Our Local Schools

Shaftesbury has several good schools locally. The Catholic schools are:

Wardour Catholic Primary School is about 7 miles north-east of Shaftesbury.

St Mary's Marnhull which is also a primary school is about 7 miles south-west of Shaftesbury.

St. Mary's School, Shaftesbury is a private girl's school with a great reputation. It is just over a mile from Shaftesbury off the A30 heading east towards Salisbury.

Further afield, in Salisbury (which is about 30 miles from Shaftesbury) is St Joseph's Catholic School; St Antony's Leweston, which is two private girl's schools, a prep school and a senior school is 20 miles west of Shaftesbury near Sherborne; and Downside, the Benedictine abbey school which has recently started taking girls and which is 32 miles away to the north-west. Some children who live within the parish do travel daily to school in Salisbury.

In terms of non-Catholic schools:

The Abbey School is a good Church of England primary school in Shaftesbury.

Shaftesbury School is a large comprehensive school that has just received a very large grant from central government.

Semley School is another good Church of England primary school in the village of Semley about 4 miles north of Shaftesbury.

Gillingham School, a former Grammar school is about 4 miles north-west of Shaftesbury and has a phenomenal reputation.

St Mary the Virgin is a brand new (2007) Church of England primary school in Gillingham.

In Salisbury, there are many good non-Catholic schools: Bishop Wordsworth's School, Chafyn Grove School, Godolphin School, Godolphin Prep School, Leaden Hall School, Leehurst Swan School and Salisbury Cathedral School.

And of course in terms of non-Catholic private schools that are reachable from Shaftesbury, there are many, including: Bryanston, Canford, Clayesmore, Clayesmore Prep School, Hazelgrove Prep School, Kings Bruton, Bruton School for Girls, Sherborne, Sherborne Prep School and Sherborne School for Girls.