Saint Joseph's Catholic Primary School, the Borough

About Saint Joseph's Catholic Primary School, the Borough

Saint Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, the Borough, is a popular choice among local families, with 46 applications for just 15 places in the 2025/26 admissions round — an oversubscription ratio of 3.07. Of those 46 applicants, 13 listed it as their first preference, and 13 first-preference offers were made. The school’s parentView data isn’t available in this dataset, but the high demand alone signals strong local confidence. The school is a state-funded Roman Catholic primary in Southwark, led by headteacher Catherine Fulton, and it currently has 169 pupils against a capacity of 225, so there is some room to grow. It also offers nursery provision for children from age three, which can be a practical bonus for families looking for continuity from early years through to Year 6.

Academically, Saint Joseph’s performs solidly against local benchmarks. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, 71% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined — above the Southwark local authority average of 68%. The school ranks 25th out of 60 primary schools in the borough, placing it in the top half locally. Subject-level scores are encouraging: 93% met expectations in maths, with an average scaled score of 107, and 79% did so in reading, also averaging 107. At the higher standard, 21% achieved in maths and 36% in reading, though writing at the higher level was lower at 14%. The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection, in October 2023, confirmed it remains Good overall, with leadership and management also rated Good. This marks a clear improvement from its previous graded inspection in 2011, when it was rated Requires Improvement.

The school offers a broad range of facilities including an ICT suite, library, gymnasium, chapel, art studios, playing fields and a Forest School programme — the latter a nice touch for outdoor learning in an urban borough. Sports provision includes football, dance, rounders, cross country and gymnastics, while clubs span drama, coding, eco club, art, gardening and science. For families with children who have additional needs, Saint Joseph’s lists SEND support for moderate learning difficulties, speech and language needs, autistic spectrum disorder, hearing impairment, physical disability and social, emotional and mental health needs. Given its oversubscription, families with a strong Catholic connection or those living nearby should prioritise this school early in the admissions process. It suits families who value a faith-based primary with good academic outcomes and a wide extracurricular offer in central London.

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