Living in Blandford Forum with children
Blandford Forum, Dorset. What the published figures say about its schools, its homes and daily life, each with its source and date. 11,805 people in 5,407 households; 24.2% of households have dependent children (Census 2021 (ONS, via NOMIS), summed over the town's output areas).
Schools
14 schools: 10 state primary, 1 state secondary, 3 privateBlandford Forum on the schools map →Every school in Blandford Forum, with inspection, league band and the last place offered
State primary schools (10)
| School | Inspection | League rank | Last place offered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Durweston Church of England Primary School | Ofsted report card | Top 6% (4/79) in Dorset | 2.626 miles (2025) |
| Spetisbury CofE Primary School | School remains Good | Top 7% (5/79) in Dorset | 3.994 miles (2026) |
| Shillingstone Church of England Primary School | Good | Top 23% (18/79) in Dorset | 3.378 miles (2025) |
| Blandford St Mary Church of England Primary School | Standards maintained | Top 26% (20/79) in Dorset | 1.638 miles (2026) |
| Archbishop Wake Church of England Primary School | School remains Good | Top 35% (27/79) in Dorset | — |
| Pimperne Church of England VC Primary School | — | Top 37% (29/79) in Dorset | 4.553 miles (2025) |
| Milldown CofE Academy | Good | (56/79) in Dorset | — |
| St Nicholas Church of England Primary School, Child Okeford | Ofsted report card | (70/79) in Dorset | — |
| Downlands Community School | Ofsted report card | (71/79) in Dorset | — |
| Milborne St Andrew First School | School remains Good | — | — |
State secondary schools (1)
| School | Inspection | League rank | Last place offered |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Blandford School | Good | (11/19) in Dorset | — |
Private schools (3)
| School | Inspection | League rank | Last place offered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bryanston School | Independent Schools Inspectorate: standards not met | Top 34% (2/6) in Dorset | — |
| Milton Abbey School | Independent Schools Inspectorate: standards met | (6/6) in Dorset | — |
| Hanford School | Independent Schools Inspectorate: standards met | — | — |
Rank: the school's place among its council's schools of the same phase, from three years of DfE results (kinplace's league table, how it is worked out); schools with hidden or no results get none. Inspections: Ofsted and ISI. Last place offered: the council's offer-day figures. School register: DfE Get Information about Schools, updated 17 October 2026.
Homes and prices
Typical sale, last 12 months (Land Registry)The middle sale of each type, September 2025 to August 2026: half sold for more, half for less (42 detached, 41 semi-detached, 61 terraced, 26 flat or maisonette sales). Source: HM Land Registry Price Paid Data, standard sales inside the ONS built-up area outline of Blandford Forum. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Look up a home in Blandford Forum →Getting around
Stops and stations (NaPTAN), and broadband (Ofcom)Source: DfT, NaPTAN (National Public Transport Access Nodes). Straight-line distances.
Gigabit broadband can be ordered at 82% of premises, and superfast (30 Mbit/s) at 97%, on average across the 1,012 postcodes in DT11. Check the postcode you are looking at: it can differ street by street.
Source: Ofcom Connected Nations, July 2025, fixed broadband coverage by postcode (an average of postcodes, not of homes).
Safety and environment
The town centre; addresses varyChildcare
Ofsted early years register; published pricesWhat Ofsted found: 2 outstanding; 1 strong or better in every area; 4 good, or expected standard; 4 not inspected yet. A typical nursery place in this region costs about £6.66 an hour for a two-year-old.
All of them: 11 in Dorset.
Sources: Ofsted, Childcare providers and inspections; each nursery's own fees page, read by 16 October 2026; Coram Family and Childcare, Childcare Survey 2026: average nursery price for 50 hours a week after the working-parent entitlement (paying for 20 hours), by region.
Childcare costs near you →Key dates, Dorset
The next dates for families applyingApplication deadlines and offer days: Dorset.
Every date, and reminders →Nearby towns
Keep Blandford Forum in your plan beside the other towns you are weighing up, and see each school here worked out for your address and your children.Add Blandford Forum to your plan
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Sources are named beside each figure. How we know · All sources.