St Joseph's Catholic Primary School - a Catholic voluntary academy

About St Joseph's Catholic Primary School - a Catholic voluntary academy

St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in North Yorkshire is a small Roman Catholic voluntary academy with 84 pupils on roll against a capacity of 105, meaning it has around 20% spare places. That spare capacity is notable given the school’s intake profile: 45.3% of pupils qualify for free school meals, well above the national primary average of around 23% and significantly higher than the North Yorkshire average, which tends to sit in the low teens. Despite this, the school is clearly in demand. For the 2025/26 reception intake, it received 40 applications for just 15 places, with 16 first-preference applications and 15 first-preference offers, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.67. That suggests local families are actively choosing St Joseph’s, even with other primary options nearby. The school also offers nursery provision, so children can join from age three, and it serves a mixed cohort across the 3–11 age range.

Academically, the picture is mixed but improving. In its most recent graded Ofsted inspection in 2016, the school was rated Good overall, with Good for leadership and management and Good for early years provision. An ungraded inspection in 2023 confirmed the school remains Good. That’s a clear improvement from its previous graded inspection in 2014, when it was rated Requires Improvement. At Key Stage 2 in the 2023/24 academic year, 47% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with a local authority average of 60%. The school’s reading and maths average scores were 106 and 104 respectively, both above the national benchmark of 100, and 29% of pupils achieved a higher standard in reading and maths. However, only 6% reached the higher standard in writing. In the North Yorkshire rankings, the school sits at 181 out of 223 primaries, placing it in the bottom 50% nationally.

The school offers a practical, well-resourced environment. Facilities include a Forest School, music rooms, a gymnasium, an ICT suite and a chapel, reflecting its Catholic character. Sports provision covers football, cross country, swimming, tennis, rounders, gymnastics and dance, while clubs include book club, choir, science club and film club. For families with children who have additional needs, the school lists SEND provisions for profound and multiple learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, physical disabilities and autistic spectrum disorder. With its small size, strong local demand and above-average FSM intake, St Joseph’s suits families who value a faith-based, community-focused primary with a broad extracurricular offer and a clear trajectory of improvement from its previous Requires Improvement rating.

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