St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy

About St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy

Of the 28 families who responded to Ofsted's Parent View survey between September 2024 and September 2025, 89% said they would recommend St Joseph's Catholic Primary School to other parents. That's a strong vote of confidence, and it's backed up by the numbers on the ground: the school received 25 applications for just 10 places in the 2025/26 admissions round, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.5 to one. Nine of those offers went to first-preference families, which tells you this is a school local parents actively want. The survey responses paint a picture of a school where children feel safe – 64% of parents strongly agreed with that statement, and 43% strongly agreed their child is happy. There's also a clear sense that the school communicates well: 57% strongly agreed the school makes them aware of what their child will learn, and 43% strongly agreed they're kept informed about how their child is doing.

Academically, St Joseph's sits in a fairly middling position. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, 60% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined – exactly in line with the North Yorkshire local authority average. That puts the school at 111th out of 292 primary schools in the county, and in the bottom 50% nationally. However, the picture is more nuanced when you look at individual subjects. Reading scores were notably strong: the average scaled score was 109, with 80% of pupils reaching the expected standard and 50% hitting the higher standard. In writing, 80% reached the expected level and 40% achieved the higher mark. Maths was weaker by comparison – a 103 average score, with 60% at expected and 30% at the higher level. The school's most recent Ofsted inspection, in January 2025, rated it Good overall, with leadership and management also judged Good. That's an improvement from its previous inspection in 2010, which graded the school as Requires Improvement.

St Joseph's is a small Roman Catholic primary in North Yorkshire, with 95 pupils on roll against a capacity of 135, so there's some room to grow. It offers nursery provision for children from age two, and the facilities include a gymnasium, sports hall, library, chapel, music rooms and a forest school. There's a decent range of clubs – art, choir, drama, gardening and science – and sports include dance, football, cricket, cross country and tennis. The school has identified four areas of SEND provision: specific learning difficulty (dyslexia), moderate learning difficulty, social emotional and mental health needs, and speech, language and communication needs. That said, the Parent View data on SEND support was inconclusive, with no responses recorded for that question. With 36.4% of pupils eligible for free school meals, this is a school serving a relatively disadvantaged community, and the oversubscription suggests it's a popular choice for local Catholic families in particular.

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