The Prince of Wales School
Community school in Dorchester, DT1 2HH, taking ages 2 to 9, 156 on roll.
Homes you looked at
Each measured from its postcode's centre against the 0.87 miles Dorset published for 2025/26, as the checker measures.
Opened on this device and kept on it only: just their postcodes are sent, to this site, to measure them.
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Will an address get in?
In 2025/26, the furthest child offered a place lived 0.87 miles away.
Applying for September 2027? Primary applications close 15 January 2027; offers on 16 April 2027.
How this compares: every Dorset school's distance, tightest first →
The circle is 0.87 miles, the distance the school admitted from in 2025/26.
The Prince of Wales School: 0.87 miles, 2025/26 St Mary's Church of England First School, Charminster: 1.47 miles, 2025/26, published by Dorset
How to read this
Most English schools do not have a catchment area. When The Prince of Wales School is oversubscribed, places go outward from the school until they run out, so the distance moves each year with how many families applied and where they lived.
Distances are measured from the postcode's centre, not a front door; a postcode covers a few houses. Siblings, looked-after children come before distance, so a school can fill before distance counts at all.
Real admission areas are not circular: the circle is the distance, not a boundary. The labels on the map are postcode districts whose centre falls inside both circles; each opens the district's guide.
The address on the closing date is the one the council uses. How admissions work.
One published year so far: 2025/26, from Dorset. With two or more, the map can draw any of them.
Source: Dorset, published admission distances, 2025/26
Where The Prince of Wales School and St Mary's Church of England First School, Charminster are both in reach
Both distances are drawn on the map above. St Mary's Church of England First School, Charminster admitted from 1.47 miles in 2025/26, published by Dorset. Its own page has the rest of its figures.
No postcode district has its centre inside both distances. The two schools admit from 0.87 and 1.47 miles, and the ground those circles share holds no district centre, which is a fact about where the centres fall rather than about any one address. The map above shows both, and the postcode checker answers for both.
Sign up to save both schools and be told when either council republishes the distance these answers rest on.
Drop St Mary's Church of England First School, Charminster and go back to one school.
If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Dorset, 34 of 105 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (32.4%; England 19.9%), counted for all the council's schools together. How every council compares.
Other schools nearby with a published distance
The closest schools to The Prince of Wales School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.
| School | Phase | Admitted from | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Osmund's Church of England Middle School Both in reach | Secondary | 4.47 mi 2025/26 | 1.0 mi |
| St Mary's Catholic First School, Dorchester Both in reach | Primary | 0.39 mi 2025/26 | 1.1 mi |
| St Mary's Church of England First School, Charminster Both in reach | Primary | 1.47 mi 2025/26 | 2.0 mi |
The distance as a picture
What kind of school this is
| Religious character | No religious character |
| Sixth form | Does not have a sixth form |
| How full | 156 pupils in 150 places (104% full, over capacity) |
| Local authority | Dorset |
Department for Education register (GIAS).
How the school is doing
Ofsted, and the Department for Education's published performance data.
Who goes to The Prince of Wales School
| Girls and boys | 48.7% girls, 51.3% boys |
| English as an additional language | 3.2% of pupils |
| Free school meals | 10.3% of pupils eligible |
DfE school census, most recent published year.
What it costs to live within reach of The Prince of Wales School
Cheapest district inside the 0.87 miles: DT1, median £285,000.
| District | Area | From the school | Median sold price |
|---|---|---|---|
| DT1 | Dorset | 0.6 mi | £285,000 103 sales |
How to read this
The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 0.87 miles the school admitted from in 2025/26, cheapest first, by the median of real sales around each district's centre. A district is wide, so check the address itself, not the list. Districts without enough recorded sales to rank are not shown.
How this compares across England: what a tight gate costs, school by school.
Source: HM Land Registry sold prices, via each district's area guide
Getting to The Prince of Wales School by bus
Best-served stop: The Thomas Hardye School, 0.3 mi away, with 0.5 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 08:35, last 17:40.
Every stop within 600 m
| Stop | From the school | Weekday daytime, an hour | Evening | Sunday | Routes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maiden Castle Road | 89 yd | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 |
| Vespasian Way | 0.1 mi | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 |
| Vespasian Way | 0.2 mi | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 |
These are scheduled departures, not buses observed running. Two stops on opposite sides of a road are two rows.
Source: operators' timetables on the Bus Open Data Service (Department for Transport), week of 8 Sep 2026
The fee-paying alternative
Weighing The Prince of Wales School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around DT1: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at DT1 2HH, by the school: council tax, energy, prices, rent, stamp duty →
Checking the house as well as the school
The full report checks one address against every nearby school, with sold prices, flood risk and crime.
Common questions
What is the catchment area for The Prince of Wales School?
The Prince of Wales School does not have one in the sense most people mean. Like most English schools, an oversubscribed year offers places outward from the school until they run out. The nearest thing to an answer: the furthest child admitted in 2025/26 lived 0.87 miles away, per Dorset.
How close do I need to live to get a place at The Prince of Wales School?
Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 0.87 miles was enough in 2025/26, and at 104% full the school has little slack. The distance moves every year with the number of applications, so treat last year's figure as evidence, not a promise.
Does buying a house near The Prince of Wales School guarantee a place?
No. Admission criteria usually put looked-after children, siblings ahead of distance, so places can be filled before distance is reached. Councils also check that the address is genuinely where the child lives.
Every Dorset school's distance
All Dorset schools with a published admission distance, tightest first →
How school admissions actually work, and what the distance means →
Put The Prince of Wales School's figure on your own site
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Admission distance published by Dorset. School details from the Department for Education's register, ratings from Ofsted. Read how every figure on this site is sourced on the methodology page. If something here looks wrong, tell us and it goes on the accuracy log.