Pupils aged seven to 11 in Dorset have some of the worst attainment rates in the country according to new figures.

A report to the recent meeting of the Dorset Council's People and Health meeting revealed that Dorset is now in the bottom 20 per cent of all local authorities for key stage 2 subjects.

One councillor said that attainment figures in Dorset schools are now so poor that many young families are thinking twice about moving here. 

The report revealed that for Key Stage 2 boys’ maths ability is 5 per cent below national average with girls falling 6 per cent below average. 

South Dorset MP Lloyd Hatton shared his great concern over these latest findings and has put plans in place to improve this. 

He said: "These concerning figures underline how the previous Conservative Government let down children across Dorset. I am now working hand-in-hand with this new Labour Government to make sure every young person gets the best start in life. 

"Together, we’re rolling out free breakfast clubs in every primary school, recruiting 6,500 more teachers, and investing £1.4 billion into rebuilding 500 schools. 

"Locally, I'll be out listening to headteachers and parents, that way we can deliver the tailored additional support needed in each school."

The poor results come despite school attendance figures remaining relatively high compared with other areas, with more than three quarters of schools now run as academies rather than coming under the direct control of Dorset Council.

Only one school, Winterbourne Valley First School, was found to require improvement in a 2023 Ofsted Report, the majority of primary schools were ranked "good" in recent inspections. 

Despite this councillor Carole Jones, ward member for Sturminster Newton, told the county’s People and Health Scrutiny that if she was a parent thinking of moving to Dorset the figures would make her reconsider.

She said: “I didn’t realise Dorset are in the bottom 20 per cent. I just wonder how many governors, or academy committee members, actually know that… every school will have a curriculum committee and perhaps that is something they should be focusing on a bit more,”

Following this, she said it was damning that some schools were using PE teachers to teach maths because they could not afford a decent maths teacher.

She added: “Last week we were talking about economic regeneration. If I was a young family wanting to move to Dorset and I saw that we are in the bottom 20per cent I just don’t think I would come if I had, or wanted to have young children. That’s just not where we want to be.”

The committee heard that wider issues for the county in attracting maths teachers was not just the national shortage of teachers in that specialism, but issues around whether Dorset was affordable for someone on a young teachers’ pay.

Cllr Toni Coombs, who chairs the committee, said work would be needed with other areas of the council is trying to make key worker housing more widely available.

She said: “None of it is a short fix, but if we can join all the different areas of the council up then, maybe, we can start to make progress."

Weymouth councillor Louie O' Leary said that despite the concern over academic standards some pupils were skilled in more practical subjects and they, too, needed a range of opportunities to be offered in Dorset.