils' attendance over the past two years."

Curriculum and teaching - Expected standard. "Leaders have ensured that teaching approaches are informed by research evidence and applied consistently, including in the sixth form."

Inclusion - Expected standard. "The school identifies and address any gaps in pupils' knowledge of reading and mathematics, so that these do not persist over time."

Leadership and governance - Expected standard. "Leaders, including trust leaders and local governors, have worked together over two years to bring about necessary improvements to aspects of the school's work that were not working well."

Personal development and wellbeing - Needs attention. "Over time, the taught elements of the school's personal development programme have not had enough impact."

Post-16 provision - Needs attention. "Achievement in the sixth form has been below the national averages in recent years."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should ensure that the programme to support pupils' personal development fully prepares pupils for the experiences of adulthood. They should check that the curriculum effectively increases pupils' knowledge of different people's faiths and values, including our fundamental British values, and develops their understanding of how the law protects the rights of people with different characteristics"; "Leaders should improve student achievement in the sixth form, by maintaining and embedding further the culture of high expectations and aspiration that they have begun to establish"; "Leaders should reduce the rate of persistent absence among disadvantaged pupils further by addressing any remaining barriers to regular school attendance for these pupils"; "Leaders should increase the rigour with which they monitor and evaluate the impact of their work in inclusion, so that this is more systematic and provides consistent assurances of the difference the provision is making to pupils".

In its own words: "The school is a popular choice for young people living in Broadstone, Corfe Mullen, Creekmoor, Merley, Sturminster Marshall and the surrounding areas in both the Dorset County area and Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch Council area. Applications are invited from students in the 13 to 18 age range."

Clubs and activities named on the school's website include rugby, athletics, dance, drama, choir, orchestra, guitar and Duke of Edinburgh.

In 2026, pupils at Corfe Hills School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 44, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 50.2 in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole; and 47 across England.

44% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 56% in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole; and 47% in England.

That is down from 46.7 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.01: pupils made about average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 32.7, against 46.2 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 13.5 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 26 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, Geography and Business Studies.

Across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, 86% of families were offered their first-choice secondary school for 2026 entry, and 97% were offered one of the schools they named.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Corfe Hills School are Lockyer's Middle School (0.9 miles, Good); Broadstone Middle School (1 mile, Good); Poole Grammar School (1.5 miles, Good, selective, Attainment 8 70.2); and Parkstone Grammar School (1.8 miles, Outstanding, selective, Attainment 8 67.6).

Each of them had higher 2026 results than Corfe Hills School.

Corfe Hills School is one of 19 schools run by Initio Learning Trust, an academy trust.

12 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Corfe Hills School (as of April 2026): 83% would recommend the school, 75% say their child is happy there and 100% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (100%); the weakest, that they are kept well informed about progress (67%).

Of the 250 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 80% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 38% to a further education college, 7% to an apprenticeship and 6% into work.

Of the 108 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 32% went on to university or other higher education, 10% to apprenticeships and 34% into work. 9% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

15.4% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), and 3.5% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The nearest railway station is Hamworthy Rail Station, about 3.1 miles away in a straight line.

4 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Corfe Hills School (n-bound), 90 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Corfe Hills School stands in is among the 10% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In August 2026, police recorded 50 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and criminal damage and arson. That is well below the typical figure around schools in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (223).

In 2024/25, Corfe Hills School issued 624 suspensions, 67 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 8 permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Corfe Hills School are Rushcombe First School (0.5 miles), Springdale First School (0.6 miles), Broadstone First School (0.7 miles) and Henbury View First School (0.8 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.