St Joseph's Catholic Primary School

About St Joseph's Catholic Primary School

St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Guildford is significantly oversubscribed, a clear signal of its local popularity. For the 2025/26 intake, the school received 203 applications for 90 places, with 110 families listing it as their first preference. This gives an oversubscription ratio of 2.26, meaning more than two children applied for every available spot. The school currently houses 714 pupils against a capacity of 630, so it is running well above its official limit. Just 6.7% of pupils qualify for free school meals, well below the national average and reflecting the relatively affluent catchment in Surrey. The school is a Roman Catholic state primary for ages 2 to 11, with a nursery on site, and is led by headteacher Tom Collins. Its religious character is a key part of its identity, and the high demand suggests it draws families from across the local area who value that ethos.

Academically, St Joseph’s holds a Good rating from Ofsted, following its most recent ungraded inspection in February 2023, which confirmed the school remains Good. Its previous graded inspection in 2013 also awarded Good for overall effectiveness, leadership and management. The school’s early years provision was rated Outstanding in 2010, though that judgement is now over a decade old. While the data does not include specific KS2 SATs results for St Joseph’s, the Surrey local authority average for KS2 attainment sits at 66, providing a benchmark for the county. The school is not among Surrey’s top three ranked primaries, which include South Farnham School, The Raleigh School, and Cardinal Newman Catholic Primary School. However, with 33 of Surrey’s 298 primary schools rated Outstanding, a Good rating still places St Joseph’s in the solid majority of well-performing local schools.

The school offers a broad range of facilities, including an ICT suite, sensory room, gymnasium, forest school area, playing fields, library, music rooms, and a chapel. Sports provision covers football, tennis, cricket, swimming, and dance, while clubs include gardening, choir, and drama. For families with children who have additional needs, St Joseph’s lists a wide array of SEND provisions, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate to severe learning difficulties, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, physical disabilities, and autistic spectrum disorder. The nearest Outstanding-rated primary is Pewley Down Infant School, 3.1 km away. This school will particularly suit Catholic families in the Guildford area who want a faith-based primary with strong demand, a full range of facilities, and a clear SEND support offer, though they should be prepared for the competitive admissions process.

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