Thorner's Church of England School, Litton Cheney
Primary · Voluntary aided school · Ages 2–11 · Dorchester, Dorset
Last distance offered · Reception 2025
5.143 miles
Published by Dorset Council · offers on 16 April 2025
2019 figure 🔒
Thorner's Church of England School, Litton Cheney is a primary school in Dorchester, Dorset for ages 2–11 (voluntary aided school). Its latest Ofsted outcome is Not judged, from the inspection on 24 September 2024. Dorset has published a last distance offered for this school for Reception 2019 to 2025 entry.
Thorner's Church of England School, Litton Cheney catchment area: last distance offered
Parents often call this the catchment area: it's how far from the school the last child offered a place lived. It changes every year.
| Entry | Last distance offered |
|---|---|
| Reception 2025 | 5.143 mi |
| Reception 2019 | 🔒 With a pass |
What the pass includes · How to read it: one past year, not a catchment
What the figures show
- The Reception 2025 last distance offered was 5.143 miles, 2nd longest of the 14 Dorset primary schools with a published Reception 2025 last distance; the middle figure was 3.27 miles.
- The 2025 Reception last distance was about the same as in 2019; Reception 2026 had 16 first-choice applications for 16 offers, and every first-choice family was offered a place.
- In 2024/25, 73% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (England 62%), while 7% reached the higher standard (England 8%).
- Its 2024/25 reading, writing and maths figure was the highest of 8 schools: this one and the 7 of the 8 nearest primary schools in Dorset that have results.
Worked out by Catchmently from the published figures on this page and those for other Dorset schools. Distances are as published; how they were measured differs between admission authorities.
Key facts
- Address
- Litton Cheney, Dorchester, DT2 9AU
- Type
- Voluntary aided school
- Phase
- Primary
- Ages
- 2–11
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Council
- Dorset
- Pupils on roll
- 115 January 2026 school census
- Free school meals
- 12.2% of pupils eligible
- Pupils per teacher
- 24.5
Official record: Get Information about Schools · as at 15 September 2026
Ofsted
Not judged Inspected 24 September 2024
Strengths
- “Everyone is proud to belong to this small, rural school.”
- “Relationships are warm and positive, which means pupils feel nurtured and safe.”
- “There are growing numbers of pupils at the school and yet parents and carers, pupils and staff continue to value the close-knit, family feel.”
To improve
- “However, adults do not always have high enough expectations for pupils in some younger classes.”
- “Sometimes, low-level disruption affects learning, which is not addressed robustly enough.”
- “However, the curriculum is not yet designed to be seamless from the early years.”
Safeguarding: Effective
Quoted from the Ofsted report published 22 October 2024 (read the report). Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0.
Exam results
| Measure | School | England |
|---|---|---|
| Key stage 2 · reading, writing and maths, expected standard (2024/25) | 73% | 62% |
Department for Education school performance data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Applications and offers
- 2026 Reception entry: 16 first-preference applications, 16 offers in total, 16 offers to first-preference applicants.
Department for Education, school-level applications and offers, figures on national offer day. Earlier years are in the pass.
Nearby primary schools
Straight-line distance, in Dorset.
- Burton Bradstock Church of England Voluntary Controlled School 3.8 mi Standards maintained Last distance published
- Powerstock Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School 4.3 mi Requires improvement
- Loders CofE Primary Academy 4.3 mi Standards maintained Last distance published
- Winterbourne Valley Church of England Aided First School 4.3 mi No Ofsted grade Last distance published
- Portesham Church of England Primary School 4.3 mi Not judged Last distance published
- Bridport Primary School 5.2 mi Good Last distance published
- Maiden Newton, Greenford Church of England Primary School 5.5 mi Good Last distance published
- St Catherine's Roman Catholic School 5.5 mi No Ofsted grade Last distance published