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Safeguarding context · Local authority

Dorset: the safeguarding context

  • 184 schools and colleges
  • England
  • Dorset Safeguarding Children Partnership

Evidence of the local risks around every school and college in Dorset, ready for your policy, your staff and your inspector.

What children's services, the health service and the police record across Dorset, the local safeguarding arrangements, and the 184 open schools and colleges in the Department for Education register for Dorset, England. Everything here describes the area. None of it rates a school or college.

£149 for 12 months

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First finding · Harm and risk outside the home (ROTH) across Dorset

Across Dorset, children's social care recorded sexual abuse by another child in a higher share of assessments than across England.

This describes what social workers record for the whole authority, never a school, a college or any child, and a higher share can reflect better identification as easily as more harm.

See the figures behind it

Order the report for a school or college in Dorset

£149 per school, college or campus for 12 months, the same however many an order holds. Choose it from the list below and order from its page. What's included.

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Local safeguarding arrangements

Dorset is covered by Dorset Safeguarding Children Partnership.

If a child is in immediate danger, call 999. Links checked 1 November 2026.

What is recorded across Dorset

Published figures for the whole authority, or the police force area it sits in, beside the national figure named in each table where one is published. Counts below three are shown as fewer than 3.

What children's services record, year to 31 March 2025, the latest year published

Children in need, child protection plans and the factors social workers identified at assessment across Dorset. The whole authority, never a school, college or setting.

Measure Dorset England Compared
Children in need at 31 March 324.2 per 10,000 children (2,177 children) 330.3 Similar
Children on child protection plans at 31 March 41.4 per 10,000 children (278 children) 40.6 Similar
Child criminal exploitation 2.4% of assessments 3.2% Lower
Child sexual exploitation 1.5% of assessments 2.4% Lower
Gangs 1.1% of assessments 1.7% Lower
Going missing 2.6% of assessments 3.3% Lower
Trafficking not published 0.4% Not compared
Sexual abuse by another child 3.8% of assessments 2.5% Higher
Physical abuse by another child 3.2% of assessments 3% Similar
Domestic abuse, the child as victim 15.9% of assessments 11.3% Higher
Domestic abuse, a parent or carer as victim 33.2% of assessments 31.7% Similar
Self-harm 2.9% of assessments 5% Lower
The child's mental health 17.8% of assessments 17.6% Similar
Drug misuse by the child 6.5% of assessments 4.8% Higher
Alcohol misuse by the child 5.3% of assessments 2.1% Higher
Socially unacceptable behaviour 5.2% of assessments 7% Lower
Neglect 30.6% of assessments 17.6% Higher
Emotional abuse 23.1% of assessments 19% Higher

Department for Education, Children in need, reporting year 2025.

Young people's health and youth justice

Published figures for Dorset against England; higher or lower is the publisher's own significance test.

Measure Period Dorset England Compared
Hospital admissions for self-harm, ages 10 to 24 2023/24 543.1 per 100,000, age-standardised 266.6 Higher
Hospital admissions for violence, including sexual violence, all ages 2022/23 - 24/25 28.7 per 100,000, age-standardised 31.9 Similar
First-time entrants to the youth justice system, ages 10 to 17 2025 122.3 per 100,000 aged 10 to 17 127.1 Similar
Hospital admissions for substance misuse, ages 15 to 24 2022/23 - 24/25 43.5 per 100,000, age-standardised 39 Similar
Hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions, under 18 2021/22 - 23/24 45.4 per 100,000 under 18 22.6 Higher
16 and 17 year olds not in education, employment or training, or not known 2025/26 4.7% of 16 and 17 year olds 5.8% Lower
Children under 16 in relative low income families 2024/25 15.5% of children under 16 19.8% Lower

Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, Fingertips public health profiles.

Domestic abuse, year ending March 2025, the latest year published

Police-recorded domestic abuse and MARAC cases for the Dorset police force area, the force area the authority sits in.

Measure Dorset England and Wales Compared
Domestic abuse-related incidents and crimes recorded by the police 25.8 per 1,000 people 21.8 Higher
Domestic abuse-related crimes recorded by the police 11 per 1,000 people 13.2 Lower
Cases discussed at multi-agency risk assessment conferences (MARACs) 38.5 per 10,000 adult women 50.2 Lower

Office for National Statistics, Domestic abuse in England and Wales data tool.

Each school's or college's report sets these figures out chapter by chapter, beside the picture around its own site, and writes what they mean into the policy, the staff briefing and the report to governors, trustees or the proprietor.

Questions about safeguarding in Dorset

Which safeguarding partnership covers Dorset?

Dorset is covered by Dorset Safeguarding Children Partnership. Its procedures, threshold guidance and training are published at https://pdscp.co.uk.

How do I report a concern about a child in Dorset?

If a child is in immediate danger, call 999. Otherwise the council's page for reporting a concern about a child is https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/w/worried-about-a-child. Staff in a school or college should follow their own procedure and tell the designated safeguarding lead.

What do children's services record about harm and risk outside the home (ROTH) in Dorset?

Across Dorset, children's social care recorded sexual abuse by another child in a higher share of assessments than across England. These figures describe the whole authority, never any school, college or child, and a higher share can reflect better identification as easily as more harm.

Schools and colleges in Dorset

Each page describes the context around that school or college: the local arrangements, the places children and young people pass and gather, and the neighbourhood around each site. Open a page to order its report.

Primary (119)

Middle deemed secondary (10)

Secondary (18)

All-through (1)

Sixth forms and colleges (1)

Other schools and colleges (35)

Colleges with a campus in Dorset

College campuses in Dorset, whichever authority their college is registered in. Each campus page reads the context against Dorset, where the campus is.

Nurseries, pre-schools and clubs in Dorset

162 registered nurseries, pre-schools and out-of-school clubs on non-domestic premises in Dorset have their own pages, each describing the safeguarding context around the setting and the same authority figures as above. See every setting in Dorset.

£149 for 12 months

Evidence of the local risks around your school, college, nursery or club

The public evidence about the area around your school, college, nursery or club, written into your safeguarding policy, staff briefing and board report for the year ahead. We email you when it is ready, usually within an hour of payment.

  • The report
  • The staff briefing and slides
  • The evidence pack
  • The dashboard for the year

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Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Get Information about Schools, Department for Education.