Responsibility for state schools in Dorset is divided into 2 local authorities:
- Dorset Council, which covers the majority of the county
- Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council
Dorset Council area operates a two-tier comprehensive system whereby pupils attend a primary school before completing their education at secondary school, but Corfe Mullen, Dorchester, Ferndown and West Moors maintain a three-tier system (first, middle and secondary).
Some of the county schools are academies; self-governing state schools which have become independent of their local authority and are maintained directly by the Department for Education.