In Dorset, there are 476 adult Social Care services (figures from April 2012), including 81 care homes with nursing, 266 care homes without nursing and 129 services providing care in the home and supported living.
For extensive information on Health and Social Care in Dorset, including NHS hospitals, GPs, leading dentists and orthodontists, pharmacists or opticians, adult residential care, health & safety at work, childcare and family support services, disabilities, fostering & adopting and much more, please visit the Dorset County Council website on Dorsetforyou.
Schools & education
Most of the Dorset 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). However, Purbeck is expected to switch to a two-tier system by 2023 due to excessive surplus school places. Bournemouth operates a two-tier system and Poole operates a three-tier system but will switch to two-tiers from September 2023.
Poole and Bournemouth are two of a minority of local authorities in England that maintain selective education. Each contains two single-sex grammar schools that select pupils based on an eleven-plus examination.
Some of the county’s schools are academies—self-governing state schools that 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. Dorset contains a range of privately funded independent schools, many of which are boarding schools that also welcome day pupils.
Language Schools
Dorset offers excellent access to accredited language schools, many of which are located in Bournemouth and Poole. Provision is available to meet the needs of the young and adults alike.