St Joseph's Catholic Primary Academy

About St Joseph's Catholic Primary Academy

St Joseph’s Catholic Primary Academy in Kirklees is a state-funded primary for mixed pupils aged 3 to 11, with a nursery on site. The school is currently running close to capacity, with 322 pupils on roll against a total capacity of 341. A quarter of its pupils (25.7%) are eligible for free school meals, which is notably higher than the national average and suggests the school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage. Demand for places is strong: for the 2025/26 intake, the school received 61 applications for 39 places, making it officially oversubscribed with a ratio of 1.56 applicants per place. All 39 first-preference applicants were offered a place, so while the school is popular, families who put it first have a good chance of getting in. As a Roman Catholic school, it will have a faith-based admissions criteria, which is worth checking if you are not a practising Catholic.

Academically, St Joseph’s sits in the bottom half of primary schools nationally, ranking 77th out of 94 in Kirklees and in the 85th percentile nationally for the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. In the 2023/24 KS2 tests, 45% of pupils hit that combined benchmark, compared with a local authority average of 60%. Individual subject scores were mixed: 62% reached the expected standard in maths and writing, but only 53% did so in reading. Higher-attaining pupils were few — just 4% achieved a high score in maths and 11% in reading, with none in writing. Progress scores are not available, so it is hard to say how much value the school adds. Ofsted rated the school Good overall in its most recent graded inspection, a clear improvement from its previous Requires Improvement rating. Leadership and management, early years provision and the quality of education were all judged Good.

The school offers a decent range of facilities including a forest school, chapel, music rooms and an ICT suite. Sports provision covers athletics, gymnastics, netball, rounders and football, and there are clubs for coding, art and eco activities. SEND support is listed for moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication issues, visual impairment and physical disability — though the Parent View data shows no responses to the question on SEND support, so it is hard to gauge how well that works in practice. Of the 34 parents who responded to the survey, 82% would recommend the school. Strong majorities agreed their child is happy (88% strongly agree or agree) and feels safe (83%). However, a notable minority disagreed that concerns are dealt with properly (21%) and that the school has high expectations for their child (24%). This is a school that suits families prioritising a Catholic ethos and a supportive community feel, but those focused on top-tier academic outcomes may want to look at higher-ranked peers nearby.

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