Living in Poole with children
Poole, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. What the published figures say about its schools, its homes and daily life, each with its source and date. 141,009 people in 61,099 households; 26.0% of households have dependent children (Census 2021 (ONS, via NOMIS), summed over the town's output areas).
Schools
37 schools: 27 state primary, 7 state secondary, 1 sixth form or college, 2 privatePoole on the schools map →Every school in Poole, with inspection, league band and the last place offered
State primary schools (27)
| School | Inspection | League table | Last place offered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ocean Academy Poole | School remains Good (Improving) | Top 25% · 8th in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | — |
| Baden-Powell and St Peter's Church of England Junior School | Standards maintained | Top 25% · 12th in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | — |
| Canford Heath Junior School | School remains Good | Top 25% · 16th in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | — |
| Haymoor Junior School | School remains Good | Top 25% · 19th in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | — |
| Lytchett Matravers Primary School | Good | Top half · 13th in Dorset | 2.685 miles (2026) |
| Talbot Primary School | School remains Good | Top half · 23rd in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | — |
| Bishop Aldhelm's Church of England Primary School | Ofsted report card | Top half · 27th in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | — |
| St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Poole | Standards maintained | Top half · 28th in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | — |
| Longfleet Church of England Primary School | Standards maintained | Top half · 29th in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | — |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Poole | Good | Top half · 31st in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | — |
| Oakdale Junior School | Good | Lower half · 33rd in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | — |
| Hillbourne Primary School | Good | Lower half · 38th in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | — |
| Manorside Academy | Good | Lower half · 40th in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | — |
| Heatherlands Primary School | School remains Good | Lower half · 43rd in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | — |
| Hamworthy Park Junior School | Good | Lower half · 45th in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | — |
| Upton Junior School | Good | Lower half · 64th in Dorset | — |
| Livingstone Road Junior School | Ofsted report card | Lower half · 46th in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | — |
| Bayside Academy | Ofsted report card | Lower half · 47th in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | — |
| Ad Astra Infant School | Ofsted report card | — | — |
| Canford Heath Infant School | Outstanding | — | — |
| Courthill Infant School | Good | — | — |
| Lilliput Church of England Infant School | Good | — | — |
| Livingstone Road Infant School | Ofsted report card | — | — |
| Old Town Infant School and Nursery | Improved significantly | — | — |
| Stanley Green Infant Academy | School remains Good | — | — |
| Twin Sails Infant and Nursery School | Standards maintained | — | — |
| Upton Infant School | School remains Good | — | — |
State secondary schools (7)
| School | Inspection | League table | Last place offered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poole Grammar School | Good | Top 5% · 4th in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | — |
| Parkstone Grammar School | Good | Top 10% · 5th in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | — |
| Poole High School | School remains Good | Top 25% · 8th in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | — |
| Lytchett Minster School | School remains Good | Top half · 2nd in Dorset | 5.246 miles (2026) |
| St Edward's Roman Catholic/Church of England School, Poole | School remains Good | Top half · 13th in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | — |
| The Cornerstone Academy | School remains Good | Lower half · 17th in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | — |
| Magna Academy | Good | Lower half · 18th in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | — |
Sixth forms and colleges (1)
| School | Inspection | League table | Last place offered |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Bournemouth and Poole College | Good | — | — |
Private schools (2)
| School | Inspection | League table | Last place offered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bournemouth Collegiate Preparatory School | Independent Schools Inspectorate: standards met | — | — |
| Yarrells Preparatory 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 (670 detached, 361 semi-detached, 273 terraced, 444 flat or maisonette sales). Source: HM Land Registry Price Paid Data, standard sales inside the ONS built-up area outline of Poole. 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 Poole →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 94% of premises, and superfast (30 Mbit/s) at 99%, on average across the 1,718 postcodes in BH15, BH17, BH12. 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: 1 outstanding; 2 good, or expected standard; 1 not inspected yet. A typical nursery place in this region costs about £7.58 an hour for a two-year-old.
All of them: 4 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, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
The next dates for families applyingApplication deadlines and offer days: Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole · Dorset.
Every date, and reminders →Nearby towns
Keep Poole 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 Poole 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.